My partner had an agreement five years ago with Barclaycard and the CAB to repay back a loan they had taken out then due to unforseen circumstances not pay. Since the agreement was put in place they have made their payment on time and increased the amounts as agreed at the reviews.
Last Tuesday when they got there bank statement for their Barclays current account there was a payment taken for £224 at the begining of the month, as my partner new they had not spent this money they trotted off to Barclays to investigate (ID theft etc). It turns out that it was Barclaycard, my partner then starts panic...Barclaycard, i dont have a credit card, I have never made a payment to Braclay card etc..so with the help of the nice Barclays lady they phone Barclaycard who say yes you have a payment agreement with us but not sure who initially set it up so we have decided to take it in 4 installments of £224. My partner said that this is not right and that she has an agreement and they must stick to it, so they agreed and said they would refund the money in 2 - 3 working days.
My query is this, without a standing order agreement or direct debit can they take this money out of the account? They feel violated, that this was done without their say so or notice.
We believe that they have traced this account to her through her payment by debit card rather than cash (twice about two months ago), is this likely and if so is this allowed?