Tesco bank failed to take DD; threatening my credit record

kimwp

Shakin_Steve said:

So....if a direct debit is for a different amount every month, i.e. a mobile phone bill, how do they manage to change the amount in the, say, ten days between billing and collection?

Presumably because the instruction ("debit the entire amount due") hasn't changed.

Armorica

Hmmm. 

It will depend on whether you are fixed or variable and whether Tesco wrote something other than ten days into the contract. The direct debit payment cycle in only three days; but you (well, the company) have to advise typically ten days in advance if the amount changes. It's possible that instead of amending the direct debit mandate, they've cancelled the old one and set up a new one. 

They are probably right...but I wouldn't be overly surprised if the messaging isn't correct because it's Tesco...

You can find a copy of the Direct Debit Guarantee at https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/directdebitguarantee.aspx
It refers to the ten days. 

seatbeltnoob

I never rely on direct debit, they set the mandate to pay on the last day of the due date or just a couple days before.
If the direct debit doesn't go through, then you're stuffed. Also they could have a dd scheduling mistake like being the due date early because of a holiday or February and the direct debit hasn't been changed.

eskbanker

seatbeltnoob said:

I never rely on direct debit, they set the mandate to pay on the last day of the due date or just a couple days before.
If the direct debit doesn't go through, then you're stuffed. Also they could have a dd scheduling mistake like being the due date early because of a holiday or February and the direct debit hasn't been changed.

But the point of paying by DD is that you're effectively passing the responsibility back to them, so if there's such a scheduling failure, or anything else attributable to the card company, then they should accept liability for the consequences....

msallen

seatbeltnoob said:

I never rely on direct debit, they set the mandate to pay on the last day of the due date or just a couple days before.
If the direct debit doesn't go through, then you're stuffed. Also they could have a dd scheduling mistake like being the due date early because of a holiday or February and the direct debit hasn't been changed.

Then you fundamentally misunderstand DDs.
The whole point is that the collector of the DD is responsible. If they collect it late there is no come back on you (and if they collect it early or collect too much, then you are able to reclaim it under the DD guarantee).

born_again

Why bother messing with the DD. 

Far easier & not going to cause any problems is to simply make a manual payment to clear the balance.

jay1804

Shakin_Steve said:

Also, Barclaycard seem to be able to change the amount collected by dd if you make a payment after the statement is issued but before the dd is due.

Yes barclaycard is the best when it comes to payment via direct debts, I have a fixed DD for £40 as I like to pay a little over the minimum payment and save the rest in a Natwest regular saver earning 3%. But I made a purchase which changed the minimum pay to £60 so the dd was adjusted, however I paid the purchase off and the dd automatically adjusted back to my fixed amount of £40.

kaMelo

Shakin_Steve said:

So....if a direct debit is for a different amount every month, i.e. a mobile phone bill, how do they manage to change the amount in the, say, ten days between billing and collection?

Because it's set up as a variable DD already hence they can vary the amount they take as long as both;
A. There is enough time to vary the DD
B  There is enough time to comply with the regulatory requirement to notify you of the amount of the DD.
If both conditions are met then the amended DD can proceed. 

My own experience is that Barclaycard are the one and only provider that applied a modified DD to an existing statement.
Every other provider only applied the modified DD to future statements.
Of these, some took the original DD and some took none, requiring a manual payment for the current statement.

There is no consistent approach among providers,
It is always the customer who is responsible to ensure a payment method is in place however I would expect it to be made clear to the customer that, upon modifying a DD, a manual payment will be required as the current DD will not cover it.

born_again said:

Why bother messing with the DD. 

Far easier & not going to cause any problems is to simply make a manual payment to clear the balance.

Until you forget it. 
Even if you set it only for minimum payment and manually make up the rest it avoids any late/missed payment events.

As pointed out above the whole point of DD is it passes responsibility to the collector. Any late payment is on you, any late collection is on them.

Fingerbobs

Shakin_Steve said:

Also, Barclaycard seem to be able to change the amount collected by dd if you make a payment after the statement is issued but before the dd is due.

Lots of cards work like this. As long as the manual payment is received about 3-4 working days before the DD date, the DD amount is reduced, or stopped completely for that month. I think it's pretty much only Lloyds Banking Group cards that still take the full DD amount even if interim payments are made (and even they stop the DD completely if the statement balance is paid in full before the due date.)

(As an aside, all of my Direct Debits are variable, including utilities. I just pay for the exact amount of gas, electricity and water that I use during each billing period. I despise the concept of "fixed" direct debits that all the utility companies try to steer customers towards.)

MovingForwards

Fingerbobs said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Also, Barclaycard seem to be able to change the amount collected by dd if you make a payment after the statement is issued but before the dd is due.

Lots of cards work like this. As long as the manual payment is received about 3-4 working days before the DD date, the DD amount is reduced, or stopped completely for that month. I think it's pretty much only Lloyds Banking Group cards that still take the full DD amount even if interim payments are made (and even they stop the DD completely if the statement balance is paid in full before the due date.)

(As an aside, all of my Direct Debits are variable, including utilities. I just pay for the exact amount of gas, electricity and water that I use during each billing period. I despise the concept of "fixed" direct debits that all the utility companies try to steer customers towards.)

Not all CC providers stop the minimum payment DD a manual minimum payment has been made, some still take it eg NatWest.