Reclaiming Standing Order paid in error
newbietothis
that we terminated in August of last year (1 month's notice given in
July).
We then forgot to cancel the standing order and a payment was made in
error for the sum of £104 to the company at the begining of the next
quarter in September.
2 emails and 2 letters later, the last threatening County Court
action, the cleaning company returned £64 last week, quoting they had
deducted an admin fee as per the T & C's of the BTA.
I have checked the T&Cs of the BTA and it says:
"If for any reason the customer continues to pay XXX following
termination, XXX reserves the right to charge a reasonable
administration fee for each overpayment."
My first question is... if the BTA was no longer in force when the
Standing Order was paid, are they legally allowed to deduct an admin
charge?
Are there any banking laws or others which cover payments in error, i
seem to remember reading somewhere that if a payment is made into
your
account in error, that the money is not yours and must be returned in
full.
Also, the company did not refund the advance payment from termination
date to the end of the quarter, i assume due to the following clause
in the BTA:
"XXX will not refund any advance payment upon notice of BTA
termination by the Customer. No refunds will be given during notice
period. A service credit can be provided for agency fees paid in
advance. If a Customer declines the service no refunds will be made"
Howver, is it fair to offer a service credit for a service that you
have cancelled?
Any advice would be gratefulyl received.
R. Mark Clayton
"newbietothis" <newbie...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7c2edae3-ca13-4b75...@c13g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...
We had a Business Trading Agreement with a domestic cleaning company
that we terminated in August of last year (1 month's notice given in
July).
We then forgot to cancel the standing order and a payment was made in
error for the sum of �104 to the company at the begining of the next
quarter in September.
2 emails and 2 letters later, the last threatening County Court
action, the cleaning company returned �64 last week, quoting they had
deducted an admin fee as per the T & C's of the BTA.
I have checked the T&Cs of the BTA and it says:
"If for any reason the customer continues to pay XXX following
termination, XXX reserves the right to charge a reasonable
administration fee for each overpayment."
My first question is... if the BTA was no longer in force when the
Standing Order was paid, are they legally allowed to deduct an admin
charge?
Yes.
Are there any banking laws or others which cover payments in error, i
seem to remember reading somewhere that if a payment is made into
your
account in error, that the money is not yours and must be returned in
full.
If it is an accident - this was not.
Also, the company did not refund the advance payment from termination
date to the end of the quarter, i assume due to the following clause
in the BTA:
"XXX will not refund any advance payment upon notice of BTA
termination by the Customer. No refunds will be given during notice
period. A service credit can be provided for agency fees paid in
advance. If a Customer declines the service no refunds will be made"
Howver, is it fair to offer a service credit for a service that you
have cancelled?
Yes that is in the contract - it is the equivalent of payment in lieu of
notice. If you had given notice then they could have continued service till
the end of the period. OTOH if you terminated for breach (e.g. not turning
up) then yuou might be able to reclaim payment in advance for the notice
period.
tim....
"newbietothis" <newbie...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7c2edae3-ca13-4b75...@c13g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...
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I don't see the problem here. You have made a mistake which has resulted in
an innocent party incurring some costs.
It is not unreasonable for them to seek to recover that cost from you and
their contract with you allows them to do this by deducting the amount from
monies owing to you. As a B2B contract this clause is probably valid and it
certainly doesn't "die" just because you have terminated the use of the
substantive service.
So, the only issue is one of quantum. Is 40 pounds a reasonable fee for the
work? I really don't know but it can't be that far out to be worth arguing
over.
tim