Do I have to pay to cancel a DD?

Q Having finally paid off my credit card debts, a few weeks ago I phoned up Barclaycard to close my account. That done, I tidied up loose ends by cancelling Barclaycard's direct debit through my online bank.

Now I have received a letter from Barclaycard advising me that the company hascharged me £20 for cancelling the direct debit. Thinking this was a little odd, I phoned the company but the adviser I spoke to was unable to see that I might have a case, and was unwilling to pass me on to someone else. Surely this kind of charge can't be justified?

RG

A No, it most certainly cannot - and Barclaycard's initial response was that it wouldn't make a charge for such a transaction. What it says is that it charged you £20 because the last time it tried to collect the direct debit payment there were insufficient funds in your account to cover it.

It seems odd that this charge didn't come to light until after you had closed your account, and that nobody at Barclaycard saw fit to mention it when you called the company to pay off your outstanding balance, or to query the charge.I'm suspicious that Barclaycard has just made a mistake it refuses to own up to here, but it has at least agreed to refund the charge. I presume it will also refund any interest the charge generated - do let us know if this isn't the case.