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Unwanted BarclayCard card protection -> affected credit rating?
andersoc
Posts: 19 Forumite
in Credit cards
Hi all!
This epic yarn is a bit longer than I intended, but does anyone have any advice in this situation?
So when I was a student I was offered a Barclay's credit card. I didn't really need it as I already had a NatWest
card, but they were offering a 'free' toastie maker so I went for it. After a month, I realised there was some small
print I hadn't read, and I was charged £5 for card protection I didn't realise I'd bought. Damn, they got me.
A year later, after moving house and having never used the card (I only wanted it for the toastie maker!), I got a
text from BarclayCard. Apparantly my balance was overdue, which was suspicious as I'd never used the card. I gave
them a call and I owed them £20 for card protection + late payment fee. Gobsmacked, must have had an 'opt out'
policy on the card protection then. After arguing with them for a while, with their arguement being "We sent you a
letter and you didn't reply" (i'd moved house of course), I gave in and paid the stupid protection fee and told them
to opt me out. I kept the account open and updated my address, as the card had a pretty good credit limit just in
case I needed it.
Another year goes by and I've moved house again and still haven't used the card, when I get the familiar 'balance
overdue' text from BarclayCard. A little bit peeved now, I call them only to find I haven't paid for my card
protection. I'm annoyed with myself for not keeping my details up to date (they apparantly sent me another letter),
but I carefully explained I had opted out of this policy. After getting nowhere with BarclayCard, I phoned the card
protection company. They were actually really helpful; they refunded the charges and sent me a confirmation letter.
I thought (stupidly) that would be the end of it, but after a couple of months I get this from BarclayCard:
'Your Barclaycard account is 2 months overdue. Your credit rating is now affected by this debt'
Great. I called them again, and while my card protection fee was refunded, the late payment fees for it were not.
After an hour on the phone I got all the charges dropped and closed my account, so I now don't owe CPP or barclays a penny.
I'm now worried about the credit rating aspect. I kept asking what this meant on the phone, but the guy didn't seem
to understand himself. He just kept saying that my credit limit was cut to £150 and that if it affected me in any
future applications, give barclays a call and they'll sort it.
Well forgive me for not having the utmost confidence barclays, but that text message sounded serious. Has anyone been in this situation, or has any advice? I might give them another call and try to speak to someone a little more qualified!
Thanks for reading!
Chris
This epic yarn is a bit longer than I intended, but does anyone have any advice in this situation?
So when I was a student I was offered a Barclay's credit card. I didn't really need it as I already had a NatWest
card, but they were offering a 'free' toastie maker so I went for it. After a month, I realised there was some small
print I hadn't read, and I was charged £5 for card protection I didn't realise I'd bought. Damn, they got me.
A year later, after moving house and having never used the card (I only wanted it for the toastie maker!), I got a
text from BarclayCard. Apparantly my balance was overdue, which was suspicious as I'd never used the card. I gave
them a call and I owed them £20 for card protection + late payment fee. Gobsmacked, must have had an 'opt out'
policy on the card protection then. After arguing with them for a while, with their arguement being "We sent you a
letter and you didn't reply" (i'd moved house of course), I gave in and paid the stupid protection fee and told them
to opt me out. I kept the account open and updated my address, as the card had a pretty good credit limit just in
case I needed it.
Another year goes by and I've moved house again and still haven't used the card, when I get the familiar 'balance
overdue' text from BarclayCard. A little bit peeved now, I call them only to find I haven't paid for my card
protection. I'm annoyed with myself for not keeping my details up to date (they apparantly sent me another letter),
but I carefully explained I had opted out of this policy. After getting nowhere with BarclayCard, I phoned the card
protection company. They were actually really helpful; they refunded the charges and sent me a confirmation letter.
I thought (stupidly) that would be the end of it, but after a couple of months I get this from BarclayCard:
'Your Barclaycard account is 2 months overdue. Your credit rating is now affected by this debt'
Great. I called them again, and while my card protection fee was refunded, the late payment fees for it were not.
After an hour on the phone I got all the charges dropped and closed my account, so I now don't owe CPP or barclays a penny.
I'm now worried about the credit rating aspect. I kept asking what this meant on the phone, but the guy didn't seem
to understand himself. He just kept saying that my credit limit was cut to £150 and that if it affected me in any
future applications, give barclays a call and they'll sort it.
Well forgive me for not having the utmost confidence barclays, but that text message sounded serious. Has anyone been in this situation, or has any advice? I might give them another call and try to speak to someone a little more qualified!
Thanks for reading!
Chris
0
Comments
-
First thing I would do is get a copy of your credit report to see what is on it. You can do this for free if you follow the sticky post about obtaining credit reports:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=51087
You can also get them by post by paying £2.0 -
Thanks, I might have to do that if I can't speak to anyone at Barclays. They've refunded all my charges, essentially admitting they were wrong, so I don't see why any changes to my rating can't be undone too, or does it not work like that?
Cheers0 -
If they admit the mistakes are theirs then any marks on your credit file can be removed but it took me a long time to get 3 incorrectly added "missed payments" marks removed from my credit file. The trouble I had was I believed them when I was told that it wouldn't affect my credit file in the first place and then subsequently when they said it would be removed. Each time I checked my file I found them still there, hence why its worth making sure that if they have marked them as late/missed payments that they are removed.0
-
Thanks again for the reply latecomer. I rang them and they said it wouldn't affect my credit rating. Not sure if I believe them as they answered far too quickly, if you know what I mean! Would it be Barclays themselves who can un-do the bad rating?
Anyway the plot thickens. Yet ANOTHER text from Barclays, this time threatening the debt collectors! I phone them up again, confirm my account is cancelled with a balance of £0, and they apologise telling me to ignore the message. It's quite hard to ignore a message like that...
The only way I'll know for sure is to get the credit report I suppose. I'm currently applying for the Amex Cashback Card so I'll be peeved if there is anything untoward on it.
Thanks again for your help,
Chris0 -
If they admit the mistakes are theirs then any marks on your credit file can be removed but it took me a long time to get 3 incorrectly added "missed payments" marks removed from my credit file. The trouble I had was I believed them when I was told that it wouldn't affect my credit file in the first place and then subsequently when they said it would be removed. Each time I checked my file I found them still there, hence why its worth making sure that if they have marked them as late/missed payments that they are removed.
My card has appeard on my Experian report with 3 missed payment marks, after 3 seperate people had assured me there won't be any. Have you got any advice on how to procede please mate?
Cheers0
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