Is it 'safe' to instruct your bank to cancel your Direct Debit?

[alanwils]

Is it 'safe'; in other words - doesn't contravene any contract obligations, to instruct your bank to cancel your Virgin Media Direct Debit, if you don't agree/ dispute what they propose to take from your bank account? 

[Adduxi · Accepted solution]

I would advise against this as Vm will most likely just assign your debt to collectors.  It will also be on your Credit score as a debt.  Best to keep paying until the dispute is sorted out and then seek any relevant compensation.

[Martin342]

on the contrary! Virgin Media have for the last 4 months and, still are trying to take money for a service I do not have despite the wealth of evidence I have provided and their own letter to me that they have removed the service from my account last month. Without hesitation I have cancelled my direct debit to stop the continuing theft. Virgin Media Billing Services are absolutely shocking, as is (as evidenced by their words and actions to me) their internal communication. My advice to anyone with an issue with Virgin Media Billing Services is cancel that direct debit immediately.

[alanwils]

My local Citizens Advice have informed me that I can simply cancel my DD; there's no problem doing this if I feel that the sum they are taking/ about to take out -  is incorrect, which it is. I was told I could pay what I owe manually.

I was also going to try and change my DD to another account with just enough money to cover what I truly owe. If they tried to take more, and there is not enough money in that account  (as there would be) - then the DD would fail.

[alanwils]

...but your answer is basically giving the green light for Virgin Media, and other companies for that matter, to take the hell as they please from your bank account!? Most people, understandingly, can't go through the tiring and seemingly non-ending process of telephoning to hear the same script, sending countless emails etc...and VM knows this!

Citizen's Advice Bureau has told me that I can take 'back control' and, while I'm at it, let the bank know what's going on. They mentioned that VM are using their own bad administration methods, favourably...to suit them. They also informed that they have had many VM customers contact them and, without sounding too dramatic, I smell a sense of a 'Post Office Scandal' about it all. A visit to my MP may be called for.

[zudecke]

Did the criminals from vm come after you for cancelling the dd in the end? I want to do the same... 

[goslow]

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@zudecke wrote:

Did the criminals from vm come after you for cancelling the dd in the end? I want to do the same... 

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Your posting history shows a complaint about unreliable broadband. Cancelling your direct debit for that reason would only likely result in VM launching its debt recovery procedures against you.

If you wish to leave VM, on the basis of lack of service, your route would be a formal complaint to VM first of all (a required first step but most likely a waste of time) followed by escalation to the ombudsman as per this procedure

https://www.commsombudsman.org/our-process

In your complaints you would request to be able to leave with no EDF.

[japitts]

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@alanwils wrote:

...but your answer is basically giving the green light for Virgin Media, and other companies for that matter, to take the hell as they please from your bank account!?

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In theory, paying the amount you deem correct while withholding the disputed amounts, is a reasonable course of action.

The issue is that with VM, this - in practice - can cause further complications that are simply best avoided. VM's credit management processes are notoriously efficient - do a search of this forum for "credit file" or "default" and you'll find multiple results of people who have cancelled their regular payments and then find entries on credit files that are (in law) correct, and cause complications with credit applications and mortgages for years to come.

If you're comfortable accepting that risk, then go right ahead and follow the CAB advice to cancel your regular payments. Having a sympathetic MP, if indeed they are interested, is not going to help you when you're applying for a mortgage or other lending in 4-5 years, and the missed/late payments on your credit file cause complications.

[asim18]

In my personal ideal world, yes, the consumer should be able to cancel a direct debit immediately, without any consequences whatsovever. The only consequence of ending a direct debit should be that the company humbly stops providing their service and leaves you alone. If the company suffers in any way from a cancelled DD, good, dissolve the company and let someone who can handle it take over. Don't make the consumer suffer.