direct debit administration fee

eggman1964

I've paid my golf club fees for the last three years through direct debit and each year the club have charged me a £40 administrative fee. The club have now acknowledged that it was unlawful to collect these fees, my question is does the club have to pay members back for the money they have taken or do I have to claim for a refund as per PPI claims?

any advice would be appreciated.:j

marliepanda

eggman1964 wrote: »

I've paid my golf club fees for the last three years through direct debit and each year the club have charged me a £40 administrative fee. The club have now acknowledged that it was unlawful to collect these fees, my question is does the club have to pay members back for the money they have taken or do I have to claim for a refund as per PPI claims?

any advice would be appreciated.:j

You'd have to speak to them about why they have decided it was unlawful, as there is nothing inherently unlawful about admin fees and [STRIKE]debit cards[/STRIKE] direct debits.

Nick_C

It would be unlawful now for them to charge different fees for different payment methods. Prior to January, they were free to do this.

neilmcl

eggman1964 wrote: »

I've paid my golf club fees for the last three years through direct debit and each year the club have charged me a £40 administrative fee. The club have now acknowledged that it was unlawful to collect these fees, my question is does the club have to pay members back for the money they have taken or do I have to claim for a refund as per PPI claims?

any advice would be appreciated.:j

Why don't you just ask them. None of us know what your golf club's intentions to repay the fees are?

And as mentioned they've only been unlawful since January 13 so if you were charged before this then tough.

marliepanda

neilmcl wrote: »

Why don't you just ask them. None of us know what your golf club's intentions to repay the fees are?

And as mentioned they've only been potentially unlawful since January 13 so if you were charged before this then tough.

They are not unlawful now, they COULD be, if only direct debit customers had to pay the fee (though these fees mostly used to relate to Credit cards due to the fees on them)

There is not enough info to say these fees are unlawful now or ever.

neilmcl

marliepanda wrote: »

They are not unlawful now, they COULD be, if only direct debit customers had to pay the fee (though these fees mostly used to relate to Credit cards due to the fees on them)

There is not enough info to say these fees are unlawful now or ever.

Oops, I missed that the OP has said they paid by direct debit.

If this really is the case OP and you've not been merely paying via your debit card then I'm afraid there's nothing unlawful about it. Businesses are allowed to continue making charges for any other payment other than credit, debit or charge card and some other non card based transactions such as mobile phone payments, Paypal etc.

marliepanda

neilmcl wrote: »

Oops, I missed that the OP has said they paid by direct debit.

If this really is the case OP and you've not been merely paying via your debit card then I'm afraid there's nothing unlawful about it. Businesses are allowed to continue making charges for any other payment other than credit, debit or charge card and some other non card based transactions such as mobile phone payments, Paypal etc.

Probably because I put debit card in my reply, woops!

Youre right though, without knowing exactly why the company have suddenly decided its unlawful we can't help, as its clearly something the company has decided themself, no law has pushed them to that.

unholyangel

marliepanda wrote: »

They are not unlawful now, they COULD be, if only direct debit customers had to pay the fee (though these fees mostly used to relate to Credit cards due to the fees on them)

There is not enough info to say these fees are unlawful now or ever.

If the fee is unavoidable (everyone has to pay it) then they'd have to include it in their base price.

neilmcl wrote: »

Oops, I missed that the OP has said they paid by direct debit.

If this really is the case OP and you've not been merely paying via your debit card then I'm afraid there's nothing unlawful about it. Businesses are allowed to continue making charges for any other payment other than credit, debit or charge card and some other non card based transactions such as mobile phone payments, Paypal etc.

Paypal has the same status as card transactions and so is covered by the rule they can't charge for it at all. Direct debits on the other hand are covered by regulation 4 - which prohibits traders from charging more than it costs them to process payments of that type.

If I remember right, the EU directive only included card payments but the UK decided to widen the scope to include other payment methods like paypal.

However, the rule about not charging customers more than it costs the business to process the payment (and they can't include general overheads like equipment or staffing, only those that directly come from processing the payment) have been in force since april 2013 so it looks like the OP may indeed be due a refund.

neilmcl

unholyangel wrote: »

If the fee is unavoidable (everyone has to pay it) then they'd have to include it in their base price.



Paypal has the same status as card transactions and so is covered by the rule they can't charge for it at all. Direct debits on the other hand are covered by regulation 4 - which prohibits traders from charging more than it costs them to process payments of that type.

If I remember right, the EU directive only included card payments but the UK decided to widen the scope to include other payment methods like paypal.

However, the rule about not charging customers more than it costs the business to process the payment (and they can't include general overheads like equipment or staffing, only those that directly come from processing the payment) have been in force since april 2013 so it looks like the OP may indeed be due a refund.

That's why I said businesses can make a charge for payment other than credit/debit cards, mobile payments and paypal

unholyangel

neilmcl wrote: »

That's why I said businesses can make a charge for payment other than credit/debit cards, mobile payments and paypal

Ah sorry, the way its worded gave me the impression you mean it as:

Businesses are allowed to continue making charges for any other payment (other than credit, debit or charge card) and some other non card based transactions such as mobile phone payments, Paypal etc.

But anyway, direct debits don't cost anywhere near £40 to process. So that is probably why they've acknowledged it was unlawful.

Nick_C

The other thing to consider is were fees paid by direct debit being spread over a longer than usual period of time.

If a club charged £1160 a year fees, payable in advance, but agreed to allow members to spread the fee over a year at £100 a month DD, that would not be illegal.

It is hard to imagine why a business would charge anyone extra for paying by DD as opposed to other payment methods.