On 07/09/2020 23:38, Andy Smith wrote:
> Hello,
>
> There is a frequent cause of confusion with Direct Debit.
> <snip>
> Notably what does NOT happen ever is that invoices which already
> exist are suddenly submitted by Direct Debit.
> <snip>
> a) As soon as a mandate is authorised, just charge all existing
> invoices immediately
>
> b) As soon as the mandate is authorised, if the customer has
> existing invoices that are unpaid, there is a very noticeable
> message on the screen like:
> <snip>
I'd suggest the customer has a choice of either in this circumstance,
but is required to explicitly choose. To clarify - I'd suggest that, if
a customer has outstanding invoices when signing up for DD, they will be
forced to select one of two radio buttons before submitting, for example:
You have existing outstanding invoices and must choose one of the
two options below:
* I authorise you to automatically take payment for currently
outstanding invoices once the Direct Debit has been set up and
(/legalese version of:/ accept responsibility for any fees
incurred if this leads to insufficient funds for this or any
other payments from my account); OR
* I do not authorise you to take automatic payment for currently
outstanding invoices. I will make payment via alternate means
or manually authorise payment once the Direct Debit is set up.
I understand that failure to pay will lead to a suspension of
service.
This would not be shown if they did not have an outstanding debt. This
covers you and hopefully makes it clear to them what, if anything, they
will need to do.
Gavin
