A company has debited a payment from my account - presumably it's an honest mistake - and now it's overdrawn and I am unable to pay for some time sensitive things that I need to pay for immediately. If I don't buy them this weekend I can't buy them at all. Basically I'm furious. Sorting it is going to cost me, and already has cost me, a lot of time that I don't have to spare just now. Plus there's no overdraft on this account either so I'm gonna have penalty charges applied also. I am so angry right now. Does any one have any advice re my rights here?

Hi all my daughter & her husband have just come back from Italy, they hired a car for the few days on holiday no problems, however, when they returned the car the hire company did not check the car because the employee was the only one in the office and could not leave the office so he just took my daughters word that all was good. Well all must have been good because a few days later the £300 (i think) deposit was returned to her bank account ... good. But, a few days after that two charges were made by the hire company (locauto) via her card number that they had from the booking to her account totalling £450.00 No notification was made to her about the charges and she did not authorise them, her bank NatWest do not want to know however they did say it was not fraud??? even though she did not give permission. Any thoughts or actions we can take would be very much appreciated. Looking ahead for when anyone else pays for something via card how do you stop the company just taking money via that card number whenever they like? I know they have the security number on the back but they can still take money. Please advice would be very welcome. Russ

Hi there an thank you for your help. I have been living in the UK for 4 years, I have a overseas passport. I am returning home (sunny southern hemisphere) in 3 weeks. I owe -£1650 overdraft to Loyds, on the same account I've gone into "unauthorised overdraft" by £421. I have lost my job, and the situation has got really bad hense I need to leave the UK. I dont see my situation improving for another year or so. I friend told me the "unauthorised overdraft" could be a criminal offense, I've been in "unauthorised overdraft" for almost a week now and I fear not paying it or not contacting the bank could be considered fraud or something. I have an account with a another bank that is about £600 in credit. Which is all the money I have. I have NO UK assets, `NO family in the UK and I have no plans to return. My last registered address was a shared flat, moved out about a month ago... My options are. a) pay the unautherised amount before I leave? (as to not incur even more charges) b) contact the bank to arrange a payment plan? c) Or just leave without contacting, enjoy my new life sunning under palm trees and swimming on the beach? My main concurn is the "unauthorsied overdraft" as I know its racking up charges, and aparently because I'm aware and have not contacted the bank I could be prosecuted for fraud??? I'm not proud of this situation, I've been on a very low income for the past few years, had cheap credit then I have lost my job. Extreem living costs, credit at the click of a button.. Leaving the UK in 3 weeks... Please advise, thank you.

I am Fuming I took up the monthly free trial through credit expert. I canclled my membership within 30 days and was assured no payment will leave my bank accont. Six this evening 14.99 was debited. Contacted Barclays who do not want to know as to a charge back, head agaist brick wall comes to mind help

Can't the above be excluded from the "new postings" search as wading through several pages of this every day is getting boring!

Okay so ive not had many this year, but I have held a QuickQuid account for a few years, for short term loans, never missed a single payment etc. On September 28th I took a loan out of £50 with interest £62.50 due to be repaid on Friday 11th October, however the Tuesday before this I was laid off in questionable circumstances from my job, subsequently my wages were not paid into my bank as expected on the Friday. On the 13th of October I emailed quickquid explaining my situation and stating I had no monies whatsoever coming into my bank until I can find another job or sign on, in the meantime I am seeking employment and awaiting a benefit date but please bear with me until I can agree a payment plan and rest assured you are a priority creditor. I recieved a notice of overdue payment on the 14th, to which I re-sent my original email. I recieved an acknowledgement the same day to my email stating I need to contact them. I replied to this email explaining I havent a penny not even phone credit or a means of contacting them presently only email and to please give me time to sort my monies and benefits out to begin payments. The usual acknowledgment email was sent on the 16th October... Today my car insurance is due, luckily my mother had transferred the money into my account (to repay when I find work) as its due by direct debit, closer inspection of my bank statement those sickos at quickquid have been trying constantly to take money out of my account, they managed to take £15.90 on saturday and the remainder of my balance has also been taken out today Monday, I recieved the automated email saying thank you for your payment your account is now considered cleared. I now have no money for my overdue car insurance, as far as I was concerned these payments were unauthorised and very unethical!? Im not sure where I stand on this, im extremely annoyed and now worried, without a car I cannot seek work or attend interviews or begin work (trainee electrician).

I know it is only once a week the FCA posts the firms to avoid but today this went over 5 pages. While it is vitally important that people are informed of companies to avoid, could this not be done with just one link to the relevant forum?

Hey guys I am new here and looking for some advice in regards to an issue that I have had with Ebuyer, apparently I am not the only one. I had some RAM sticks and after 8 months they went faulty, I shipped them back to Ebuyer opposed to the manufacture Corsair, thinking the replacement would be quicker, boy was I wrong. they collected the RAM and sent it back and that was all fine, but the next day I got a message to say that due to them being over 6 months old I can only get a partial refund so from a £75 purchase I got a £62 refund, I didn't want this and I chose to have them replaced after getting that confirmed with the agent on the phone twice with that not being an issue. after all of that I didn't get the choice to stop the refund and chose to get it sent back to me to go via the manufacture. I called on the Friday about 30 mins before they closed they said the refund has not been made and I will cancel it now but we can't confirm your RAM is still here till Monday. after a long weekend waiting about thinking about am I going to have to fork out another £80 I don't have (as the new set had doubled in price.) I called them on the Monday and they said the refund had been made so I would have to pay it back to them, I said that is fine but the refund isn't in my account and won't be till Wednesday and they said well if you want we can authorize the payment on Wednesday so it gives you time to get your refund to then give back to us. That was noted and stated on my account. Later on on Monday afternoon I checked my bank and I was overdrawn, it turned out they took the money from me on Monday when I said it was only Authorized to come out on the Wednesday. now I am getting charged by my bank and Ebuyer are playing me for a fool and saying there was no note, but I called there bluff and said I had a recording of the call and they magically found the note. I will get an app to record calls and use it and call again to get actual proof in case they call my bluff. now have the proof that the payment was only to go through on the Wednesday. where do I stand to get these bank charges paid. Any help would be handy. Cheers guys. Sorry for the long read.

16 years ago I built an extension and formed a driveway into my property (all with relevant planning/building warrants). What I never got around to was dropping the kerb to form a "suitably" constructed crossing. Yesterday I recieved a letter from the council stating it had been brought to their attention that a vehicle is being driven across the footway in front of my property and that if I intend to use it to park my car in my property then I will have to construct a suitable crossing. Aside from a cost of around £1500 I would also have to lower an 8ft wall to 1 metre, 20 feet in length reducing my privacy significantly. Not one time in 16 years have I had an incident and the only damage that may have occured is to my own vehicle bumping it up and down a shallow kerb. Is there anything I could do in this situation? Thanks for any guidance. Ian in Scotland

I was insured with Admiral (car) for the last two years. This year, as last, my renewal notice came through and it was ridiculous, so I shopped around. The notice told me that payment was due on the 30th of June, which is when my current policy would end. I found eSure undercut them by around 50% so set up my new policy with them on the 23rd, rang Admiral and told them not to renew. This they acceded to, and I downloaded and sent my No Claims proof to eSure. All fine. Until I check my bank balance on the 29th (tonight) and notice that I'm a bit short. £620.10 short, to be precise, due to Admiral debiting my account for that sum (the increased premium) on the 19th of the month. While I'm aware that they have the right to automatically renew my policy should I not tell them otherwise (their way of "helping" ensure I don't wind up uninsured courtesy of the recent changes in law), there's no reason for them to take the payment a fortnight before the policy is due to expire and before the due date they listed in the email. I've also been onto their website and the policy which I was told on the phone I would not have (2013-2014) is there for all to see; cover note, policy details and all. As a result, I am likely to go overdrawn and be unable to pay some bills until this is rectified. Do I have a right to compensation as they've obviously screwed up? And is it worth my while writing to the Ombudsman?

Hi everyone, This is my first time on any forum, and I would appreciate any advice regarding my position with Barclays. I have a business account with them but the company, which is Ltd ceased trading at the end of Feb, All the direct debits were cancelled via online banking and the remaining balance was transferred into another account. Once the accountant had completed the final accounts the company was to be removed from companies house, however Barclays paid a £2500.00 bill (which had previously been set up on variable dir deb (but did not show on the list of dir debits) The account has never been overdrawn and no overdraft facility was ever agreed, (as it is a ltd company any overdraft facility would have to be signed personally) So even though no money had been paid into the account for several months, the balance transferred and no overdraft in place they still made this payment,does it have to be paid back to them?

hi can you help..i took out a pay day loan with tls..due to pay back last friday..i got made redundant and knew i wouldnt have money to cover it..so contacted them... i have just checked my bank account and received letter from my bank stating they have allowed payments of 225 to be taken and have given me an unplanned overdraft..payments were for tls..who emailed me stating my account is now cleared and paid...surely if i didnt have money in account they were able to do this....i get only jsa money...and would have been happy to pay the loan store 10 per fortnight..now i have a 225 unplanned overdraft..they are going to charge me 5.00 per day til it is paid...help please...i dont agree with this..

Hi, I wonder if any of you may be able to give me any constructive advice. Last week I discovered 7 transactions from my debit card over £1000 worth, that I knew nothing about or authorised. These were all chip and pin. The bank are now saying that it was my card and the correct pin used so they are not responsible. The situation is I did not make the transactions, my card and myself were 80 miles away at the time, but cannot get the bank to do anything. They emptied my account and am now in serious financial trouble They have referred me to Financial Ombudsman and having spoken to them, can take several months. I need some help please Can someone tell me if I have posted this on the wrong forum?

Hi Long story short: In November my last year Mrs Rasher agreed to bail my son out of a payday loan. She actioned this by paying the outstanding balance on the account using her joint account Visa Debit card. Yesterday we noticed an odd transaction on our bank statement. It was £200 paid to this payday loan company in mid February. This was not authorised by either of us. Natwest were advised this morning that this was an unauthorised transaction. They have said they will take no action - basically saying that we have an agreement with the payday loan company - needless to say we do not! I am a tad annoyed about this. What should I do next? What are my rights? Thanks BaconRasher

I recently tried purchasing a £1,600 laptop through Dell (28/12/12), however it wouldn't go through as my bank wouldn't release the funds for this transaction. Dell didn't receive any money, so the whole order was cancelled on Dell's behalf (it said "Cancelled" on their website, so the proof is there), and it was left at that. Knowing that the order was now cancelled and my bank wouldn't release the money to them, I had another think about it and decided I wouldn't attempt to make another order as there were a lot of sales going on after Christmas and thought my money could be better spent, even though I did need a high end laptop for my animation work. Roughly, 2 weeks later (08/01/13), Dell had made a completely new order without me knowing, whatsoever. I only found out because I got an email through telling me my order was now "In production". I looked at my bank account and noticed nothing had been taken out, so I thought it was a glitch on their system. Perhaps, I might even get a laptop for free out of it? A couple of days later I then receive another email from a Dell rep informing me that there was indeed a glitch in their system and gave me a link to track the order, which has now been shipped out to me. I again, look at my bank account and notice they haven't taken any money from it. I thought great! It has gone past the payment verification stage, all the way through to the shipping stage without them charging me. I thought this was karma for them as they completely screwed me over on my last purchase of a Dell computer earlier that year. Anyway, I tried purchasing some food yesterday and my card got declined. I've been without food since last night and it was incredibly embarrassing at the time! I've looked at my statements and can now see Dell has taken out a massive sum (the original price of the computer) out of my account which has caused me to go well into my overdraft, and now probably incurring interest charges as well! The order was made without my knowledge, and the charge was made without me authorising it! How do I approach Dell about this? Where do I stand legally? A simple refund won't do, if they have indeed broken the law and have caused me an overwhelming amount of stress with the possibility of interest charges made to my account. I am supposed to be receiving the computer today. Should I keep it and demand a refund? What is my position in this?

hello, quick bit of advice. Some old creditor has somehow managed to access my bank account over the weekend and emptied it, whilst I was away. any debit card debit details they held were only on the understanding of being for "ID verification" not repayment, and I have had several new cards since then. However, Natwest are telling me that it is their "policy" that loan companies pretty much have open access to your account if you have ever dealt with them, ie, Natwest will refuse to honour the reverse unauthorised payments Visa debit card scheme if the person emptying your account is a loans company. Point blank refusal and increasing nastyness from their call centre in fact. The fact that one may no longer have a business relationship with said creditor, say you have actually paid all you owe, does not matter - because its a Loan Company, then it is not Natwest's policy to extend any protection to your account. It is up to you to chase the company, and if they refuse to repay, then "tough" natwest will not assist you - the guy on the phone even told me, that if someone has fraudulently taken an account with a loan company in your name, Natwest will still refuse to honour and perform a reversal! You must then chase the loan company to try and get your money back thats been taken by a fraudster. Is any of this right, is it even a lawful policy? I was under the stupid idea, that my money was my money, and if I don't authorise a transaction then under the new guarantees, that transaction should be reversed? Otherwise, let this stand as a warning to caggers. They actually took 3 payments of varying amounts at the exact same time on friday night, so its pretty clearly not a normal authorised transaction too. I would love some advice if Natwest are acting wrongly here, because I am diabetic with serious neuropathy problems and my entire ESA payment for the next 2 months has been taken by the old creditor.

On 12th September 2012 two unauthorised direct debits came out of our Lloyds business account for £183.60 each (total £367.20) going to a company with which we have no agreement. We found out about this in December when completing our vat return and phoned Lloyds on 12th of December to notify them. We were informed on the phone that the payments would be recredited to our account and the direct debit cancelled and that this was being actioned immediately. Job done. We phoned back, just to be on the safe side, spoke to another member staff who confirmed that action was being taken, and enquired if we should cancel the direct debits manually via the online control panel. They were non-committal and said that we could if we wanted to. We did. Upon checking the account again on January 15th we noticed that no credits had been made to refund these funds. There is no contact email or messaging service via the online facility and so we were forced to telephone Lloyds once again. We explained the situation once again and asked them to check on the status of the refund. We were then told that the refund had been "actioned" on January 11th and that the funds should appear within 3-5 working days of that date. We complained that we were informed on December 12th that the funds would be recredited to our account immediately. They responded that as it was an indemnity claim going back some months that it takes longer to process. Whilst renegotiating our overdraft facility on January 16th, another extended phone call, we enquired as to the status of the refund again. After a lengthy explanation we were told that it had indeed been actioned and that it would take 3-5 days. No explanations were forthcoming regarding the assurances given on December 12th that the refund would be made immediately. When asked for a reference we were told that this was unavailable. When asked to be referred to a supervisor we were repeatedly told that one was unavailable. When asked for a email address for the complaints department I was told there was none. When asked for an address for the complaints department we were told that they did not have one. We were told that a complaint could be raised by them but no reference could be given. We agreed to the complaint being raised and were asked to ......... please hold. More than 10 mins later and back on the line we were told that a complaint had been raised and "would we accept £50 for the trouble?". We replied that, no, we would not accept the pay off as we had no information from them whatsoever regarding the refund and obviously could not now rely on information given over the phone as this had proved to be incorrect previously. We asked again to speak to a supervisor, or at least to the person who had authorised the £50 pay off, but were told that they were unavailable. We asked for the contact details of the Banking Ombudsman and were told that they did not have one and maybe we should look on Google. After a great degree of cajoling, and threatening to take the issue to the Banking Ombudsman, we were then, very reluctantly, given a reference number for the "indemnity claim", a "complaint reference", a "team manager's" name and the address where the staff member was situated. We were still refused any contact info for the complaints department. The whole phone call took 1 hour and 15 mins. As far as we can see Lloyds bank have conducted unauthorised borrowing of £367.20 from our account for over 30 days. Are we within our rights to demand the interest due at the current Lloyds unauthorised business borrowing rate, together with the original sum plus expenses for the time and inconvenience caused. Also ... surely Lloyds bank (as with any on-line business) cannot refuse to provide an email complaints contact address. This wall of misinformation and timewasting is incredibly frustrating.

Hello What can my friend do to stop the bank keep adding charges on a unauthorised overdraft? In the last three months the charges have exceeded to over a thousand pound. My friend has written to the Bank on two occasions regarding this matter but have received no response to either letter. Thanks for any advice given. Thanks

I'm wondering if anyone would be able to offer me any advice. I have a Flex account with Nationwide which I use for bits and pieces (an account that i've had since 1999) Approximately 5/6 years ago I called Nationwide to remove the reserve limit that they put on my a/c without my knowledge. This meant that if I went slightly over a 15 POUND unautharised overdraft charge would be applied to my account. Apparently it's a 'buffer' incase you run into trouble and need it. I asked for this to be removed as I don't use the a/c as a main a/c and only have limited funds in there. They removed the reserve limit so I could not go a penny overdrawn - meaning NO charges. ...GREAT..... .until it started happening again by way of paid item charges. They assured me this would never happen again but unbeknown to me it has. Is this allowed?

... and so they charged him for that aswell! Son only earns £200.00 a month (he works part time in a primary school) and they've taken £100.00 off him. Son was in the process of closing this account as he had nothing but trouble with them and I honestly believe this is a retaliatory gesture. Put together a letter asking for charges back and received the attached in reply. Any help and advice on our next step would be appreciated.

Hi. I received a payday loan from Cash Converters a couple of months ago. I set it up so that I would come into the store and repay the loan and interest when my DLA was paid into my bank account... They said that they would need my card details to check that the bank account and card were indeed mine, by taking a couple of pounds out and then replacing it. They also said that they could also take the repayment as a debit card transaction, if I fail to pay, or I instruct them to. I won't give all the ins and outs of what happened, as I don't want to bore everyone to death, but to cut a long story short, I forgot all about the loan and my debit card expired. I assume they tried to make a debit card withdrawal, but the card information they had was "old". I then woke up this morning, checked the bank to see if this months DLA went in, and am confronted with a £130 Direct Debit! I can't remember saying to Cash Converters that they could setup a Direct Debit to my bank account, which the bank said was setup this morning! I telephoned my bank to ask what was going on, as I can't see what has gone where 'til the following day, and they cancelled the DD and said my money should return to my account by the morning. What I am wanting to know, is if they, or any other company, can set up DD's without consent? or is there something in the small print saying they can? True, I owe them the money, and my personnal circumstances is not of interest to them, but I now feel that they can wait for me to pay, as they "Burgaled" my account! Can anyone tell me the legal side of what has happened, or is it well known they can dip into your account when they want? Ta muchly!

I took out an annual policy with Hastings in early April. They requested I supply them with information about the car's ownership and allow them access to take details from my previous insurer for no claims details. I didn't supply the information within the time frame they required and they amended my policy - they took an extra £566 from my bank account using the debit card details from my initial application. I phoned their customer services help line and was assured that if I could supply the details to them within the next hour or so they would reimburse me. I supplied the information, but was then told they were unable to reimburse me: 1) They could not access the email I had sent to customer services (as directed by the first customer advisor) until Monday (this was a Saturday); 2) There had been a break between me having car insurance with my last company and this would have to be dealt with by another team that didn't work on Saturday (I had sold my last car and therefore didn't need insurance for that period). On the Monday I contacted customer services again and was told the team who dealt with reading incoming emails had a backlog and would probably not be able to verify the information I had given them in order to verify that the original details I had given them. Later on Monday I received an email reply from the Business Administration Team who acknowledged my ownership of the car, but they said it confirmed my ownership since early April (the day I bought the car) and not a date from 2004 as I had originally entered. I was confused as to why they had come up with a date from 2004 - the original application I had made on the day I bought the car had been confirmed by their email when I took out the insurance - I had not mistakenly entered a date from 2004. I pointed this out in the email reply I gave to BAT that same day and again requested they refund the £566 and that they respond within 5 working days. The following Friday I received a written letter with another amended - they had refunded £466 into my account, but kept £100 of the unauthorised payment due to non-continuous insurance. When I first leaned of the unauthorised payment I would have cancelled the policy then and there, but for the fact the customer advisor told me I would lose the whole amount of the annual payment I had given them and also some of the £566 they had taken. A very expensive 6-7 weeks insurance!! I am thoroughly disgusted with Hastings Direct and the shabby way they conduct their business. I would appreciate sound advice as to the cheapest way to cancel my policy with them. Has anyone had success going through Hastings complaints procedure?

Hi all, My phone was stolen roughly 3 weeks ago and £600 of unauthorised call charges were made before I realised it was stolen. My phone was stolen / lost on Saturday 26th May and I only realised on Monday 28th upon which I called O2 to inform them of this. When accessing my account online I noticed the £600 of unauthorised charges and filed a claim with customer services. They told me they would get back to me within five days. My bill came through on 16th June and it listed the unauthorised charges (plus VAT) - my bill stands at about £737 inc VAT. I am on a simplicity plan at around £20 per month. The money is due to come out of my account by direct debit on 30th June. I absolutely cannot afford this. I finally received a response to my claim today which stated the following: I have been a customer with O2 since the first iPhone came out (about 5 years) and a broadband customer for over four years, so I am obviously devastated that they would not offer any goodwill gestures in relation to this theft. I have never been late with any payments and the most my bill has come to is about £60. I have only ever called international numbers whilst abroad, so I am surprised that O2s fraud detection systems did not notice this irregular activity. I would appreciate any assistance in dealing with this matter. I am in the process of writing a complaint letter to O2 regarding this and to request a review of their decision not to offer any goodwill credits. Thanks all in advance

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