Hastings Direct Car insurance took money from mums card without permission

[bloodline67]

Hi All,

 

Just thought I'd share my recent experience that I had with Hastings Direct car insurance.

 

I took the insurance out about 6 months ago and my mum kindly lent us the money on her debit card to pay the initial fee as we were a little short on cash,

 

I then set up the direct debit with my account details for the monthly payments.

This has all been going well until last week.

 

November was a tough month for us and so we couldn't afford to pay the DD on the due date but would have the money about a week later,

I had the usual email/letter for Hastings about the late DD payment and so phoned them up to explain that I could pay them in two days time,

the chap I spoke to looked into this and then said

 

"O don't worry we've attempted to take it again and been successful,

if the system cant take the DD first time it tries again a few days later".

 

I knew there was a bit of money in the account for food shopping and resigned myself to the fact they we wouldn't be able to get that much shopping that night,

and thought that was the end of the matter.

 

Imagine my surprise then when last week my Mum phoned me asking why Hastings Direct had taken money out of here account last month.

 

I phoned them up and asked them to explain why they had taken an unauthorized payment from my Mothers account

and was told according to the T&C's if a monthly DD payment was not paid they will attempt to take it from the card that the original payment was made from.

 

I was not aware of this in the T&C's but accepted the fact that I should have read them more carefully

but explained that in the previous call I was told that my DD payment had been successful

and that there was no mention that it had come from my Mothers card.

 

The answer I was then given was unbelievable,

 

"we don't need to tell you where the payment was taken from".

 

I then tried to explain that when I had previously phoned it had been about my DD,

as the call centered on the DD and nothing else I assumed as would most people that when I was told the payment was successful it referred to the DD,

 

once again I was told they didn't have to tell me where the payment had come from,

in fact the person I was speaking to was coming over very arrogant and unsympathetic

I asked to speak to his line manager.

 

To cut a long story short the line manager said the same thing all though she was very sympathetic,

explained that I should have been told where the payment had come from

and then refunded my Mums money back to her account (meaning I now owe them the money just before Xmas)

and also sent me a cheque for £10 for the inconvenience.

 

She also removed my Mums card details from the system.

 

the moral of this story is if you use a different card for the initial payment once its gone through get it removed from the system,

never assume anything when phoning Hastings Direct no matter how obvious the subject may be

and from a personal point of view be very wary of using Hastings Direct as an insurance company.

 

I will never use them again and may in fact cancel my policy with them even though it would mean paying a fee.

 

Shocking company with a shocking customer care center.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

The Hastings rep is usually here every day, I'm sure he will answer you when he sees the thread.

 

Would it be possible for you to edit some paragraphs into your post to make it easier to read please? You should get more advice that way.

 

My best, HB

[bloodline67]

Hi HB, I had split it into paragraphs but when I posted it had been all merged into one big paragraph. I've just gone in to try and fix it but every time it comes out the same, any suggestions?

[unclebulgaria67]

Hastings are not allowed to do this in regard to a third party mandate. It is against the rules that they signed up with the company that processes the payments and is probably also against FCA rules. When any policyholder uses a third parties payment details, the Insurers should obtain the consent of the third party in regard to the payment they are making and also to authorise any subsequent payments. Normally they should send a separate letter to the third party to confirm that they have maintained their payment instruction and to give them notice of any further payments.

 

Sounds like Hastings accounts staff need some retraining, otherwise they risk getting into problems with their regulator, as well as the people that handle their payments.

 

Your Mum can ask her bank to reject the payment, as she did not authorise it. Her bank has to do this. You can then make arrangements with Hastings to pay the missing payment. I think Hastings do owe some form of compensation for their mistake.

 

Hopefully the Hastings rep will sort this out and also provide feedback to their compliance managers about what has happened.

[honeybee13]

Hi HB, I had split it into paragraphs but when I posted it had been all merged into one big paragraph. I've just gone in to try and fix it but every time it comes out the same, any suggestions?

 

It looks OK now. If you have problems in the future, you could try pressing the Return button twice. There's also something like

that you can type, but I can't remember the exact format.

 

HB

[bloodline67]

Hastings are not allowed to do this in regard to a third party mandate. It is against the rules that they signed up with the company that processes the payments and is probably also against FCA rules. When any policyholder uses a third parties payment details, the Insurers should obtain the consent of the third party in regard to the payment they are making and also to authorise any subsequent payments. Normally they should send a separate letter to the third party to confirm that they have maintained their payment instruction and to give them notice of any further payments.

 

Sounds like Hastings accounts staff need some retraining, otherwise they risk getting into problems with their regulator, as well as the people that handle their payments.

 

Your Mum can ask her bank to reject the payment, as she did not authorise it. Her bank has to do this. You can then make arrangements with Hastings to pay the missing payment. I think Hastings do owe some form of compensation for their mistake.

 

Hopefully the Hastings rep will sort this out and also provide feedback to their compliance managers about what has happened.

 

I have to agree, I can't believe they can take money like that. It will be interesting to see if the Hastings Rep responds to this post.

[Blondmusic]

Kwik fit did this to me once. I paid a payment on my boyfriends car insurance just the once (i owed him some money so volunteered to make the payment for him). I telephoned Kwik Fit, told them the card was a 1 off payment and that they were to take no further payments from my card. 6 months later they took £120 off my card without warning, I phoned my bank who said this company had been trying to take various amounts out over the past few weeks so I had my card cancelled after I withdrew the remaining money from my account. 4 of my standing orders were returned including 1 for my council tax and the bank charged me £15 each for those so I was not happy.

 

When my boyfriend discovered it was Kwik Fit later that day he got straight on the phone to them then passed them onto me. I demanded the £120 they stole, the £60 worth of bank charges I incurred as well as compensation for the week I had no access to money in my account as I was waiting for a new card. Once they listened to the original call they refunded the money they had taken, my bank charges and compensation.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

I have to agree, I can't believe they can take money like that. It will be interesting to see if the Hastings Rep responds to this post.

 

Hi bloodline67, Thank you for taking the time to post. We are very sorry for the delayed response. Can you please contact us directly by email and provide the relevant policy details and we will ensure that this matter is addressed urgently. [email protected] Many Thanks, Jamie

[bloodline67]

Its good to see that I've got a reply from the Hastings Rep. Email has now been sent, lets see what happens next

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Thank you for your email, we will ensure that this is looked into for you straight away. Many Thanks, Jamie

[bloodline67]

Thought I'd update you all on how things have progressed.

 

In short no change. Hastings Direct are unwilling to budge from there initial decision. As far as they are concerned as its stated in the their T&C and that they also stated it in a letter they sent me (which I don't recall) they can take money from a third parties debit/credit card.

 

The only new thing I've learned is that their response times to emails is terrible, even though I was promised a reply before Xmas I didn't receive one and I had to keep chasing to finally get a reply. I would like to say though that Jaime on here was very good in replying and I do thank him for trying to sort out this problem for me.

 

I currently still don't have the money to pay the £41 that I owe, this includes the £20 late payment penalty, so it looks like I will have to take the car off the road until I get paid. I am then going to get insurance with another company, I would rather pay the £55 cancellation fee plus the initial fee to the new company then carry on with Hastings Direct, will Hastings Direct be bothered? Not in the slightest.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Thank you for the update and for mentioning Jamie. I'm sorry it isn't going the way you hoped. Maybe the forum guys will come up with an idea or two for you.

 

HB

[unclebulgaria67]

You should ask Hastings Direct for their final response so that you can now go straight to the FOS. If it goes to the FOS, it will cost HD a £500 case fee and you nothing. For this reason, HD may want to come to a solution you are happy with.

 

It takes 5 minutes to make a complaint to the FOS and they will do the rest. It is a no brainer.

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

[bloodline67]

You should ask Hastings Direct for their final response so that you can now go straight to the FOS. If it goes to the FOS, it will cost HD a £500 case fee and you nothing. For this reason, HD may want to come to a solution you are happy with.

 

It takes 5 minutes to make a complaint to the FOS and they will do the rest. It is a no brainer.

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

 

Thanks for the advice unclebulgaria67, I have had in the email a copy of the letter they sent to me and from what I can gather it is the final response from Hastings Direct. At the end of it they have even said if I remain dissatisfied I can refer the matter to the FOS and they have even given me the contact details, so as I said in my previous post they really don't seem to care one way or another.

I'm not even sure if it would be worth pursuing because as their letter states it was in their T&C's and that they also notified me by letter where the payment would come from.

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks for the advice unclebulgaria67, I have had in the email a copy of the letter they sent to me and from what I can gather it is the final response from Hastings Direct. At the end of it they have even said if I remain dissatisfied I can refer the matter to the FOS and they have even given me the contact details, so as I said in my previous post they really don't seem to care one way or another.

I'm not even sure if it would be worth pursuing because as their letter states it was in their T&C's and that they also notified me by letter where the payment would come from.

 

HD are in the wrong. They needed a third party mandate and to have advised the third party before they debited the money.

 

Up to you really. You appear to be defeatist. The problem is that if people don't complaint, HD will get a way with doing this again and again. They will tell everyone that it is in their t&c's, even if their procedures are wrong.

 

I think you stand a good chance with the FOS.

[bloodline67]

HD are in the wrong. They needed a third party mandate and to have advised the third party before they debited the money.

 

Up to you really. You appear to be defeatist. The problem is that if people don't complaint, HD will get away with doing this again and again. They will tell everyone that it is in their t&c's, even if their procedures are wrong.

 

I think you stand a good chance with the FOS.

 

Didn't mean to sound defeatist, its just these things start to wear you down after a while. Your right if people don't take these things further then companies like HD will carry on getting away with it.

 

With that in mind I'm going to take your advice and complain to the FOS, as you said what have I got to lose. I will contact HD first to confirm that the letter I have received is their final response and then use the link you've provided.

 

Let the battle begin

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi Bloodline67, I can confirm that the attachment in the email is the final response from our Customer Relations team. I am sorry that you remain unhappy with the decision provided, please let me know if there is anything further that you require and please keep this thread updated with your progress. Many Thanks, Jamie

[bloodline67]

Hi Bloodline67, I can confirm that the attachment in the email is the final response from our Customer Relations team. I am sorry that you remain unhappy with the decision provided, please let me know if there is anything further that you require and please keep this thread updated with your progress. Many Thanks, Jamie

 

Thank you again Jaime for your quick response and I will keep the thread updated

[unclebulgaria67]

Do some reading concerning the way Insurance companies have to handle payments to third party accounts. The FCA have rules that apply and in my opinion HD appear to have breached these.

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/cpa-principles/#.Usqo0LTmWy8

 

http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/payment-services-approach.pdf

[bloodline67]

Do some reading concerning the way Insurance companies have to handle payments to third party accounts. The FCA have rules that apply and in my opinion HD appear to have breached these.

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/cpa-principles/#.Usqo0LTmWy8

 

http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/payment-services-approach.pdf

 

WOW thats a lot of info in the second link and to be honest couldn't really get my head round any of it.

 

I'm starting to fill out the FOS form and have got to the bit where I need to explain what my complaint is. On my first attempt I ran out of room as the text box seems to have a limit on it and so now I'm a bit unsure of what I need to write, I want to cover the details of the complaint without leaving out any important details but also don't want to fill it up with rubbish. Any help on how and what I should put down would be gratefully received.

[unclebulgaria67]

WOW thats a lot of info in the second link and to be honest couldn't really get my head round any of it.

 

I'm starting to fill out the FOS form and have got to the bit where I need to explain what my complaint is. On my first attempt I ran out of room as the text box seems to have a limit on it and so now I'm a bit unsure of what I need to write, I want to cover the details of the complaint without leaving out any important details but also don't want to fill it up with rubbish. Any help on how and what I should put down would be gratefully received.

 

You can phone the FOS as well and they will type all the details up. I think the complaint just needs to contain the basics and the FOS will ask you to send in further details later.

 

The FOS will also write to HD for their details, so I would not worry too much about you not providing all the information.