The short answer depends on what legal instrument the creditor holds — a direct debit authority, a court judgment, or a contractual right of set-off are three very different situations with different limits. What most people don't realise is that in most jurisdictions, a creditor needs either your authorisation or a court order to take money from your account, and banks aren't supposed to allow unilateral access. If it's already happened, the first step is contacting the bank to dispute the transaction, and the second is checking whether the creditor had legal authority. The rules vary significantly by country, so getting local advice matters more than a general answer. There's a discussion on https://royal-jokerr.it about financial disputes where the paperwork determines the outcome — the point about checking the authority first was well-made. What's the situation?