company took all my money

[ste2504]

i was on a payment plan of 5 pound per month to pay for my home info pack i was upto date with the payments. there was a payment due on 28th april of 5 pound but at 2pm on the 28th april the company took 365 pound out of my account and said i defaulted because they rang me at 10 am and i did not answer the phone they have left me with no money to pay my mortgage, council tax, food and petrol. what can i do i have tried ringing them and basically the man who was dealing with my account said tough the account is closed and cannot refund the money

[ubasses]

How did they take the money, was it direct debit,? if it was they have to give you reasonable notice (usually 10 days) of the amount they are taking. Contact your Bank and ask them to recover the money on your behalf.

[The-HouseHusband]

I dont see how you can have defaulted purely for not taking a phone call?

Did the company give you any further information and why were you on a payment plan for an info pack in the first place?

[ste2504]

apparently they have my card details which i was using to pay the 5 pound monthly with. when i phoned them the person who was dealing with the account said i cant do nothing about it i am on a payment plan because i lost my job in the recession

[Buenchico]

As Ubasses has indicated, the method of payment is important. If you paid by direct debit then you're covered by the guarantee:
http://www.thesmartwa...ctDebitGuarantee.aspx
Contact your bank and insist upon swift repayment of the money into your account.

However if you provided the company with a 'continuous payment authority', by giving them your debit card details they might be within their rights to take the money. Even if they're not, the bank was legally obliged to give them the money and has no obligation to refund you. (You can only get your money back by suing the company, which would take ages and clearly isn't going to help you).
http://www.financial-...utomatic-payments.htm

Contact your bank, in the first instance, to see if they can help you. Then contact your mortgage lender (and anyone else who will be expecting regular payments from you) to explain the situation. Then (unless your bank can quickly assist you) you'll have to look into getting some form of loan or selling something to get a few quid in your pocket.

Chris

[chrissa1]

I'm so sorry for you ste2504. I hope you get things sorted out .

[ste2504]

thankyou for your time to answer the question.

it was not by direct debit just a standard phone call paying 5 pound each month using my card details i phoned my bank and they could not stop the payment or refund it they just said send a letter explaining things to retail dispute, debit card centre. does anyone think i am wasting my time or should i seek solicitors advice they have left me with no money to live on and cannot get a overdraft or loan due to bad credit history due to losing job

[Buenchico]

Possibly also of use to you, Ste2504:
http://www.direct.gov...ow_income/DG_10018856

[ste2504]

thankyou chrissa1

[factor-fiction]

Maybe the agreement placed an obligation on you to make sure the payment was made by 2pm on the 28th of the month- so they would expect you to call them if they couldn't contact you.
Anyway, follow the advice given here. Good luck.

[The-HouseHusband]

Sorry to hear of the circumstances that have led you into this mess, it is a hard time for a lot of people at the moment.

As others have said it would seem that by you not contacting them by the agreed time and date to authorise payment then they have taken it as an automatic default on the account and have therefore taken the full amount to prevent further losses on the companies account.

Follow the advice and links that Chris has posted as from what I have seen on here he is a knowledgeable chap. Hope thing's get sorted for you and you can dig yourself out of this hole quickly and easily.