What is an indemnity claim?
Indemnity claims are the method by which a payer can claim their payment back under the Direct Debit Guarantee. The bank is obliged to offer an immediate refund in the event that a Direct Debit has been taken in error or without authority. The bank then claims the refund from your holding bank account.
📌Note: If a challenge is successful the funds are refunded to your Access PaySuite DDCMS holding account, we then refund them back to your disbursal account.
What is the process for making an indemnity claim?
The payer sees an error with a Direct Debit payment.
The payer reaches out to their bank and it is investigated as per the Direct Debit Guarantee.
If the bank believe the claim to be valid, then the bank refunds the payee.
The bank raises an indemnity claim against the service user (you, the business), known as a Direct Debit Indemnity Claim Advice (DDICA) report.
We advise you of the claim by BACS message and this is automatically applied to the system. You can view or download this under the BACS tab in Access PaySuite DDCMS.
Indemnity claim reason codes and consequences
Code | Message | DDCMS action |
1 | The amount and/or date of the DD differs from the advance notice | Customer remains active - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
2 | No advance notice was received by the payer or the amount quoted is disputed | Customer remains active - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
3 | DDI cancellation by the paying bank | Customer is cancelled - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
4 | Payer has cancelled the DDI direct with the service user | Customer is cancelled - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
5 | Payer disputes having given authority | Contract is cancelled - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
6 | Signature on DDI is fraudulent or not in accordance with account authorized signature held by the bank | Customer is cancelled - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
7 | An indemnity claim has been raised at the service user's request | Customer remains active - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
8 | Payer does not recognize service user collecting DD | Customer is cancelled - payment history will be set as indemnity claimed |
How far back can a customer make an indemnity claim?
At anytime! There are no rules here, so customers can dispute payments at any time. For example, If a customer believes a Direct Debit payment was collected without authority 10 years ago, they can make a claim.
How much am I charged for a customer raising an indemnity claim?
The charge for an indemnity claim is agreed with you at sign up and is shown within your terms and conditions or pricing structure. For more information you can contact our Access Digital Assistant for support. If the assistant can't resolve your query, you're connected to a support agent for further investigation.
How can I challenge an indemnity claim?
If you think the indemnity claim has been raised in error, all reason codes can be challenged. To challenge the indemnity claim contact our Access Digital Assistant for support. If the assistant can't resolve your query, you're connected to a support agent for further investigation. Please attach a copy of a signed DDI or any advance notice/agreement sent to the customer if you have them. All challenges must be raised within nine working days of initially receiving the indemnity claim.