topic EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit in Contracts & Billing

EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit

scgf — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 09:50:16 GMT

I have a bank account with LHV which accepts direct debits. I have already set up several direct debits with various companies, but EE is adamant the bank does not exist. I’m going round in circles. Clearly EE is using an out-of-date account verification database and there is no option to override verification and enter the details manually.

This is a classic case of ‘computer says no’. I’ve spoken to billing and the technical team, who have passed it on to level 2 support, but clearly they are not prepared to set up a direct debit with a perfectly valid bank account.

Any suggestions? Does anyone know how often EE updates its bank account validation database?

Re: EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit

Michael_D — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 14:53:04 GMT

Hi @scgf

Thanks for coming to the community.

I can assure you it is not that we don't want to set up the direct debit.

If it is not accepted when our guides attempt to set it up, the guides cannot simply activate it, and it will need to be escalated like they have done to see what is happening.

Have they said that they'll come back to you when they have an update?

Do you have any other direct debits coming from that account?

Michael

Re: EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit

scgf — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 15:27:15 GMT

Hi Michael. Yes, they have promised an update.

I have successfully set up direct debits on that bank account with ten other companies so far. I can see the direct debits live in my LHV banking app.

This is the information I see when I enter my sort code and account number in the Real-time Payment Validation with Modulus check, bank Directory lookup and Confirmation of Payee. This is the company that provides account validation data to service providers, so clearly EE has not updated its copy of the database.

Re: EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit

Peter_W — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:41:54 GMT

Thanks @scgf.

Please keep us posted on how things go with this one!

Peter

Re: EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit

scgf — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:45:01 GMT

I decided not to pursue the matter and have reverted everything back to my RBS account. After unsuccessfully trying to change my EE direct debit I had similar problems with a couple of other companies like STWA and my council tax. I came to the conclusion it wasn’t worth the hassle.

Re: EE will not accept my bank details for direct debit

Colstalex — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 16:08:56 GMT

It will be a timing thing, a lot of organisations don’t have realtime access to the database, they may update once a month etc. Try again in a few weeks and it will probably work. From what I can see LHV on,y recently started accepting direct debits.