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itsonlydanny
10/02/2008, 12:25
Hi there,

I wasn't sure where to put this post - so apologies if it's in the wrong place.

My direct debit is due to go out tomorrow (February 11) - unfortunately, due to a cock-up I may fail to honour the payment.

What happened is this. I went on holiday to St Ives this week. Come Friday afternoon I knew that I was £20 short of my DD, so like a good citizen - and loyal ADSL24 customer - I dutifully went down to Lloyds Bank to pay the extra/remanding monies. To my shock - if not slight horror - I discovered that the bank at St Ives closes at 2.00pm, so I could not pay the money in!

I went to the other banks, but I couldn't pay the money in any of them (or so they said). So, wisely or not, I went to the post office and paid in the money there, but the clerk said it would take "a few days" to be processed - in which case, obviously, the cash I paid in will not be available for the DD on Monday.

Sorry, guys :o. Should I worry, or will you just take out the money on another day - ie, next Monday?

Cheers,

Danny
smartybones
10/02/2008, 14:19
you bank may or may not honour the payment, but ether way, you will get a letter from the bank telling you what you already know, and charge you 30 quid for the pleasure....

your best option will be to get to your bank first thing in the AM, and put some cash into the account... you will proberbly get the money in before the DD goes out.
SeanSaunders
10/02/2008, 14:31
In my experience the Direct Debit is created on billing day, but they dont actually take it out until a couple of days afterwards with me anyway...

So you might be ok, if you get some cash into the account.

Regards,
jpnlewis
10/02/2008, 14:41
Best bet get down to the bank first thing on Monday and pay in cash at the counter, then find out if they have charged you for honouring your DD. If they have explain to them what happened and that you have paid in the cash as soon as you could. Normally most banks will waive any charge they have imposed on you for going over if this is the first time this has happened in at least a 6 month period.

Obviously policy at different banks may vary, and talking to an account manager rather than a cashier about these problems is normally more productive.
artyman
10/02/2008, 15:18
An easier answer is to maintain a buffer in your account to cover such eventualities, try leaving a £5 in each month it soon builds up, then ignore that balance it and you should have enough to cover the unexpected DD if things hiccup.
smartybones
10/02/2008, 18:05
An easier answer is to maintain a buffer in your account to cover such eventualities, try leaving a £5 in each month it soon builds up, then ignore that balance it and you should have enough to cover the unexpected DD if things hiccup.

far too much of a sensible idea.... saving money !!!!!
Gargoyle
10/02/2008, 23:09
Or arrange a small overdraft facility - say £100. Don't use it for general use, so you forget about it, but it's there in case of such cockups. As long as your back doesn't charge for the facility the interest you pay when you use the facility for a few days or whatever is small.
Soreen
10/02/2008, 23:49
This might be of some use :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6170209.stm
James
11/02/2008, 17:57
As others say, the direct debit payment is not actually taken til around 7 days after your actual bill date.
itsonlydanny
12/02/2008, 14:49
Phew! In the end, the Direct Debit did not go out until today - so my £20 cash deposit just had time to 'intercept' it, with £1.06 to spare!

Must admit, I was sweating a bit there ...