Shopping & Style1 min ago
how does the direct debit guarantee protect me?
6 Answers
does anyone know how the direct debit guarantee can help when money has been taken out from an account many days (19) before its supposed to? making me overdrawn? No doubt the scumbags at the bank will now be charging me for this too!!
Can anyone shed any light on this please??
Can anyone shed any light on this please??
Answers
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Hi Simon - Don't go and kick the scumbags at the bank. I'm one of those scumbags!
The banks don't pay out any of your money to a Direct Debit company. It's taken from your account by your Direct Debit organisation because the mandate you set up with them gives them permission to take your money.
Did you give them specific instructions on what day of the month they can take your money? If you did and they failed to collect on that date then they are the scumbags you need to get onto.
You can only have a go at the bank if you set up a Standing Order that went wrong, because that is an instruction to the bank to make payments on your behalf.
If you incur a charge because of of a Direct Debit being collected on the wrong day you first need to get on to that company first, but if you find you are hitting your head against a brick wall then, as Cheeky Chops wrote, get the bank involved.
I know banks are far from being perfect but it annoys me, in this situation, when people have a go at the bank, when 9 times out of 10 it is the Direct Debit organisation at fault.
I trust your Direct Debit company can sort things out for you. In my office we keep a 'Top Twenty' of the worst Direct Debit organisations we and our customers deal with. I wont list any but can tell you that power utilities and mobile phone companies are high on that list.
The banks don't pay out any of your money to a Direct Debit company. It's taken from your account by your Direct Debit organisation because the mandate you set up with them gives them permission to take your money.
Did you give them specific instructions on what day of the month they can take your money? If you did and they failed to collect on that date then they are the scumbags you need to get onto.
You can only have a go at the bank if you set up a Standing Order that went wrong, because that is an instruction to the bank to make payments on your behalf.
If you incur a charge because of of a Direct Debit being collected on the wrong day you first need to get on to that company first, but if you find you are hitting your head against a brick wall then, as Cheeky Chops wrote, get the bank involved.
I know banks are far from being perfect but it annoys me, in this situation, when people have a go at the bank, when 9 times out of 10 it is the Direct Debit organisation at fault.
I trust your Direct Debit company can sort things out for you. In my office we keep a 'Top Twenty' of the worst Direct Debit organisations we and our customers deal with. I wont list any but can tell you that power utilities and mobile phone companies are high on that list.
I know that it isn't the Bank's fault but the direct debit guarantee does say that THE BANK will give you an immediate refund. This is from BACs website:
The Direct Debit Guarantee
- If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change, the organisation collecting the payment will notify you normally 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed
- If an error is made by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid
- You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by contacting your bank or building society. We also recommend you notify the organisation concerned.
The Direct Debit Guarantee
- If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change, the organisation collecting the payment will notify you normally 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed
- If an error is made by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid
- You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by contacting your bank or building society. We also recommend you notify the organisation concerned.
Quite right CheekyChops, but if the error is made by the Direct Debit organisation, then yes the money is credited back into the customer's bank account, but provisionally to begin with.
This is because the bank then has to liaise with the DD company to ensure that they definitely made the error, and not say, as a result of a new mandate, or similar situation, the bank may not be aware of.
Once it is established that the DD company is at fault, then obviously the money in the customer's account is safe, but to ensure the same thing does not happen the following month, the customer needs to sort things out with the company concerned.
This is because the bank then has to liaise with the DD company to ensure that they definitely made the error, and not say, as a result of a new mandate, or similar situation, the bank may not be aware of.
Once it is established that the DD company is at fault, then obviously the money in the customer's account is safe, but to ensure the same thing does not happen the following month, the customer needs to sort things out with the company concerned.
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