Direct Debit refund

km991148

Hi,

Looking for clarification on this issue -

I pay monthly for an annual insurance - the policy ended last month but they auto renewed it.

I wish to cancel the policy and receive a refund for this months fee. I contacted the company and requested a cancellation and refund under the cooling off period of the new contract. The advised me to try get the refund via the Direct Debit scheme. I am aware I can do this - but I am unlikely to as the nearest branch is miles away and I wont make it due to work.

Surely regardless of payment method (in this case DD) - the company is obliged to issue a refund on their own?

Regards,
km

Jimjay

km991148 wrote: »

Hi,

Looking for clarification on this issue -

I pay monthly for an annual insurance - the policy ended last month but they auto renewed it.

I wish to cancel the policy and receive a refund for this months fee. I contacted the company and requested a cancellation and refund under the cooling off period of the new contract. The advised me to try get the refund via the Direct Debit scheme. I am aware I can do this - but I am unlikely to as the nearest branch is miles away and I wont make it due to work.

Surely regardless of payment method (in this case DD) - the company is obliged to issue a refund on their own?

Regards,
km

Yes the company should cancel the policy and refund the money. the same thing happened to a friend of mine for his buildings and contents insurance. to get the refund though he had to show he had taken insurance with another company for the time he was asking for to be refunded.

coylemj

Jimjay wrote: »

Yes the company should cancel the policy and refund the money.

+1 OP, you were fobbed off with BS by a call agent, the bank can't simply take the money back from the insurance company on your say so and give it to you, you have to get a refund from the insurance company.

Tow

coylemj wrote: »

the bank can't simply take the money back from the insurance company on your say so and give it to you,

Incorrect

28064212

coylemj wrote: »

the bank can't simply take the money back from the insurance company on your say so and give it to you

They absolutely can, it's a core part of the SEPA direct debit scheme. You can reverse a direct debit for any reason within 8 weeks of the collection date, and the bank must honour this, no questions asked.

OP, the company is obliged to refund you. However, it may be easier to just use the direct debit reversal procedure, depending on your bank. BOI, for example, have a form you can download, fill in, and post back to them. Other banks may have similar, or you may need to send a written instruction to your branch. Note that all banks are required to offer this service.

dudara

coylemj wrote: »

+1 OP, you were fobbed off with BS by a call agent, the bank can't simply take the money back from the insurance company on your say so and give it to you, you have to get a refund from the insurance company.

Actually, under the new SEPA regulations, the bank have to reverse the direct debit if requested.

OP - as the company took the direct debit, they should in theory refund it. It can take a while for companies to process refunds. However, it might be quicker and easier to simply request the direct debit be reversed by the bank.

km991148

Hey - Thanks all

It was a combination of a few things - it seems correct that there is a 'no questions' refund policy.

However - it is also correct that with the particular company (who went on to give me some Very Helpful Information), they should be responsible for issuing the refund.
It looks like their internal process is to try and force customers to do it themselves to save them messing around.
After inquiring about it they said they will sort out the refund in 8 weeks or so.

Thanks all!

km991148

dudara wrote: »

OP - as the company took the direct debit, they should in theory refund it. It can take a while for companies to process refunds. However, it might be quicker and easier to simply request the direct debit be reversed by the bank.

problem is with my bank I need to go to a branch in person which is a pain for me..

Han534

They get you everywhere

28064212

km991148 wrote: »

problem is with my bank I need to go to a branch in person which is a pain for me..

AIB told you you could "post a signed written request to your account holding branch". And it will almost certainly take less than 8 weeks!

Sparko

I imagine the company does not want to issue a manual refund as in theory, you could still request a refund from your bank as part of the the 8 week direct debit reversal process under SEPA and ultimately get refunded twice.

km991148

28064212 wrote: »

AIB told you you could "post a signed written request to your account holding branch". And it will almost certainly take less than 8 weeks!

Ye - in fairness a written request for a form is also valid - it still involves 2 trips to the post office - not much hassle I guess (I was trying to keep the post short - but since you queried it!).

My original post was to find out if the company were right to ask me to do this tho - I don't mind waiting 8 weeks - just cant be bothered posting forms* etc (especially when this could easily be done online).

Hope this clears the confusion.

*I have probably spent more time on boards now

28064212

km991148 wrote: »

Ye - in fairness a written request for a form is also valid - it still involves 2 trips to the post office - not much hassle I guess (I was trying to keep the post short - but since you queried it!).[/SIZE]

I took it to mean you could send in a written request for the refund, not a written request for the form. From the same thread:

Alternatively, customers can send a signed written request to their branch. The letter would need to contain enough information for the branch to identify the correct payment to be refunded e.g. Unique Mandate Reference number, date debited, amount and account details.

former legend

km991148 wrote: »

Ye - in fairness a written request for a form is also valid - it still involves 2 trips to the post office - not much hassle I guess (I was trying to keep the post short - but since you queried it!).

Two trips to the post office? Why?

km991148

No idea.. ask AIB as there is conflicting advice..!

Initially I was working from this post..

http://www.boards.ie/ttfpost/92109804

AskAIB: Anne wrote:

You can submit a request for a refund of the direct debit in writing to your AIB branch who will in turn post you the Direct Debit (SEPA) Refund Request Form to complete.

MOH

You'd think they could just email you the form?
A refund should only take a couple of days - I filled in a form last Friday and the refund went in today.

I'm having an issue with AIB at the moment where they accepted a debit on a cancelled mandate, after the company kept presenting it.

You can additionally blacklist a business to prevent any future DDs from them being accepted, on current or future mandates.

But if you just ask to cancel a mandate, AIBs position is that if the business keeps presenting it, they'll start paying out again after the third attempt. They predictably blamed SEPA for this, which is irrelevant. I pointed out to them that if it's entirely up to the business to stop presenting DD requests, cancelling a mandate with AIB is effectively pointless. They reluctantly agreed to this.

Since I wasn't going to get into a protracted argument holding up the queue at the customer service desk, I've asked for an explanation in writing from my branch manager.

But be aware that unless you ask to blacklist the business (which again, requires signing a form), there is absolutely nothing stopping the business debiting you again in a couple of months.