Petition Tighter regulation of companies offering payment by Direct Debit

Direct debit is a simple, convenient and safe automated payment method offering piece of mind and saving time for consumers and is preferred by over half of UK bill payers.

All organizations using the Direct Debit system are checked for integrity, financial standing and administrative capability before being permitted to offer Direct Debit and are closely monitored by the banking industry. Despite current regulation the onus for discovering errors falls on the consumer.

Companies offering Direct Debits stand to benefit from errors which are not realized or claimed by consumers and should therefore have strict processes in place to ensure that such errors do not occur. In addition, these organizations should have processes to identify when excessive amounts have been charged and for excesses to be immediately refunded.

The Government should introduce measures for tighter regulation of companies offering Direct Debits.