Do NOT EVER set up Direct Debits with DCA's (or anybody else either)

[jimbo45]

Hi there

experienced Caggers will know this already but to those who are likely to get suckered in by "sweet offers of discounts" etc if you pay by Direct Debit

 

PLEASE NEVER EVER DO THIS. This gives the person to whom you are paying the money TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT AT WILL without telling you.

 

IMO this should be TOTALLY ILLEGAL but as we all know there is one law for Banks etc and another for the rest of us. I'm sure you've all heard horror stories about how some utility companies have increased peoples monthly direct debits HUGELYleaving no money left in the account.

 

If you want to pay a fixed some of money each month PLEASE DO THIS BY STANDING ORDER INSTEAD --this means you get THEIR bank details and tell your bank to pay in XXX per month and THEY CAN'T CHANGE IT.

 

NEVER EVER in any case pay a DCA by direct debit --we all know how honest DCA's are in the main don't we.

 

A Standing Order is the best way to pay a fixed monthly fee --then if people need or want more they have to ASK YOU rather than just being able to take it for themselves.

 

The whole Financial industry is so ONE SIDED that its about time the WHOLE SORRY STINKING MESS was properly sorted out including OUTRIGHT BANNING of selling on debts to 3rd parties.

 

Cheers

jimbo.

[Ubiquitious]

They should always give you 2 weeks notice if they are changing the amount. Tell your bank and they should refund.

 

The difficulty might be proving you was not informed however.

[jimbo45]

Hi there

this doesn't actually get over the initial objection I have with Direct Debits as they put SOMEONE ELSE in charge of your money. It's up to YOU to decide how much to pay and to whom which is why I DETEST the whole idea of DD's.

 

Bill payments were always previously done by Standing Orders and it's up to the utility company or whatever to request YOU to change the amount --not for THEM to say WE will be TAKING XXX out of your bank account.

 

It's YOUR MONEY so YOU need to be in charge of it --NOT SOMEBODY ELSE.

 

Also with a DD YOU have to give THEM your Bank details. With a Standing order YOU get THEIR Bank details. YOU remain in charge.

 

Cheers

jimbo

[Rayne]

Gotta go with what jimbo said here tbh

[harrassed senior]

Hi there

this doesn't actually get over the initial objection I have with Direct Debits as they put SOMEONE ELSE in charge of your money. It's up to YOU to decide how much to pay and to whom which is why I DETEST the whole idea of DD's.

 

Bill payments were always previously done by Standing Orders and it's up to the utility company or whatever to request YOU to change the amount --not for THEM to say WE will be TAKING XXX out of your bank account.

 

It's YOUR MONEY so YOU need to be in charge of it --NOT SOMEBODY ELSE.

 

 

Cheers

jimbo

 

 

I Agree wholeheartedly with this, but, in todays' Society life is very hard without a bank account and plastic. We all have exeriences of money 'missing' from our accounts, or wrongly taken from our account in a flash of an eyelid, and even if proved beyond a doubt it usually takes days for it to be refunded instead of the seconds to 'take'.

 

The look on shopkeepers, online dealers etc. when you say I do not have plastic. I remember one instance with Direct Line Insurance - I purchased a travel policy online automatically and sent a cheque, went away where luckily nothing happened and when I got hope a terse note from Direct Line saying - we do not accept cheques, so we don't want your business!!!

 

I have said on many threads before, it is going back to the days of keeping your money underthe mattress or in a biscuit tin. I would love to know how the safety on that compares to using banks and financial organizations these days?

[mark13]

They should always give you 2 weeks notice if they are changing the amount. Tell your bank and they should refund.

 

The difficulty might be proving you was not informed however.

 

Whilst I tend to agree with the general advice of never setting up DD's with a DCA it is worth noting that would not be for you to prove you were not informed.

 

If you make a claim under the Direct Debit Guarantee your bank is obliged to reimburse you immediately and then take it up with the payee. If your complaint was not being given due notice of a change it would be for the payee to prove otherwise.

[jimbo45]

Hi there

All I am trying to say here is that if you set up Standing Orders rather than DD's then YOU don't have to go through all this aggro when things eventually DO go wrong -- for example you could legitimately get a note saying your Electricity / Gas DD is being increased -- However say you were working away or not at home for a while the DD would have already gone through and it's hard reclaiming the money AFTER its gone --especially if your account has been raided so there is nothing left in it.

 

With a SO this CANNOT happen -- if prices rise you will have plenty of time to alter your SO. The Utility companies etc WON'T cut you off etc if there's a small shortfall for a month or two.

 

The point is that YOU need to be in control of YOUR money and NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

 

The only reason DD's were invented was for Utility companies etc not to have to bother with a lot of paperwork each time they changed their tariff's.

 

As for letting a DCA have a DD ---- well would you invite a fox into the chicken coop.

 

Cheers

jimbo

[creditcardmug]

You're absolutely correct of course, we have been saying this on here for years.

Myself, i wouldn't pay a DCA anything, unless..

1. they have a genuine assignment from the OC

2. Following a CCA request, i am convinced its enforceable, and that i wouldnt have a fighting chance of defending it in court.

 

And if i did pay anything it would be either in cash or by PO!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

When ever I use the DD facilities I always insist on a paper trail,

signed by me and posted back,causes a few days delay.

I always add hand written the following.

NOTICE the amount due must be claimed on and NOT before

the due date, the fixed amount of this DD must not be increased

without my express permission.

Only one company has moaned so I cancelled the order and bought cheaper

elsewhere.

No one can just raid your accounts at a whimm especially the energy crooks

just to make their figure look good!!!

[Hardupnotfedup]

Best way to pay is by online bill payment you choose the day and the amount but just remember it can take up to 4 days to complete transaction.

[baileyboy]

Best way to pay is by online bill payment you choose the day and the amount but just remember it can take up to 4 days to complete transaction.

 

Usually takes less than a couple of hours for on-line transactions to get to the creditors current / business account. What takes the 3-4 days is the money working through their own in house procedures to credit your card / loan account. They cannot say they didn't receive the money in time as they are only covering up for there own in-efficiency.

[count orlok]

Fortunatly it is quite easy to stop a DD. I used to pay my utility bills by DD, I say used to, I now wait for the bill and pay it then. I used to have a pre-payment meter, and when i moved to a new build I decided to go DD to save money. For about a year I Paid without fail, then I started to get threatening letters from a different company.

 

I had used a different comapny to the builders and my payments where going to pay the bill on a house that had been pulled down years ago. It took me ages to realise what had happened, and hours on the phone sorting it out, I had to get back all the money I had paid and pay the proper account. Needless to say I dropped the supplier. I then went for the one that offered me the best price, again I paid without fail for a year. After a year they read the meter, and wrote to me saying I was a few hundred in arrears and they would be putting my DD up to some obscene monthly figure that would have cleared my account (in fact the amount was so large the bank probably would not have paid it and charged me), leaaving nothing to pay other bills or even buy food.

 

I contacted them to queiry this and they assured me the DD would not go ahead, untill it was sorted. It turned they had underestimated my use in order to give me a low price in order to get me to sign up, plus I had been put on the wrong taffif. To be on the safe side I canceeled the DD anyway as I did not trust them. A little while later I got a letter say my DD had been returned by the bank (the DD they said they would not take)! In the meantime I contacted a charity to pay the arrears and started putting the money aside to pay the next quarterly bill.

 

I do pay a few fixed bills by DD, but all DCAs, Credit companies, and utility bills are paid by SO or in arrears on recipt of bill. I get my money every 2 weeks in arrears, they will get their in the same way. When i decide i can pay it not when they say.