Paid Rent by Mistake

twiggster

Could you point me in the right direction for claiming money back?

I have bought the house I was renting but I forgot to cancel my direct debit and this has gone from my bank account to the estate agent and then onto the landlord.

Hope you can help?

Enterprise_1701C

I would imagine your first stop should be the estate agent?

There is also the direct debit guarantee

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx

SmashedAvacado

If it was a standing order then ask for it back. Its still your money. Sending it to them in error does not make it theirs. The agents should not have passed it on, but you should expect to wait for them to get it back from the landlord. You can make the point to the agents, that not paying you back would not be good for their reputation if you had to issue proceedings in order to recover your monies.

davidmcn

Your first step is to ask the landlord nicely for the money back. If it's a direct debit (rather than a standing order) the agent shouldn't have still been requesting funds, irrespective of whether you cancelled it at your end.

twiggster

Tried the estate agent but all they have tried is emailing and phoning but no joy? Is the estate agent culpable as well as my money goes to them first and then they pass it on to the landlord?
I know its my mistake initially and I am kicking myself daily!!

davidmcn

Your contract is with the landlord so it's the landlord who is responsible. Have you written to them?

twiggster

The estate agent has but still waiting a reply?
Should the estate agent pay me back since they paid it on and then they try to reclaim the money from the landlord themselves? Worth a shot??

davidmcn

You can ask, but the agent is simply acting as the landlord's agent. It's the landlord who owes you the money, I can't see that the agent owes you anything in their own right. I would recommend you write (paper and pen) to the landlord.

D_M_E

You say it was a direct debit - just go to your bank and tell them it should have been cancelled both by you and the agents before the relevant payment was taken so therefore it was an unauthorised payment and you want it back under the Direct Debit guarrantee.

Agent is/was probably getting a cut of the payment before sending it on to landlord and that's why they don't want to return it to you.

Yes, you were paying landlord, but you were paying agent to send it on to landlord so, as it went into agent's account from yours then that's who should return it.

need_an_answer

If you haven't already done so,make sure the standing order has now been cancelled.

It's your responsibility to cancel payments and you would be surprised how many actually end up with the next payment following the end of a tenancy going out of their account

Ex tenants then chase that payment they made...and its even been known for a follow up to go across too because they are busy chasing the 1st overpayment

Just to be clear on the difference between a standing order and a Direct debit.
The SO is sent by you to a beneficiary
The DD is claimed by the beneficiary from your account.

There is a clear difference so check your statement to clarify which one you paid rent by.

G_M

You need to be clear. Was it a Standing Order (under your control) or a Direct Debit (controlled by the estate agent)?

If a DD, the agent is at fault for requesting the money from your bank.
If a SO, you were at fault for not cancelling it.

Either way the money is yours, but how you reclaim it may differ.

DD - use the bank DD guarantee scheme. Plus write to the agent as they were at fault.
SO - write to the landlord. Ultimately if he refuses, you'd have to sue.