Hastings Direct - the nightmare continues..............

[me_owd_china]

Hastings have raided my bank account with an unauthorised debit of £93.61 on 8th November without any reason or prior communication.

 

I purchased a new motorcycle policy from Hastings in June 2013. It does not expire until June 2014 and the premium of £83.92 was paid in full on commencement. Upon emailing Hastings about the anomaly, their response email was a PDF copy of their complaints procedure. My follow up email requested a return of the full amount within 24 hours along with the removal of my debit card details from their system. Hastings has stopped all communication with me.

 

In simple terms, Hastings have retained my debit card details from June 2013 to pick-pocket my account at will. It would appear that maximum publicity of this matter, Ombudsman and County Court action may be my only recourse.

 

All advice appreciated please.

Edited November 15, 2013 by me_owd_china
Pejorative word/s

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. I'm sorry to hear about your problems.

 

We do have a Hastings rep here, but he may not see your post until Monday morning. In the meantime, the forum guys should be along with advice.

 

My best, HB

[unclebulgaria67]

Your bank has to refund any unauthorised debit card entry.

 

http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/financial-services-products/banking/your-rights/unauthorised-payments

 

Your bank may say that it is too late, but this is not true. They can return the payment to Hastings, so your account is refunded.

[me_owd_china]

Thanks for the replies.

 

My bank (Lloyds) has given me an 0845 number to call their Debit Card Disputes Helpline only after contacting Hastings first. I shall do this on Monday. They were also kind enough to suggested I use their branch phone when I explained that I refused to join Hastings's 0800 number queue on principle. They advised that as I had given debit card details to Hastings, be it in June, different rules applied to Direct Debit Guarantee.

Edited November 16, 2013 by me_owd_china

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi me_owd_china, Thank you for taking the time to post. We are very sorry to hear about this situation, can you please contact us urgently with your policy details and we will try to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible. [email protected] Many Thanks, Jamie

[me_owd_china]

Thanks Jamie,

As I am still receiving no communication other than the initial acknowledgement from the Hastings team at the email address given in your response, I prefer to communicate non-personal information here.

Policy no: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reference number acknowledgement of complaint from Hastings: CFIM146803‏

Edited November 21, 2013 by IdaInFife
removed now that hastings have it

[manofmystery]

I would advise against putting information such as your policy number / agreement number on a public forum.

[me_owd_china]

No real option. They are not answering my emails and I don't have the time or the money to waste hanging around on Hastings's 0843 number queue for "Refreshingly Straightforward Insurance". What a nightmare!

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi me_owd_china, Thank you for responding and providing me with the relevant details. I will follow this up urgently for you and ensure that a member of our team gets in contact with you to discuss what actions have been taken and how we plan to resolve this. In the meantime please let me know if there is anything further that I can do to help. Many Thanks, Jamie

[me_owd_china]

Resolved: £93.61 has been refunded to my account. Thank you Jamie and all contributors.

 

The fact remains that insurance companies, along with other organisations keep our card details on file without making it explicit at the point of sale. They appear to rely on our apathy to take advantage of automatically renewing policies. I should also question the security of my card details currently held by insurers, grocers, and gym and magazine subscriptions departments.

 

I myself have learnt a lesson from this. In the future, if the terms and conditions include card detail retention, I shall pay by cheque or go elsewhere.

Edited November 24, 2013 by me_owd_china

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

I'm pleased you've had a good outcome and thank you for letting us know. I'll change your thread title.

As you say, it's only when your card is used when it doesn't suit you that you realise the potential problems. I hope this won't happen to you again now you're forearmed.

HB

[me_owd_china]

On 8th November 2013 Hastings debited an unauthorised £93.61 from my account. It was finally refunded with the help of this forum. I have recently received a renewal notice for the same policy for which Hastings will debit my account automatically unless I contact them to cancel the renewal.

 

Here is the problem: today I called their 0844 number on three occasions for over 15 minutes each time with a 'you are in a queue' voice over music (15p connection and 7.62p per minute from my TalkTalk line).

 

The Hastings website does not show an email address for cancellation. It does not show a postal address other than the complaints department.

 

Can anyone please help me to cancel my automatic renewal.

[dacouc]

http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi me_owd_china,

 

Thank you for posting, I am sorry to hear that you have not been able to get through. If you would like to send me an email with your policy details I will be happy to help. [email protected]

 

Many Thanks,

Jamie

[me_owd_china]

Thank you Jamie. Emailed details and policy renewal is now cancelled. All I need do now is check if the direct debit goes out of my account on the policy start date anyway before I can confirm that the matter is resolved.