Bank want to debit my account without my permission!!

[Livis]

Hello all,

My OH has a quick question that i thought some helpful people on here can help with.

He received a refund from Littlewoods Direct some time ago for £224, this went straight on to the catalogue account and i don't even think he noticed it.

Then a few months later Littlewoods issued a cheque for the same amount, which he paid in the bank.

Anyway he recieved a letter last week from the bank saying Littlewoods have made an error and they will be taking this amount back from his account on the 26th of this month!!

Can they do this? If so we won't have enough money to cover our rent:confused:

Has anyone got any suggestions on how best to handle this please?

Ta Livis xx

[spamheed]

do they have a direct debit in place for Littlewoods?

 

If they don't have any legal entity in place to withdraw monies from your account ie standing order/direct debit and the money wasn't paid via bacs transfer then no they cannot touch your account.

[harrassed senior]

I am assuming that you never cancelled the original Direct Debit Mandate at your bank for Littlewoods?

 

You will need to contact your bank asap and cancel this Mandate, personally I would do this in person as well as by telephone so that you have written proof that this was done in plenty of time.

 

Once these types of people have your bank details, you must be very careful to cancel all instructions even if they are no longer active.

[Livis]

Hello Spamheed,

Thankyou for your reply,

The money was paid into the account via a cheque, so does that mean nationwide have no authority to issue that amount back to littlewoods?

[harrassed senior]

When you say 'the bank' do you mean your own bank? as this is very strange.

 

Are you in receipt of any benefits, as you may be able to stop this if you need the money to live on.

[Livis]

Hello Harassed Senior, thanks for your advice too.

I've just got the letter from nationwide in front of me now and it's a little different than what i first thought it seems.

Basically littlewoods took a DD from OH account in January for £227.68.

OH rang bank and said this was wrong and they then reversed the DD.

Then later on Littlewoods sent a cheque to OH for £227.68 which he duly cashed ???

So it seems that Littlewoods are actually owed that money.

They have notified the bank of this and they are now going to refund the amount to Littlewoods on thr 26th of this month?

Is there anything we can do to stop this happening ?

Sorry for the confusion folks xx

[creditcardmug]

Yes cancel that DD straightaway, write to littlewoods, and say you are prepared to pay the money by installments (an amount you can afford), and dont take no for an answer

[harrassed senior]

Not sure of how this is legally, but I would have thought that the bank owed some loyalty to you on this matter, and I am not sure why they are involved?

 

IMHO I would contact your bank and tell them that you will deal directly with Littlewoods over this alleged overpayment and inform them that you do not consent to them debiting your account by this amount without there being an agreement in place between them and you!

 

They cannot take the law into their own hands and decide to make a payment out of your account to anyone who contacts them, even if they can see that a 'mistake' has been made, that is for you to sort out with Littlewoods, not them!

[Livis]

Thanks we will give them a call in a minute xx

[BankFodder]

The bank will try to tell you that the Direct debit can only be cancelled through the beneficiary.

 

This is not true and you will have to insist very aggressively and writing that it is cancelled immediately and by them.

Pu them on notice that you will complain to the Ombudsman and that you will enforce the direct debt guarantee against them.

 

Harrassed senior suggests that the bank owes you some loyalty in the matter. I don't intend any offence when I say that this is touchingly naive.

The banks have no bonds of loyalty towards their customers and they certainly feel that any loyalties are towards their finance industry cronies.

[Livis]

We have no direct debit mandate in place with them anymore, so i presume they are just going to refund littlewoods directly by bacs??

[spamheed]

They cannot ask a bank for payment, it is for the owner of the account to give such permission, not the bank.

 

If a Direct debit exists, then they can simply claim that they are owed thje monies and claw it back via the DD (as previously mentioned) if there is no such DD in place then there is no mechanism for them to take such monies from your account.

 

Should your bank unilaterally decide to pay out such monies then you are not liable for the loss as you have not offered agreement or acceptance of the withdrawal

 

My belief is that where a facility is instated to allow a customer to pay monies directly to a creditor, the arrangement would also allow the creditor to "take" monies as they require - this is why we always recommend using standing orders over Direct Debits when dealing with Creditors.

 

Or putting it as simply as possible: check with the bank to make sure that no such facility exists, take the name of the person concerned

 

I would contact the bank and request clarification that there is no DD and no facility in place by which Littlewoods can remove monies from your account.

[JonCris]

They cannot arbitrarily take money from your account without your agreement unless they are setting off against another account or loan you have with the bank

 

Also I agree with BF most banks will claim the receiver has to cancel, this is rubbish & a blatant lie - Under the DD guarantee you have the right to cancel but it must be in writing - & they know this but won't tell you then they can claim you didn't cancel - also watch out for the creditor reconstituting the DD without your knowledge or consent - it's important to make it clear to the bank (in writing) that under no circumstances are they to pay this alleged creditor without your express written consent