Barclays Credit Card Interest

Ms-B_2

Hi, I hope that someone can guide me I am new so I hope I am in the right place for this question! I have a huge amount of debt which fortunately I have fairly under control due to payment arrangements etc.

Barclaycard had freezed the interest on my credit card as part of a replayment plan, however as of this month they have started charging me interest again. Admitedly it is only 4%, however I feel this is still out of line given I have paid more than the agreed payment for the last couple of months and am doing my best to repay my debts.

I called to discuss this and was just told they are within their right to reinstate interest whenever they want to and I should put something in writing if I and I quote "have a problem with that". :mad:

Unfortunately I renegotiated my payment amount in September and asked them to put it in writing and also confirm they continue not to add interest to my account. No such letter arrived, and it is only now that I realised this. SO I have nothing in writing that they agreed to freeze interest.

I am confident enough to write a letter but wonder if anyone knows of any templates, sections of legislation or just great advice to help me to persuade them to stop reinstating interest. I have a few debts with Barclays and know they play hard ball, but I am really trying to become debt free and feel they are undermining my attempts by making me repay them even more!

I really appreciate any advice. Thanks. x

GeorgeUK

If you are in England, there isn't anything that you can do to stop interest being added - it will be at the bank's discretion. In Scotland you could try to enter a Debt Arrangement Scheme, but that would be a legally binding agreement and any missed or late payments could land you in trouble.

I would advise writing to Barclays making a request that interest be frozen as you are experiencing financial difficulty. I'd just put it as a request, not a complaint.

There are a few letters you may want to look at on the nationaldebtline site.
"When a creditor refuses to freeze interest on your account" looks to be the most relevent. The others are worth looking at too incase you wish to add anything.
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

If you wanted to get really stroppy about it, you could request copies of the credit agreements to see if the debts were actually enforcable or not.

Ms-B_2

Thank you so much, that is very helpful. I thought legally they did have to stop the interest - I guess have alot to learn!

The template letter is great and I have tweaked it to suit me.

Thanks George UK!