Cancelling Direct Debit

[EvianBaby]

If you cancelled a direct debit without informing the company owed, would you be charged by your bank for a failed transaction?

[pixie373]

I never have been

[sunny-dave]

Nope - never been charged - and when you cancel it the bank should inform the company anyway.

[rockyracoon]

I've never been charged, the DD just bounces back to the company and they send you a snotty letter :)

[ABerrant]

http://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/Cancellingpayments.aspx

[pretty_snowdrop]

No you won't.

[EvianBaby]

Thank you everyone!

[dzug2]

The bank won't charge you - but the company owed might

[boxtops]

They shouldn't charge you, why would they?

[dzug2]

For not paying your bill

[Old_Geezer]

As I understand it if you don't inform the company, they send in their demand as usual, and the bank pays it. The bank seems to do little checking if the demand for money comes with sort code and account number.

[bhg481]

I seem to remember reading somewhere (Money Saving Expert?) that YOU cannot cancel a direct debit, only the payee can. Seems odd, but I think that's the way it is. So you have to ask the payee to cancel the direct debit.

[Old_Geezer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24085200

I was advised by a friend to watch the moneybox episode from the Net, but didn't get around to it. Security is near non-existent it seems.

[sfby]

bhg - you're thinking of a "continuous payment authority" which is often (or perhaps always?) set up on a credit card - that can only be cancelled by the payee (very strange idea I've always thought!). A Direct Debit is covered by the banks' DD Guarantee and should (i repeat should) always be under your control.

[factor-fiction]

Copied and pasted from Moneyfacts:


How to cancel a direct debit

You can cancel a direct debit at any time. However, make sure you inform the person or company that receives the payment before you do, as you could incur fees or penalties for non-payment of a bill.

This could even go onto your credit file and affect your credit rating if you don't pay a bill in a certain time frame.



Some companies (eg energy companies) offer discounts for payment by DD so you may lose the benefit if a payment is cancelled. Also if you use DD to pay your credit card balance you may get card charges

[bhg481]

sfby - that's what I was thinking of AND you can also set them up on a debit card.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring-payments

[boxtops]

That's confusing to me - if I want to cancel a dd (as I have twice in recent weeks), I just go into my on-line banking and cancel the dd. The company then writes to me a bit later saying the bank's refused my payment (that is, if I haven't contacted them to cancel my arrangement with them already).