Debit card back from the DEAD!

lsrfat

I was just checking my LLoyds TSB current account statement today on the internet and noticed that I'd been charged £95 by the RAC. I applied for RAC membership online in 2004 for £35 a year and it expired in 2005. I'm now with the AA but for some reason the RAC decided to renew my membership 2 years after my membership expired! I had no direct debits with them and the debit card I used with them previously expired in 2005.

I called Lloyds TSB and they said that expired card details can still be used by certain companies to withdraw money from your account. Is this legal for a company to be able to take money out of my account without permission? My address details were also different in 2005. I rang RAC and they said they would cancel my membership and give me a full refund within 14 days but its still quite shocking that this sort of thing can take place.

smithja

Thats a very good question, it certainly makes a total mockery of having an expiry date on a card and of security systems that seek authorisation via address matching. In the terms and conditions of your account it say something like "you must not use your card before it start date and after its expiry date", but them you did not use it after your expiry date the RAC did. I think the answer will be in the manner in which Visa transactions are handled and the merchant agreement the RAC has with their bank, however, I dont recall ever seeing a Visa card without an expiry date, they dont technically need a start date or even your name on them, but I am pretty sure they must have an expiry date. I would maybe put it in writing to LloydsTSB and ask for a full explanation (down to the technical details) of how this happened. James

jonesMUFCforever

This is a Continuous Payment authority which you freely signed up to.
Please do a search on these boards and you will find out a lot of information about them.
It was up to you to cancel the authority with the RAC not just allow it to cancel and assume that it would not be renewed.
It is not a direct debit.
It does not matter whether the card is out of date or not.

Take the matter up with the RAC as they are the only people who can/will refund you.

masonic

As ejones999 says, the expiry date is only relevant when a recurring payment is first set up. The payments are made from your card account and the specific card you hold at any given time doesn't come into the equation when the payment authority has already been set up.

I've had many such payments continue after one of my cards has expired and been replaced. The only way to stop them is to cancel the agreement or close the account relating to the card.

YorkshireBoy

ejones999 wrote: »

It was up to you to cancel the authority with the RAC not just allow it to cancel and assume that it would not be renewed.

...but the OP did cancel the 'authority' by not renewing the policy in 2005. Furthermore, the RAC must have actioned the OP's request, because not only did they not collect in 2005, they didn't collect in 2006 either.

Now, in 2007, they have decided to renew a policy that hasn't actually existed for 2 years!!

This cannot be the fault of the OP. Surely there has been some sort of 'glitch' at the RAC's end?

masonic

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

This cannot be the fault of the OP. Surely there has been some sort of 'glitch' at the RAC's end?

Yeah, this was a mistake by RAC (who seem to have admitted as much), but the bank did not reject it because the authority was not cancelled. The OP was concerned that Lloyds had done wrong in allowing the transaction through.

jonesMUFCforever

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

...but the OP did cancel the 'authority' by not renewing the policy in 2005. Furthermore, the RAC must have actioned the OP's request, because not only did they not collect in 2005, they didn't collect in 2006 either.

Now, in 2007, they have decided to renew a policy that hasn't actually existed for 2 years!!

This cannot be the fault of the OP. Surely there has been some sort of 'glitch' at the RAC's end?

I agree but the bank can't help him as they would have no record of any authority to pay this.
He needs to contact RAC.

realaledrinker

EJ, are you saying that CPAs apply to debit cards as well as credit cards?

Stephen_Leak

They can. My CPA's with eBay and Tiscali can both evidently be on either a debit or credit card.

jonesMUFCforever

realaledrinker wrote: »

EJ, are you saying that CPAs apply to debit cards as well as credit cards?

Yes any kind of Visa or Mastercard can have CPA's.

YorkshireBoy

realaledrinker wrote: »

EJ, are you saying that CPAs apply to debit cards as well as credit cards?

It would appear so, yes.

From the RAC (albeit this time home insurance)...

Continuous Renewal Payment Authority

You will be notified in writing prior to renewal and, unless we hear otherwise, the policy will automatically be renewed. Unless you have advised otherwise, the renewal premiums will again be collected from your specified bank account, or credit/debit card to ensure you are always covered.

http://www.rac.co.uk/web/insurance/home/policy/RAC054_important_information.pdf