To expect a direct debt to keep going out of my Bank??

[PaddingtonBearHardStare]

I have had a DD set up for my contact lenses for many years. Never had an issue and I have never checked it's gone out, I always just assume DDs have cleared although I might check the odd one near pay day if I think I might not have enough money.

Anyway friend asked me over the weekend how much I paid and I couldn't remember the exact amount and when I looked on online banking it's not there!! I looked back over a few months but my bank isn't very easy to search for things so I gave up. I don't actually know when it last went out.

I have phoned them today and they are looking into it but AIBU to not have been checking this every month??

NB I am not disputing whether or not I owe them the money as I received my last lot of contacts over Christmas!

Just hope it's not too big a bill right after Christmas!!

The company that set up the direct debit also has the power to stop it (on some occasions - not all but I would think a large company such as specsavers would). It might also have been an oversight at the bank and they could have cancelled it by mistake.

The recipient often needs to task up the direct debit with the amounts to be taken.

Can you go into your direct debit list and check for it there?

Are you over due a sight test/ lens check? If I’m overdue they stop sending me lenses and don’t take payment.

Some my DD have an end date That might well pass unnoticed

Do you mean a direct debit or a standing order?
A direct debit is usually set up by the recipient with bank details provided by you. A standing order is something you set up, including the amount and date it is to be debited. Standing orders can also normally be given an end date (or left open end).
I would assume your direct debits have been booked, since the provider would have contacted you, had it been unable to debit the amount.

A DD can expire after a period of dormancy, as they are expected to be claimed upon regularly. The only ones that don't are ones to financial services such as credit card and store cards where you might not owe money / need to make a payment every minth,... These can be downtown / unclaimed for years but stay live in your account as long as the beneficiary, when setting the DD up on your account, marked it correctly as a financial service DD.

It might have been A recurring payment from your debit card. If that is the case it’s should stop when your card needs to be renewed you know when the expiry date comes up?

Sorry ended up taking DC out as they were driving me mad on last day of holidays!!

To answer some questions, DD has been in place for several years. It is a small independent Optician in a small village although they merged with a larger company and moved premises approximately 5 miles away. As part of this they started sending CL in post instead of having to collect, presumably as they knew people wouldn't travel further?

I will check if my sight test is due but I received 6 months worth of CL over Christmas as the postie broke the letterbox!!

They did ring and leave a voicemail saying they needed further information from me but I was in cinema and they had closed by the time I got out so will try and call back tomorrow

Have you checked with your bank to see if the DD has been cancelled and if so, by whom?

If it’s a direct debit and has been taken in less than 13 months it should be easy to find.

It could be a continuous card payment (like how Spotify and apps work) which is slightly harder to trace.

This happened to me and it was for my contact lenses. It had been going out regularly for years. As it’s only just over £10.00 per month I can’t tell just by checking my balance if it’s gone out or not. The opticians rang me up to say it hadn’t been taken for so many months and that I owed them £x. They admitted that they had cancelled it in error and only asked me to pay half of what was owed.

Is it being collected under a different business name? I have DD that from a quick glance online the 'name' is different from the business I deal with

Urgh typed a reply and it hasn't posted so apologies if this double posts

I have used my PC for my banking and the last time I can find it going out is December 2017!! A bloody year ago!!! I am mortified it has taken me so long to notice and think I probably owe them just over £300 now

I wonder if I have somehow dropped off the system when the two companies merged. This never would have happened previously when they were a little independent place and on first name terms. You had to ring for CL and they told you then if your sight test was due