Octopus has taken more than double the direct debit amount - what are my rights?

[OctopusQn]

I just noticed my bank account was less than it should be and I have seen my direct debit has been taken for more than £200 over what it should have been.

I had no notice of this. What are my rights please?

If you've got a credit with them, go onto the app and request the money back. It takes 30 seconds to do. We got our money back 3 days later.

Direct debits are not for a set amount. Do you mean they've taken more than the bill amount?

Are you in debt and it’s to cover that or do you think it’s a mistake?

They usually email 3 days before the DD is collected? Did you get an email last week with the wrong amount too?

Call your bank and get it reversed under the direct debit guarantee. Will prob cancel the whole DD, so you might need to call your supplier and set it up again and make a one off payment for the correct amount.

My direct debit is usually £190 per month. I have a little bit of credit so it's not been done to cover a huge debt.

It has infuriated me. I have checked my emails- nothing. Nothing in the post.

Can I switch to BACS payment instead of DD? I am so annoyed.

Ask your bank for the money back under the direct debit guarantee. Whilst DD's are not for a fixed amount, companies are supposed to give 14 days notice of any change in the amount they will be taking.

Have you checked your actual Octopus account?

Or phoned them to discuss?

Have phoned them and switched to standing order. At least next month’s bill will be pretty much zero!

What with this and then the absolute balls up they made of the tracker tariff I can’t see myself staying with them for much longer.

What does your bill say?

Did they explain why they didn't give you any notice of the change?

How did they balls up with tracker btw? It was a beta tariff that'd been running for years without fanfare or much publicity and then it spread like wildfire this month thanks to money saving tip sites and the like.

They couldn't have extended it to everyone who applied over the last few weeks without making a loss.

I was going to suggest paying by standard order rather than DD but I see you've done that.

To anybody reading this who don't understand the differences. The basics are:

DD - no set date, the company tells bank what they want so overpayments/mistakes can be made more easily.
SO - set date, you tell the bank the amount to give company.

Companies prefer DD as they get control over your account rather than relying on you. This is why they dislike cheques or bank transfers as well, and give incentives for direct debiters.

I hope the money is returned swiftly, must be galling and worrying at the same time.

My husband refused all DD, due to British Gas leaving him destitute one month after a DD ‘mistake’ that took weeks to sort out in the 90’s. I always had DD when I lived alone in the UK. I persuaded DH to have a separate accounts for DD services like electricity because it makes the bill cheaper/ compulsory for more favourable rates. We keep a reasonable amount in there but they certainly couldn’t take hundreds more than the bill because the funds are not available.

Might having separate accounts work in the future? I cannot get over how much electricity and gas is in the UK, they are ~absolute insert your own adjective~.