Embargo of Town Hall Bank Account

[alicia]

Hi

Just a thought. I know it is possible for Companies, Town Halls etc to place embargos/freeze bank accounts of people who owe money to them but, theoretically speaking, can an individual who is owed money from a Company perhaps say like Endesa or Orange or suchlike, or is due a refund from the local Town Hall, place an embargo or freeze the bank account of these large offical entities.

I wonder if there is anyone who knows if this has been done? Would be interesting to know.

[luckyjim]

I wouldn't rate your chances, particularly as a non Spanish.

[costakid]

I guess its one rule the the big guys and one rule for the rest.

[luckyjim]

Perhaps it would be worth making enquiries to the Spanish equivalent of the Citizens Advice Bureau. Any thing is worth a try.

[anyroads]

Not sure if companies can do so, surely only government bodies ?.

However if individuals at random could do as you suggest, just think of all the trouble it would cause for 1000s of other punters out there.

I am sure you are familiar with the expression....

No way Jose !

anyroads

[alicia]

Yes, you probably right Anyroads. Possibly not a great idea as hundreds if not thousands of ordinary people freezing accounts of Big Organisations would perhaps cause a little chaos.

Interesting though.

[markwilding]

I was talking about this a couple of days ago and it appear that, although, quite rightly for the reasons given, you can't freeze the account of one of the big companies, you can ask your bank to grab back monies that you think have been taken incorrectly.

[Spartacus]

Its called a "charge back request", I have had to use it a couple of times when utility companies "inadvertently" continue to take payments after their contract has been terminated. (quite common) The money is put straight back in your account and the other party is notified and given 90 days to evidence their entitlement to have taken the funds. Should they subsequently do so they are then re-credited. This rarely happens of course as you only made the charge back request because they had no right in the first place. The process above is for UK banks but suspect a similar system for Spain.

[Free at Last]

I was talking about this a couple of days ago and it appear that, although, quite rightly for the reasons given, you can't freeze the account of one of the big companies, you can ask your bank to grab back monies that you think have been taken incorrectly.

I used this facility once when I had given notice to my home insurance company that I would not be renewing the policy (changing to another company) but they still took the renewal premium from my bank account. I just went to the bank, gave them a copy of the cancellation letter I'd sent, and the money was back in my account within a few days. There is a time limit, I think 10 working days after the amount has been debited incorrectly, in order to be able to do this.