Landlord Gave Bad Reference

brianposter

AdrianC said:

brianposter said:

If the OP had handed over a cheque to the estate agent and the agent had failed to cash the cheque, there could be serious repercussions if this were reported as having failed to pay.

And a completed standing order form is very little different from a a series of deferred cheques..

Are you confusing DD and SO?

A standing order is set up unilaterally on the payer's end - the OP's end.
It's a DD that is set up from the payee's end.

If you want to draw a parallel with paying by cheque, this situation is akin to the OP simply forgetting to write and post the cheque every month.

Not at all. It is not unusual for the payee to set up the SO using a document signed by the payer, and in this case the payer has made all appropriate arrangements to get the payment made each month.

It is equivalent to the landlord throwing cheques into the dustbin.

(For those who are unaware a SO is often set up by the payee sending a form to the payer who fills in the bank details and signs. The form is then returned to the payee who sends the form to the bank. ie it is the payee who does all the legwork)