Direct Debit Admin Fee?!

My parents are charged more for using DD on their house insurance with CIS (they're changing when the policy's up) than other methods which is strange.
 
sorry agin if this has been said already, on watchdog last week they said it only costs the company at most most 50p for not going direct debit, and because of the charges they are amking for not going direct debit it work outs to be like £100 million per year profit just BT alone make from this.
 
addy_010 said:
sorry agin if this has been said already, on watchdog last week they said it only costs the company at most most 50p for not going direct debit, and because of the charges they are amking for not going direct debit it work outs to be like £100 million per year profit just BT alone make from this.

It's statistically proven that those who do NOT pay via Direct Debit are more likely to not pay on time, or fail payments entirely than those who do.

It’s for this reason that businesses charge a premium for those who do not pay via direct debit, and as such those who may pay on, or before time with these methods are charged a premium for those who abuse the system with these methods – to which the original posted is a culprit.

*sigh* I guess those who continue not to pay by DD will get their way once they start to raise their voices enough and the charges will be lowered, little will they realise the charges will simply be added onto other areas of the business... like I said, they [the business] need to recover their bad debt some how.
 
garyh said:
*sigh* I guess those who continue not to pay by DD will get their way once they start to raise their voices enough and the charges will be lowered, little will they realise the charges will simply be added onto other areas of the business... like I said, they need to recover their bad debt some how.

btw i am agreeing that what the companies are doing is smart. Just letting people know what watchdog said aslt week though quickly trying to read and it appears it has been said?

Its like someone said about working for someone for a month you'd expect your pay and not have to wait another month or maybe 2 or maybe 3 for it, which will cost you on other bills.
 
You really think it costs BT £11.50 a month to supply you with a phone line? You really think it costs 60p for a can of coke I buy from the drinks machine at work? You really think it costs 88p liter to produce petrol?

No, your right. It doesn't. However, you can't get any of these things if the company decided not to make them or supply them. Therefore if you want them, you have to pay for them. They provide a service or product that you have to pay for. The company is there to make money from you. Nothing more. Don't EVER forget that.

If you want a product, but choose to pay using a method they don't really want you too then it is more than fair to expect to pay a little more. It's either that or you don't have it at all. Simple really.

Would you demand Tesco accept your left over Euros from your holiday just because you felt like they should? No, you wouldn't. So why demand companies let you pay how you want? Your paying for their service, on their terms. If you don't like it, go somewhere else or start you own company who doesn't charge as much!
 
Ak!ta said:
I realise it's a service charge and not a penalty, thats what i have been saying all along. However i think that it is to much when the actual cost is nothing like the charges levied.
For arguements sake, even if the charge for processing a single non-DD transcation is 60p, it still doesnt involve the costs of sending chase-up letters, reminder calls and basic adminstration in dealing with such non-DD customers. Also generally non-DD payments are slowly to authorise and process so there is more potential for a chase-up even if the payment has been sent on time, due to cross-over...

If you tot all that up Id think its nearer £5 than 60p. At the end of the day its a guaranteed, timely payment (i.e. DD) against one that is not guaranteed and adhoc/manual.

Ak!ta said:
Different companies charge different amounts ie, BT= £4.50 per Quater, Virgin £5 per month. This charge should be inline with the cost of the service.
Totally disagree, if you fall into the red with your bank (past the agreed overdraft) theyll send you a flat-charge letter irrelevant if its 10p over or £10,000 because thats how much it costs them to process it (yes I know banks overcharge on such things, but thats not the point of the analogy).

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
ps3ud0 said:
For arguements sake, even if the charge for processing a single non-DD transcation is 60p, it still doesnt involve the costs of sending chase-up letters, reminder calls and basic adminstration in dealing with such non-DD customers. Also generally non-DD payments are slowly to authorise and process so there is more potential for a chase-up even if the payment has been sent on time, due to cross-over...

If you tot all that up Id think its nearer £5 than 60p. At the end of the day its a guaranteed, timely payment (i.e. DD) against one that is not guaranteed and adhoc/manual.


Totally disagree, if you fall into the red with your bank (past the agreed overdraft) theyll send you a flat-charge letter irrelevant if its 10p over or £10,000 because thats how much it costs them to process it (yes I know banks overcharge on such things, but thats not the point of the analogy).

ps3ud0 :cool:


As i said previously, if you pay late, then yes you should pay a penalty fee.... but just because you can't or don't want to pay by DD does not mean you should pay for that....

As for your second point.. is that why Banks have to refund unjust and illegal charges brought against people who have incured these charges ?

Ultimately it's just a way of getting more money from people - increasing profits...
 
Ak!ta said:
As i said previously, if you pay late, then yes you should pay a penalty fee.... but just because you can't or don't want to pay by DD does not mean you should pay for that....

As for your second point.. is that why Banks have to refund unjust and illegal charges brought against people who have incured these charges ?

Ultimately it's just a way of getting more money from people - increasing profits...
I knew if I replied with the bank analogy I would get that statement, correct tho it is, its not the topic for discussion so please stop clutching at straws :rolleyes:...

Ive recently come back from holiday and to ensure I could buy things I had two main routes, either get money out here and exchange it at some point or use cards where the credit card company/bank would again do the currency exchange but also levy a seperate fee for the privilege. Personally I decided to go for the former as it saved me money and increased what spending money I had.

Basically if YOU decide to go through a route that costs the service provider more money (either at POS or collateral services) then dont be surprised that you get levied some kind of fee to cover this. Ultimately YOU have made the choice, not them.

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
ps3ud0 said:
I knew if I replied with the bank analogy I would get that statement, correct tho it is, its not the topic for discussion so please stop clutching at straws :rolleyes:...

Ive recently come back from holiday and to ensure I could buy things I had two main routes, either get money out here and exchange it at some point or use cards where the credit card company/bank would again do the currency exchange but also levy a seperate fee for the privilege. Personally I decided to go for the former as it saved me money and increased what spending money I had.

Basically if YOU decide to go through a route that costs the service provider more money (either at POS or collateral services) then dont be surprised that you get levied some kind of fee to cover this. Ultimately YOU have made the choice, not them.

ps3ud0 :cool:


What about those people that went that route when it was the same charge as DD. T hey may not be able, to pay by DD, that does not make then Bad Debtors, so why should they have to pay for people who pay late or not at all ?
So why should they be peanalised?
Because it's a convenient reason to make more money for these companies ?
 
every service i have is paid by dd.

if you want to have a debate about charges have one on bank charges for small companies then, thats a joke.............
 
I was reading on money savingexpert.com forums that someone has recived a phone call from virgin media after sending the watchdog letter and was offerd a refund of his non DD fees.
 
Rebel=UK= said:
I was reading on money savingexpert.com forums that someone has recived a phone call from virgin media after sending the watchdog letter and was offerd a refund of his non DD fees.
Is that so? :eek:

Been with them for about 7 years now, and 6 of those years I've not been paying by DD. :cool:
 
Rebel=UK= said:
I was reading on money savingexpert.com forums that someone has recived a phone call from virgin media after sending the watchdog letter and was offerd a refund of his non DD fees.

I really hope not...

I love paying for the expensive choices of others, just like I love banking becoming more expensive due to irresponsible people...
 
Dolph said:
I really hope not...

I love paying for the expensive choices of others, just like I love banking becoming more expensive due to irresponsible people...
You mean the banks, who make profits from bank charges, rather than charge the customer the actual cost?
 
basmic said:
You mean the banks, who make profits from bank charges, rather than charge the customer the actual cost?

Because god forbid a business should actually try and make some money.

It's very simple. Businesses need to be profitable to survive. Now, they can either be profitable by levying extra charges on bad customers, or they can just raise their prices. If they do the latter, the good customers lose out. Great!

Anyone who thinks that businesses will scrap any sort of non-dd fee / late payment charge / whatever just because "it doesn't cost them that much to process it" without subsequently raising prices / exploring new ways to get profitability into their business model is living very much not in the real world.
 
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growse said:
Because god forbid a business should actually try and make some money.

It's very simple. Businesses need to be profitable to survive. Now, they can either be profitable by levying extra charges on bad customers, or they can just raise their prices. If they do the latter, the good customers lose out. Great!

Anyone who thinks that businesses will scrap any sort of non-dd fee / late payment charge / whatever just because "it doesn't cost them that much to process it" without subsequently raising prices / exploring new ways to get profitability into their business model is living very much not in the real world.

Exactly. I think it's fairly easy to spot who on the forum is responsible and understands business and those who have no responsibility but think the world owes them something....
 
Sorry to sound unsympathetic and i'm sure this has been said before but if you don't pay by DD because you can't guarantee the money will be in your account then you really shouldn't have an account. They are a business, not a charity.
 
growse said:
Because god forbid a business should actually try and make some money.

It's very simple. Businesses need to be profitable to survive. Now, they can either be profitable by levying extra charges on bad customers, or they can just raise their prices. If they do the latter, the good customers lose out. Great!

Anyone who thinks that businesses will scrap any sort of non-dd fee / late payment charge / whatever just because "it doesn't cost them that much to process it" without subsequently raising prices / exploring new ways to get profitability into their business model is living very much not in the real world.
Customer goes overdrawn by 50p. Bank charges customer approx £25 for going overdrawn. Actual admin cost to bank is about £3.

So for the sake of 50p, the bank has just made £22 profit.
 
DD is a much simpler option, at work (o2) we can only sign up new phone contracts with a DD payment option from now on, new customers cannot opt out on this payment type :)
 
basmic said:
Customer goes overdrawn by 50p. Bank charges customer approx £25 for going overdrawn. Actual admin cost to bank is about £3.

So for the sake of 50p, the bank has just made £22 profit.

Easy solution, control your spending ;)
 
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