Direct Debit Authorization Form: Fill & Download for Free

You might be able to get your money back after you’ve been scammed.What you should do, and whether you’ll get a refund, depends on what happened and the steps you take.Managing someone else’s bank accountIf you're helping someone who's been scammed, there are ways you can manage their bank account for them. You might need to do this if you want to stop payments or claim back money.The person you're helping needs to fill in a form giving you permission to manage their account. This is known as a third party mandate. Most banks have a third party mandate on their website.If the person you're helping wants you to manage more than one account, they might need to give you power of attorney. They might also need to give you power of attorney if you have to manage their finances for a long time.If there’s an unknown payment from your accountContact your bank immediately if:there’s a payment from your bank account you don’t recognize – this is known as an 'unauthorized transaction'you’ve used your debit card and more money was taken than you expectedExplain what’s happened and ask if you can get a refund. If you’re not happy with how the bank deals with your claim, you can complain to them. Find out how to do this by checking their website.If you’ve bought something from a scammerThere might be ways you can you get your money back – it depends on how you paid.If you paid by card or PayPalIf you've paid for something you haven't received, you might be able to get your money back.Your card provider can ask the seller's bank to refund the money. This is known as the 'chargeback scheme'.If you paid by debit card, you can use chargeback however much you paid.If you paid by credit card and the item cost more than £100 but less than £30,000, you might be able to claim under the Consumer Credit Act - this is known as a 'Section 75 claim'.If the item cost less than £100 and you paid by credit card, you can't use Section 75, but you can use chargeback.If you paid by bank transfer or Direct DebitContact your bank immediately to let them know what’s happened and ask if you can get a refund.Most banks should reimburse you if you’ve transferred money to someone because of a scam. This type of scam is known as an ‘authorized push payment’.If you've paid by Direct Debit, you should be able to get a full refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee.If you used a money transfer serviceIt’s unlikely you’ll be able to get your money back if you’ve paid through a wire service such as MoneyGram, PayPoint or Western Union.Even if you can’t get your money back, there are other things you can do – like reporting the scam and getting financial or emotional support.Report the scamIt's a good idea to report the scam – even if you haven’t got your money back yet.Check ( oxo wealth recovery) on how to report a scam and recover your money.

Most shops, filling stations, restaurants etc. that accept debit cards in Germany (and almost all do) work using an online connection. It sometimes happens in shops, though, that - after I inserted my card - I am asked not to enter my PIN but instead to sign a direct debit form. That is up to the retailer (but as far as I know, they still are connected online). I don't quite understand the criteria when they prefer direct online payment and when direct debit with signature. There are probably different fees and risk considerations involvedIf you do home banking in Germany, you usually use your debit card in the authorization process.I am not aware of debit card readers that you can use from home to pay a service, or services over the web that offer such a method of payment, though.(By the way, paying with a credit card instead of a debit card is a bit like giving less tip to a waiter in USA. The store has to pay a higher fee for a credit card payment than for a debit card payment)

It depends on the type of transfer.If you originated the payment, through a “Faster Payment” or CHAPS (as we refer to them in the UK) on your computer and give it “same day value”; i.e. the money is to be received by the would be beneficiary that day then the money would not be able to be recalled. The same goes for Standing Orders.In the above scenario then you can not reverse the entry electronically, but would have to ask the person who you sent the money to return it through either electronic or manual means.In the UK where “Direct Debits” are used, the situation is different.A Direct Debit, is an authority issued by you for another party to draw money from you bank account, electronically, for a specific of variable amount. These are usually utility type bills, payments for loans and similar.Sometimes these Direct Debits are incorrectly “called” by the originator and the amount of the transaction is not as agreed; the same can happen with Debit or Credit Cards. These errors are usually innocent and just a case of the data incorrectly punched by the originator.When Banks first introduced Direct Debits for the purposes of drawing funds by other parties from their clients’ accounts (it saved the bank having to keep changing Standing Order Cards (in my day these sorts of transfer were in paper form), also the sheer voloume of these transactions across the retail and commercial banking network from all sorts of originators made monitoring a night mare.Also, this new form of automated transaction, which was totally out of the control of Debtor (client of the bank) and sent electronically by the originator under a block transmission “calling” for the funds from the various banks/clients, made many consumers in particular very wary of Direct Debits.As an acknowledgement of the account holders’ concerns, in 1975, and with the increasing use of Direct Debits along with the potential for fraud, the Clearing Banks formed a Consortium and created the “Direct Debit Indemnity Scheme”.This was a semi-independent operation that through another Law created in 1974 (The Consumer Credit Act) and subsequent Banking Acts, made it Statute Law.In simple terms, the banks agreed that they would indemnify their account holder from any misuse of a Direct Debit, whether accidental or not by the vendor who was applying for the money under a Direct Debit.As an example, if I had agreed to pay my electricity bill by Direct Debit, and there was no specific amount agreed (variable Direct Debit), if I found that the Originator had taken the wrong value, in some cases debited it twice, albeit innocently, I could contact my bank upon discovery and ask that they “recall the payment” as it was not that which had been agreed, or it had been duplicated.That meant that the money that had been incorrectly debited to your account could be recalled, upon your instructions to the bank under the scheme. This gave people far more confidence in the system, and of course it has the advantage to the bank in they can monitor companies that are frequently having this indemnity being called upon to see if there is a potentially fraudulent practice going on. Indeed some less professional businesses using the Direct Debit System have had their Direct Debit facilities withdrawn and in a few instances led to criminal prosecution.The other advantage to the Account Holder is that this Indemnity Scheme means that the error does not have to be picked up on the date of the transaction. You have up to 30 days after the transaction date to “dispute it”, and the amount is credited to your account pending investigation. That money along with the dispute details are forwarded by your bank returning the transaction to the party holding the Direct Debit Authority on the grounds that they have breached the terms.The Creditor then has to contact you to ask why the entry was refused, and you will tell them why; e.g. the amount agreed was not the amount debited, the goods were defective etc. They can “represent the transaction”, even if you still disagree, but again you just tell the bank to recall it in the same way, but this time you would be best to cancel the mandate altogether. The indemnity always works in your favour.If the other party is shown that the money is not due, and they still insist in trying to call for the funds, the mandate is blocked and automatically the monies returned. If the other party tries to re-set the mandate (which unfortunately can now be the case as many of these are automated and no signature verification, as there used to be when they scheme was first launched) the bank can “flag” your account, as one at risk to fraud.Usually the whole account is blocked, and all Direct Debits are stopped and only manual transactions allowed through under “ Chip ‘ PIN “ Debit Cards.There is a central registration network within the banks that flags up these originators, and if it is found to be too frequent, the business holding the Direct Debit Authorities but misusing them, can be shut down by a Court Order.All other bank transfers are otherwise irreversible, unless “foul play” is proved, in which case the fraud office and the UK Financial Conduct Authority will take up the matter.It may be of interest to some that a company known as “Ethical Forestry t/as Avacade Investments” who were (supposedly) an alternative investment operating for pensions, is now in the hands of the Serious Fraud Office in the UK and the Costa Rican Authorities, having carried out fraudulent transactions which implies money laundering and false account, and to a serious degree.The matter was picked up as a result of a number of people having their accounts debited by the two companies Avacade Investments and Ethical Forestry and recalling money. However they found that the money had been transferred out of the Country and the money alleged to be held in Trusteeship by Avacade Investments with “sub-accounts” with Royal Bank of Scotland; have been found to be fictious and the Royal Bank of Scotland are co-operating with all the legal authorities to recover the investors interests, as terms of the Trustees Act have been seriously breached.