Tesco - Direct Debit Indemnity Claim

woodall

I called Tesco Credit Card yesterday and asked to pay off the card in full and to cancel the card. I asked if I would be charged for my up coming direct debit that would pay the statement balance in full the next day and they said NO since I had paid off the balance.

Guess what - today I was charged a direct debit payment by Tesco. I called them and they said sorry they shouldn't have advised that and said to call my bank to arrange an indemnity claim. I called my bank (Halifax) and they said that this categorically can not be done because I had made a payment over the phone the previous day as well as the direct debit and therefore it does not meet the criteria of an indemnity claim for a direct debit.

I called Tesco back and they said that my bank are wrong. All in all they are paying me back when the funds clear tomorrow under the faster payment scheme instead of BACS so that I receive the payment faster and given compensation for their ill advice in the first instance but I am still confused... are Halifax right or are Tesco right? Someone must be wrong?

WillPS

DD's have to to be submitted in advance by the receiving party. Usually they advise payments have to be received 3-5 days before to affect the DD.

As Tesco will have issued a bill advising of the Direct Debit payment, I believe Halifax are correct to disallow a claim. I agree with them that it should be on Tesco to sort this out.

What Tesco should have advised, and would have stopped the payment (and is sensible advise if ever you are sure you have finished with the DD) would have been to get the DD cancelled.

eskbanker

WillPS wrote: »

What Tesco should have advised, and would have stopped the payment (and is sensible advise if ever you are sure you have finished with the DD) would have been to get the DD cancelled.

Since the DD was already in progress (and therefore too late to stop), I'd have expected them to say that full payment was already scheduled to be happening today and to have effectively refused to accept the manual payment over the phone ("just wait 24 hours please and it'll all be settled anyway"), or at least advised OP of the consequences of duplicating the payment.

Westie983

If you have halifax internet banking, you can process your own Direct Debit indemnity without visiting a branch, but Halifax should have processed the DDI, as it was obvious that the payment had been paid twice, and the funds would have been returned to you by the end of the working day, while the investigation was in process with Tesco.

Sounds like Tesco are returning your payment made over the phone but if this doesn't happen reapply for the DDI.