Want to change account that Direct Debit is taken from ...

[MitchT]

I want to change the account that the monthly Direct Debit for my water charge is taken from. There's no specific mechanism for this on the Yorkshire Water website but I don't want to phone them up to do it in case they take a detail down wrong and I end up in a world of owing money and debt collectors pestering me type pain.

There is an option to set up a Direct Debit on the YW website, so I'm wondering ... If I set up a DD on the YW website to take money from the new account and then log into my online banking and cancel the DD that's set up to pay the water charges from my old account, that'll do the trick, right? Can anyone see any issues here?

[keith333]

Yep should be fine. Do it a couple of weeks before the debit is due so there's plenty of time.

[KTF]

That sounds like a lot of bother when a quick phone call will suffice.

The conversation will be recorded as well so in the (very unlikely) chance they screw up, you will have that to fall back on.

[MitchT]

KTF said:

That sounds like a lot of bother when a quick phone call will suffice.

Thing is, it's not a lot of bother. It's a minute filling out a DD form on the YW website and a few seconds deleting a DD on my banking website, compared with your 'quick phone call' which is actually god knows how long listening to a recorded message telling me my call is important, followed by trying to communicate with someone for whom speaking English is only slightly less challenging than climbing a greased window.

KTF said:

The conversation will be recorded as well so in the (very unlikely) chance they screw up, you will have that to fall back on.

Sure, but I'd rather not have a problem to resolve in the first place and, in my experience, they usually screw up when you try to do stuff over the phone, not rarely.

[Simpo Two]

MitchT said:

Can anyone see any issues here?

Yes - every time a privatised utilty has to make a change, it will fk it up. You will end up paying double because they will take the new DD and also reactivate the cancelled one. After about six months of futile phoning and e-mailing you will post again, and a kindly PHer gives you the CEO's e-mail address and you finally get it fixed...

[WhisperingWasp]

MitchT said:

I want to change the account that the monthly Direct Debit for my water charge is taken from. There's no specific mechanism for this on the Yorkshire Water website but I don't want to phone them up to do it in case they take a detail down wrong and I end up in a world of owing money and debt collectors pestering me type pain.

There is an option to set up a Direct Debit on the YW website, so I'm wondering ... If I set up a DD on the YW website to take money from the new account and then log into my online banking and cancel the DD that's set up to pay the water charges from my old account, that'll do the trick, right? Can anyone see any issues here?

Do you want to switch the DD between accounts held at the same Bank? If so your local Branch should be able to switch it across in a few seconds.

[MitchT]

WhisperingWasp said:

Do you want to switch the DD between accounts held at the same Bank? If so your local Branch should be able to switch it across in a few seconds.

Yes, basically from my own personal account to the joint account I hold with my OH at the same bank.

I was paying £29/month for water but they've reviewed our usage and put it up to £51, most likely due to the length of time she spends in the shower, so she's going to have to pay for her half, particularly as her wage is double what mine is!