Paid a strangers credit card unknown to me!!!

Retirement25

Hi 
I have been trying to put my finances in order as supposed to retire soon? and noted that 2 direct debit payments have been going out to Aqua card Newday but different card numbers since 2018 so I rang them to be told I only have one account and the other is someone else's!!! but the bank or Newday aren't taking any responsibility to refund me or help me as they say they don't know how it has happened, I have had the card since 2013 but changed from HSBC to Santander in 2018 so how can I resolve this on my own? any help please.

born_again

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/direct-debit-guarantee/

The Guarantee

• The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits

• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society

• • If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.

PRAISETHESUN

You need to log a formal complaint to your bank(s) where the money has been taken from. If the payments have been taken by direct debit then you will be able to claim a refund under the direct debit guarantee. There might be a limit on how far you can claim (6 years is a fairly standard timeframe for chasing/enforcing debts) but I'd definitely be getting the process started now. If they drag their feet you can escalate to the ombudsman after the prescribe timeframe.

And it goes without saying that you should cancel the direct debit if you haven't already. Just make sure you cancel the correct one and you don't start missing payments to your actual CC account.

born_again

PRAISETHESUN said:

You need to log a formal complaint to your bank(s) where the money has been taken from. If the payments have been taken by direct debit then you will be able to claim a refund under the direct debit guarantee. There might be a limit on how far you can claim (6 years is a fairly standard timeframe for chasing/enforcing debts) but I'd definitely be getting the process started now. If they drag their feet you can escalate to the ombudsman after the prescribe timeframe.

And it goes without saying that you should cancel the direct debit if you haven't already. Just make sure you cancel the correct one and you don't start missing payments to your actual CC account.

Complaint needs to be with Newday. As Op bank takes the DD instruction from Newday. All OP bank do is pay the amount Newday ask for each cycle. They have no idea which account it is going to.

But OP needs to shoulder some blame here for not noticing this for 7 years & is lucky DD Guarantee does not have a time limit.

Retirement25

Hi both yes Santander did refund the last payment but as it's been going on for years they said it's more complicated, I know it's stupid of me not to notice but I did think one payment was the minimum and one interest😏 it was only when I got a yearly statement I realised!! New day are saying claim off the bank and the bank is saying claim off New day 😠 I have signed up to Experien for a detailed credit report which may throw some light on how it happened 

PRAISETHESUN

born_again said:

PRAISETHESUN said:

You need to log a formal complaint to your bank(s) where the money has been taken from. If the payments have been taken by direct debit then you will be able to claim a refund under the direct debit guarantee. There might be a limit on how far you can claim (6 years is a fairly standard timeframe for chasing/enforcing debts) but I'd definitely be getting the process started now. If they drag their feet you can escalate to the ombudsman after the prescribe timeframe.

And it goes without saying that you should cancel the direct debit if you haven't already. Just make sure you cancel the correct one and you don't start missing payments to your actual CC account.

Complaint needs to be with Newday. As Op bank takes the DD instruction from Newday. All OP bank do is pay the amount Newday ask for each cycle. They have no idea which account it is going to.

But OP needs to shoulder some blame here for not noticing this for 7 years & is lucky DD Guarantee does not have a time limit.

I would argue that OP should be contacting both their banks and Newday. But they should definitely invoke the DD guarantee with their bank, that you link to above, to get the money refunded. If they won't do it willingly then a complaint with be needed. After that then they can get Newday to figure out if any money is still owed on their account, and then it's Newday's problem to chase the account holder of the other account for payment.

wiseonesomeofthetime

Retirement25 said:

Hi both yes Santander did refund the last payment but as it's been going on for years they said it's more complicated, I know it's stupid of me not to notice but I did think one payment was the minimum and one interest😏 it was only when I got a yearly statement I realised!! New day are saying claim off the bank and the bank is saying claim off New day 😠 I have signed up to Experien for a detailed credit report which may throw some light on how it happened 

Yes, it will be interesting to see whether you have TWO Aqua credit accounts on your credit file.

maxximus75

I would throw a complaint and claim off both the bank and Newday and see what sticks.

Retirement25

Hi yes I have got nowhere with phone calls and sending New day 6 years of bank statements with proof of the direct debit paying a different card! so I have gone through resolver and had a response by the bank and Newday to say they are looking into it??????

grumpy_codger

Retirement25 said:

??????

??????????????

And IMO your complaint has to be to your bank in the first place. I don't see any time limit in the DD guarantee, and generally you could have no relationship with Newday. IMO, it's your bank's business to deal with Newday.

DullGreyGuy

Retirement25 said:

Hi both yes Santander did refund the last payment but as it's been going on for years they said it's more complicated, I know it's stupid of me not to notice but I did think one payment was the minimum and one interest😏 it was only when I got a yearly statement I realised!! New day are saying claim off the bank and the bank is saying claim off New day 😠 I have signed up to Experien for a detailed credit report which may throw some light on how it happened 

You say you switch to Santander in 2018 and this DD started in 2018 but you haven't clarified the finer point on the timing of the two? Was the first DD payment taken under your old or new account? If new account did it happen at the point of transfer or some months after? 

The DD guarantee is with the bank not the payee so its them you would need to pursue. 

It seems most likely that someone has miskeyed a sortcode/acc number when entering a DD form, in this day and age its likely to be the customer but in principle if a paper form was used then it may be the CC company. Alternatively the customer intentionally did it.

NewDay would simply push the DD via the system, your bank is supposed to review it, such as do the stated names match, but in principle many dont. They may or may not give you a notification of a new DD depending on if you use their app/its capabilities etc. They then confirm the DD is setup

Once its setup the CC simply asks for X on Y date and your bank just processes it or sends a message back saying there are insufficient funds. 

The DD rules have been lined above, so if you state this is not an authorised payment then it's your bank. Assuming you used the switching service, any problems in switching are the problem of the receiving bank so that also points to Santander.