Direct debit mixup

sm213

Hi
I have both my electric and gas bills with Bord Gáis set up with direct debit billing.
In January I received a bill and I paid it immediately not realizing that Bord Gáis would still try to take the bill.
Fortunately I’d no money in my account when the dd arrived so that’s grand it would just be paid and a missed dd fee for me.
Until today when I get a message from BOI saying there will be a dd for this already paid bill today.
So I go on my Bord Gáis account which is the amount of the bill in credit since the 27th of January?

All I can make of this is someone at the bank has messed up and a payment of money that wasn’t in my bank went through and now the bank have taken that from me.

As far as I’m aware that’s not how direct debits work.

I rang the emergency line but they didn’t seem to gather what I was saying and repeated the same lines back to me repeatedly. I thought the emergency line would have people capable of independent thought but apparently not.

Can this be fixed. I want my money back that shouldn’t have been taken today.
I don’t have an overdraft so that payment should not have been authorized.
I don’t really care how the bank goes about it but it’s their mess and it needs sorting.

Bank of Ireland: Megan

Hi sm213,

Thanks for reaching out to us here.

A Direct Debit would be an agreement between you and a retailer. If the amount is paid manually, before the Direct Debit is due, the payment for Direct Debit could still go through your account. This is because the retailer would have applied for the Direct Debit payment, generally it's applied for 5-10 working days in advance.

To avoid this in the future, you can put a hold on your Direct Debit by going onto www.365online.com, go to Manage Accounts and then Direct Debit Services.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get back in touch with us here.

Many thanks,
Megan

jahalpin

Under the rules of the SEPA core DD scheme you can instruct your bank to reverse the direct debit without giving a reason within 8 weeks of the collection 

Bank of Ireland: Ashley

Hi Jahalpin,

Thank you for coming back to us in relation to your Direct Debit query.

You can certainly request a refund by clicking here.

Simply select "Refund Direct Debit Payment(s)", fill out the form and then post it to the address on the bottom.

You will also be able to find this form by logging onto 365 online on a PC or laptop, then select "Manage Accounts > Direct Debit Services"

Please try include as many supporting documents with the form as possible(Emails, correspondence letters, statements, etc.). This will help you with the refund request.

I hope this helps information helps you.

Many thanks, Ashley.