£20 taken from toll account of driver
AMOTORIST has accused the Mersey Gateway tolls operator of removing £20 from his account without his permission raising fears that others could be losing cash without their knowledge – even the dead.
Ken Campbell, 59, said he had used his own details to set up an account and blue badge discount pass for an elderly friend aged 76 so the pensioner could cross for free, opting to pay the £5 registration fee himself to spare the older man, who lives in sheltered accommodation, the inconvenience.
But when the 76-yearold decided to stop driving, this meant his blue badge pass expired.
Mr Campbell, of Halewood, was then shocked to find £20 had been removed from his own account and he took up the issue with tolls operator Merseyflow, engaging in email and phone contact before visiting in person.
He said he had never opted to pay the £20.
After learning the cash had been transferred without his knowledge, he became concerned that money could be routinely removed from deceased and former drivers’ bank accounts.
He added that a letter had been sent to his elderly friend warning that he had not topped up his account or made any ● ● crossings i i in th the l last t 12 months and that he needed to add some credit or cease to enjoy the benefits of the bridge
A second letter dated September 13 said that the elderly driver’s account had been reopened on request from the 76-year-old – although this could potentially have been triggered by the payment from Mr Campbell’s account.
Mr Campbell said no request had been made to re-open the account or pay the £20, adding that the car has even been scrapped now.
Merseyflow has said that the £20 was transferred from Mr Campbell’s account because he had selected an auto topup option for his bridge tolls account.
A spokesman for the tolls operator said that accounts are closed when someone informs them of a person’s death and any payments made in the intervening period will be refunded, and that outstanding orders are cancelled when bank accounts are shut down due to drivers passing away.
Mr Campbell has branded Merseyflow’s claims that he opted for auto top-up as ‘rubbish’.
He said: “They took the £20 from my account, they’ve reimbursed it now but only because I kicked up a fuss.
“He “H would ld never have h noticed that money had gone.
“How long were they taking that money for?”
A Merseyflow spokesman said: “Mr Campbell was issued a full refund of £20 on the day he visited our walk-in centre to raise the query.
“We had contacted the account holder on several occasions to inform him that the blue badge holder account that had been set up was about to expire.
“When it expired, it was automatically switched to a pre-pay account.
“Because Mr Campbell had selected an auto topup payment option when he opened the account and the account balance was £0, an auto top-up payment of £20 was made.
“If the auto top-up option hadn’t been selected, then no payment would have been taken, and any future crossings would have generated a PCN (penalty charge notice).
“We have thousands of customers using the auto top-up option every month because it is convenient for them and ensures that there is always money in their Merseyflow account to pay the toll.
“Anyone can cancel a Merseyflow account at any time and any get a full refund for any money remaining in their account.”