Crazy! - Still paying Annual Direct Debits on 15yr old FridgeFreezer not had for 8yrs

StratApproach

B'cause I'm into budgeting in a big way now, I went through this years bank statements carefully and I found a line that I thought was for cat insurance the wording on the Bank statement was D.G.I.B D.D. for £89.20 (I didn't think much of it at the time).

I am planning to move the cats policies and therefore wanted to cancel the DD.

So rang up bank in the first instance and they tell me it is Domestic and General.

Rang up D&G to find out what is for (Didn't think they did cat ins?). Believe me.... it was for a Fridge Freezer I bought 15 years ago! Binned 8 years ago.

I sit here in disbelief of how this can be.

One side of me can't help laughing (I've heard of stranger things happening like this but, me, the other side says how can it be.

D&G told me that the renewals were going to my old address (been in this house for over 10 years now).

Now going to write to D&G for a copy of the contract I signed (if they still have it) and take it from there. (As suggested by the nice legal people from my house insurance cover).

Definately not raising my hopes to any refunds.

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Not sure anyone else is guilty of paying for something you don't need - definately worth checking your dd's and standing orders.

cattie

Ooh, poor you. Hope you will manage to get some sort of refund from D&G. Had you notified them when you moved from your last address?
I check my DD's & SO's on a regular basis & after reading your post I'm very pleased I do!

Wig

So you've been paying this amount every year?

tsk tsk tsk

coolbreezes

always check you dd's

greenwich

Ignore the smug comments. I sympathise with your mistake. Some companies don't make it very clear who they are on the direct debits. A few months ago my statements started showing a new debit every month from some outfit I had never heard of called Eds Payment Services. It was only when I noticed that Abbey National were no longer collecting the mortgage payments but Eds were taking the exact same amount that I twigged that it was the mortgage.

If you don't like checking bank statements, go to a bank like First Direct who can send you text messages every day showing the previous day's transactions.

Make sure the insurance company shows you the piece of paper you signed that said they could keep on renewing your insurance automatically every year. If they can't produce it, you might get your money back, otherwise probably not.

IvanOpinion

I could be wrong here but I always thought the onus was on the person owning the account to make sure a direct debit gets cancelled. Also the onus is on the person to inform everyone if they change address (would be much simpler if we had a centralised database - id cards?).

It is unfortunate but even if they do decide to offer a refund then the onus will be on you to prove when you got rid of the old fridge freezer (and proof of purchasing a new one may not be suffice - since it is possible that (e.g.) the old one was shoved as a backup in the garage (which is where mine is)).

As others have said check the wording of any agreement (note they may charge you a small fee for searching for it and sending it to you). If that does not shed any light then you could ask for a goodwill gesture.

Ivan