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I have a direct debit agreement which has become redundant. The payee no longer takes any money from my account, but the agreement still shows in my list of monthly payments on my bank's website. Is it up to the payee, or is it up to me me, to ask my bank to remove it from my list of monthly payments?
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Most banks - if you use on-line banking - have a facility/link on your account page to cancel direct debits.
I have successfully dome that with my recent switch of banks.
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>> is it up
>> to me me, to ask my bank to remove it from my list of monthly
>> payments?
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Yes. I do this as routine, just to make sure that money isn't taken by mistake
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It's up to you to sort it. Good practice would be to 'housekeep' your DD's every 6 months or so and remove those that are redundant.
If a claim is paid by mistake the direct debit guarantee can be invoked but it's a pain as sometimes you have to be quite assertive with call centre staff who claim you need to get money back from payee.
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>> It's up to you to sort it.
Thanks, I'll remove it from my online banking list. The next payment is shown as £0 due on 00/00/00 so removing it shouldn't upset the applecart.
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You're lucky you are in the UK where this sort of thing is simple and straightforward. In France it takes six months to-ing and fro-ing, a mound of paperwork and a personal recommendation from Francois Hollande.
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One direct debitor actually reminded me me to cancel the direct debit at the end of the policy.
Jolly simple with on-line banking.
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The moment I notify anyone I don't want their service I wait until the last legitimate payment has gone out and then cancel the DD mandate. You can't trust anyone not to slip another one through, either deliberately or more likely simple administrative inertia.
It's fortunate that internet banking has come in because nowadays you have to watch all your accounts like a hawk and pounce on anything that shouldn't be there.
It's also a good last resort way of forcing an unsatisfactory organisation to respond to your queries. Just cancel the DD and they will suddenly spring into action. Then agree to reinstate it after they have listened to your complaint and promised to take action.
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I was under the impression that it was the payee which, with your permission, set up the direct debit agreement with your bank. Certainly my online banking says that I can't modify a direct debit agreement and that it has to be done by the payee.
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The DD is set up by the originator (who must have their bank's approval first) on your authority.
It remains a DD on YOUR account and you can revoke the authority at any time. Of course, if you're doing this with an active DD then as a matter of good practice/courtesy you should tell the originator.
Just checked in case I'd 'misremebered'. With Santander I can call up a list and cancel is then an option for each DD.
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>> I was under the impression that it was the payee which, with your permission, set
>> up the direct debit agreement with your bank. Certainly my online banking says that I
>> can't modify a direct debit agreement and that it has to be done by the
>> payee.
>>
i think that you will find the rules changed about 20yrs ago!
Once upon a time it was only possible for the originator (ie the Direct Debitor) to cancel the request to your bank. And it it sometimes took several requests to them, for it to happen ! The (dis?) advantage of a DD was that the amount could be varied without your (ie Account holder) involvement. Very useful for mortgage payments, utility bills etc .
A Standing Order was for a fixed amount and was always under your direct control.
Being of a suspicious mind I never let the Building Society have a DD. I only ever increased the amount payable under a SO, (never decreased), and hence the mortgage was payed off early.l
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Cancelling a direct debit agreement. - Roger.
