What is Direct Debit?

A Direct Debit is an instruction from you to your bank. It authorises someone to collect payments from your account when they are due. You give this authorisation by completing a form – this can be a paper form or a web page that you complete online. Once authorised, the organisation can automatically take payments from you (provided that they comply with the scheme rules).

What are the important Direct Debit scheme rules that I should know?Advance notice – You must be told the amount and date of each payment in advance.Direct Debit guarantee – You are entitled to an immediate refund for any payments that shouldn’t have been taken.How do you set one up?You complete an instruction form then you won’t need to do anything else.Customer protectionDirect Debit lets you pay variable amounts or at varying intervals without needing to do anything more. This makes it great for paying bills where you are charged depending on what you have spent that month.Direct Debit is the safest way to make payments in the UK. The gives you a right to immediate refunds for any payments which shouldn’t have been taken.