Is this legal?

carolann312

My husband and I have been separated since December 2015. In January of 2017 he needed to insure his car and I lent him the initial payment as he had just started a new job and hadn't been paid yet. This was paid with my debit card online with Autonet Insurance. He became unemployed again in March and had to cancel his direct debits which meant the insurance policy was then cancelled. Autonet were chasing him for a final payment which he hasn't paid due to lack of funds. Today on checking my bank account I have found out that they have taken the amount owing from my account. Surely they can't do this without my permission. The insurance was in my husband's name and they have taken money from an account in my name. I will be ringing them after the Bank Holiday but don't even know if they will speak to me about it due to Data Protection even though it is my account they have "stolen" money from. Advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

FutureGirl

They won't talk to you, it isn't your account.

Are you sure your ex husband didn't tell them to take the money from that account?

What does his policy say regarding missed payments if there is card / bank details on file?

carolann312

FutureGirl wrote: »

They won't talk to you, it isn't your account.

Are you sure your ex husband didn't tell them to take the money from that account?

What does his policy say regarding missed payments if there is card / bank details on file?

No I checked with ex today. He hasn't been in touch with them. Can't access policy as it was online and they have now disabled it.

dunstonh

If you gave your account details for the original payment then they will carry on using this until told otherwise.

even though it is my account they have "stolen" money from

They havent stolen it. You must have given them payment authorisation at some point otherwise how would they have your account details. This is frequently a risk of using your account details with someone elese's policies.

System

But every time you make a payment with a debit card you are giving someone your account details. That's surely not giving them authority to take any other payment they feel like having at any time in the future?

[Deleted User]

Not anytime they feel like it, no, but in accordance with the payment terms, yes.

carolann312

Yes I did give them my account details for the initial payment and then all future payments were by dd out of my ex's account. At no point did I say they could take anything else from my account. Lesson learned though ... I won't be doing a favour for anyone else!

carolann312

Deleted_User wrote: »

Not anytime they feel like it, no, but in accordance with the payment terms, yes.

Surely they should have given me notice that they were about to take money from my account. My mortgage was due on the same day they took the money. Luckily there was enough to cover it otherwise my morgage would have been unpaid

RADDERS

carolann312 wrote: »

Surely they should have given me notice that they were about to take money from my account. My mortgage was due on the same day they took the money. Luckily there was enough to cover it otherwise my morgage would have been unpaid

Could you not go to your bank and tell them it was an unauthorised payment, which it was?