HSBC DDI Issue

FormerMRSA

Hi All,

Has anybody had any issues setting up a new DDI with HSBC recently?  I opened my account with them last year & have all my DDI's set up from that account, but over the last few days I've tried to set up new ones with different companies & all say they're unable to validate my account details.

Spoke to HSBC yesterday & they were most unhelpful.  They basically told me that there's no problem with my account or their systems & that they can send me a letter to confirm this (not quite sure what I'm meant to do with the letter).  Their other suggestions were that I contact the originators & ask them to contact HSBC to look at the issue or I ask every new company that I want a DDI with to send me a paper instruction!

Has anybody else had this problem & if so, how did you go about resolving it?

TIA

Zanderman

I assume you're talking about Direct Debits?  I only ask as they are usually abbreviated to just DD.

Companies setting up DDs will now, as I understand it, validate the account details to match the customer.

If you're having problems the obvious question to ask is not whether the account is ok (it obviously is) but whether you giving the company the exact details the bank has - not just account number but exact match of name and address. 

So, for example, if you're setting up a DD for an address where you don't actually live there might be a problem with validation.  Or if you use a different version of your name - Katy instead of Catherine for example that might also be a problem.

In this situation the bank cannot help except to confirm the info it has about you on the account - as it only knows what it knows about you.  You just have to make sure the DD mandate has the same info as the bank.  Maybe that's where that letter would help.

eskbanker

Zanderman said:

I assume you're talking about Direct Debits?  I only ask as they are usually abbreviated to just DD.

Direct Debit Instruction is the formal name for what's sometimes referred to as a mandate, i.e. the authority under which DDs themselves are taken, hence the likes of https://www.directdebit.co.uk/FAQs/Pages/SettingUpADirectDebit.aspx

How do I set up a Direct Debit?

​You can complete a Direct Debit Instruction, obtained from the organisation you wish to pay, and return it to them.

Zanderman

eskbanker said:

Zanderman said:

I assume you're talking about Direct Debits?  I only ask as they are usually abbreviated to just DD.

Direct Debit Instruction is the formal name for what's sometimes referred to as a mandate, i.e. the authority under which DDs themselves are taken, hence the likes of https://www.directdebit.co.uk/FAQs/Pages/SettingUpADirectDebit.aspx

How do I set up a Direct Debit?

​You can complete a Direct Debit Instruction, obtained from the organisation you wish to pay, and return it to them.

Fair enough!

Mind you the header of your quote and indeed the domain name of the website it's taken from (and indeed the entire website itself when viewed) do emphasise that in everyday terminology the usage is simply 'Direct Debit'.  It does seem unusual for the word 'Instruction' to be included, in full or in abbreviation.  

eskbanker

Zanderman said:

eskbanker said:

Zanderman said:

I assume you're talking about Direct Debits?  I only ask as they are usually abbreviated to just DD.

Direct Debit Instruction is the formal name for what's sometimes referred to as a mandate, i.e. the authority under which DDs themselves are taken, hence the likes of https://www.directdebit.co.uk/FAQs/Pages/SettingUpADirectDebit.aspx

How do I set up a Direct Debit?

​You can complete a Direct Debit Instruction, obtained from the organisation you wish to pay, and return it to them.

Fair enough!

Mind you the header of your quote and indeed the domain name of the website it's taken from (and indeed the entire website itself when viewed) do emphasise that in everyday terminology the usage is simply 'Direct Debit'.  It does seem unusual for the word 'Instruction' to be included, in full or in abbreviation.  

They're effectively two separate things though - the Direct Debit Instruction is the one-off authorisation for an organisation to deduct payments from the bank account, whereas Direct Debits are the subsequent individual payments themselves - but yes, the distinction is often blurred by referring to both as DDs, such as in the terms of switching incentives, etc.  OP is being accurate though!

flo22

It sounds to me as though there is an issue with the software that the Service Users are using to validate the account number prior to sending instruction to your bank.  There are different companies supplying this software (google Bank Account Validation) but for example one big supplier is Bank Wizard.

Go back to the companies and ask them is they actually sent the DD set up to HSBC.