advice on Direct debit before I storm off to the bank with all guns blazing

shelovestobuystuff

I am with LLoyds TSB and had a d.d. set up which was due to come off but I didnt have the money in.Rather than get bank charges I just went in and cancelled the d.d. about 5 days before it was due to come off.Sorted I thought.
Well I got a letter telling me that my account was over the overdraft limit as a d.d. had been paid which I didnt have the money in to cover.Confused because I had cancelled all my d.d,s and do not use the card.Very surprised and angry to discover than apparantly the cancelled d.d. had been set up again by the company and I was charged £25 for the pleasure of the tiny under £6 d.d. being paid plus £16 for being over my limit plus £6 a day while I was over it!!!
The bank said that a company can reinstigate a cancelled d.d at any time without my permission and all I can do is check my account daily online and cancell any I dont want on my account.
I was raging.I cancelled the d.d again straight away off course and asked them to cancel the charges which they wouldnt.
I just got another letter today.Same thing!!!Same company!!!
Am I wrong in thinking that once you cancel a d.d. the company cannot set it back up whenever they like,which is what I have been told by my bank.I am just about to go down there again now so urgent advice needed please.

YorkshireBoy

Many companies now set up DD's electronically (under a system called AUDDIS). Your DDI (and the DD guarantee itself) asks you to let the originator know if you cancel the DD with your bank.

Therefore the fault lies not with the bank, or the originator, but yourself for not complying with the DD guarantee, so I wouldn't go in "all guns blazing" to the bank.

shelovestobuystuff

Went in all guns blazing anyway.The direct debit guarantee is set up to protect consumers and there is no way they should pay a d.d. after it has been cancelled.The bank pays the d.d. and cancelling it with them is enough.I did actually remove my bank details and cancell the d.d. instruction online with the originator too who just set it back up again anyway.

Orford

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Went in all guns blazing anyway..

With what result?

shelovestobuystuff

I have an appointment with the bank manager first thing tomorrow morning as it was his day off today and no-one else apparantly had the authority to refund charges.

bathgatebuyer

Don't ask, don't get!

MarkyMarkD

If you owed the money due, you were obliged to pay them by some other means if you wanted to cancel the DD.

You can't simply default on your debts by cancelling DDs at the bank.

Even if you cancel the DD online with your originator, you didn't arrange another method of payment.

Why should you attempt to default on your debts and not do anything about it?

Why didn't you simply get an authorised overdraft for £100 or whatever (or an increase in your limit, if that was the case)? You say the amount was only £6.

borgbaiter

hi

the DD guarantee is indeed to protect consumers. if the bank do not sort it out to your satisfaction then complain to FO just make sure the complaint is about DD guarantee and not bank charges.

good luck


Borgbaiter

MarkyMarkD

The DD guarantee is designed to protect customers against DDs for unauthorised or incorrect amounts.

It's not there to enable people to default on their valid debts.

The DD guarantee specifies that you should notify the bank and the originator to cancel the DD.

Notifying an originator online, 5 days before a DD is due to be collected, is way too late and not adequate notice.

advantix

Reading this thread is strange. Whenever i have needed to cancel a direct debit i have just cancelled it online and the bank notify the originator of the cancellation of the DD and i then get a letter (usually within 5 days) from the originating company confirming the cancellation of the DD. I have NEVER had to notify the originating company (yes, i know i should really, but i have never had to as the bank does it) i have also never had a cancelled DD reinstated automatically.

MarkyMarkD

I should be clearer.

If you cancel a DD, the originator is not allowed to reinstate it without your permission. Therefore any amounts collected after a DD was reinstated (or indeed, after a DD was cancelled and before it was reinstated) could be reclaimed under the DD guarantee.

But the fact remains that the OP owed this money and should have paid it. Cancelling a DD isn't a valid strategy for managing your liabilities. Extending an overdraft limit by £10 would have done the job far better here.