ripoff cc company what can i do?

ewabuz

checked out my partners statement today and couldnt believe my eyes. Her account has been on block since jan 08 when she was £30 over her agreed limit of £1850. since then she has been making over (not by a great deal) her minimum payment. as of the statement this month and paying nearly £800 she has made no headway into her debt and is still over her limit even though it hasnt been used in 10 months because of the overlimit charge. On this months statement it advised to pay £74 but when i calculated it i found that that would also leave her above her limit and therefore incur further charges. i talked to an advisor from the cc company and they advised actually that she would need to pay £120 to take acc below limit and therfore not incur anymore charges. i asked him. do these companies have a duty to help people make headway or are they just happy to keep charging afterall someone had the sense to block the account surely after paying£800 over 10 months 0f an £1880 debt and still having the same debt then it would come to somebodies attention. he seemed to think that all was ok and it is not their responsibility to advise. my partner is not from this country and is uncomfortable on the phone and so never brought to anybodies att before until today when i had a look. it is disgusting how they treat customers when they get into trouble. i am going to write to them any advice would be much appreciated:mad::mad:

rodent

the phone call was about 9 mths overdue ...
if her credit rating will stand it ...get yourself a 0% BT card and tx asap and then batter The debt away !

The Rodent

normanmark

If she's uncomfortable on the phone, then what the hell does she have a credit card? Sorry but ignorance isn't an excuse, interest is where CC companies make their money, assuming that the minimum payment will chip off the debt is nothing but plain naivety.

Your best bet now is to look for a 0% balance transfer card, like the previous poster said. If that isn't possible then a budget needs to be made to ensure that you're paying more than the minimum per month.

_Andy_

Yes disgusting - of course it couldn't be the cardholder's responsibility, it's the evil banks again, etc., etc...

soolin

I noticed that on the credit card statements now they carry a warning that if you only pay off the minimum payment each month then it will take you longer to pay of the balance. The Nat West Card even goes as far as to say how many years (and it is years) it would take to pay off a couple of thousand pounds balance if only paying a small amount each month.

I always thought this was a bit odd, sort of like McDonalds putting on their hot coffee 'warning this coffee is hot' but I suddenly now understand why credit card companies feel they need to state the blooming obvious.

It is unfortunate that in some cases interest can actually accrue at an almost faster rate than a debt can be paid if minumum or small payments are made. However it is worth aquainting yourself with how credit actually works and how interest accrues on a daily basis.

nomoneytoday

Maybe she could have looked at the statement - it would be obvious from month 2 that the payment didn't cover enough....

POSSETTE

can these charges not be claimed back as unlawful like others have???

soolin

POSSETTE wrote: »

can these charges not be claimed back as unlawful like others have???

These are interest payments not charges so AFAIK they cannot be reclaimed.

normanmark

POSSETTE wrote: »

can these charges not be claimed back as unlawful like others have???

Interest is not an unlawful charge. It's very much a valid charge and a core part of how credit works.

Jvic28

Wasn't she over her agreed credit limit. Surely she would have been charged for this. If so, they can be claimed back and may help her finally get below the credit limit.

_Andy_

POSSETTE wrote: »

can these charges not be claimed back as unlawful like others have???

What's unlawful about charging interest on a credit agreement?