Extortionate Interest

Janny_Boy

I have an HSBC credit card with a limit of £6,200. Foolishly I went over this limit without really realising until it was too late.
Originally HSBC wanted a lump sum payment of around £600 to settle the over spend, which I laughed off as I hadn't gone over anywhere near this amount.
After a lot of arguing with them, a payment plan of £135 a month was reached to pay off the debt due to financial constraints.
This is all well and good, however, the Interest currently being charged on the account is extortionate and over £100 of the monthly payment goes on Interest alone which I think is absolutely disgusting.
Given the recent press regarding Abbey being taken to court for pretty much the same thing, can anyone offer any advice on how to lower the interest and give HSBC a taste of thei own medicine without having to resort to loans, IVA's or bankruptcy??
Can anyone also offer any insight on how to take this further regarding legal action if unsuccessful with being nice??

muffle_2

As you're not going to be paying off the balance anytime soon you should get a lower interest loan or at least a balance transfer to another card to pay it off if you can.

My credit cards have only charged me £20 when I went over their limits last month, and that's 3 different companies, so whatever they're charging you for this could well be contested, but there's nothing you can do about the interest without transferring the debt elsewhere. The interest rate is about the most basic thing there is in the credit agreement.

I believe the recent press relates to late payment charges and not interest.

I suppose you could phone them up and say that you're going to transfer the debt to another card if they don't reduce the rate, you might get lucky.

grumbler

Janny_Boy wrote:

...Foolishly I went over this limit without really realising until it was too late. ...I laughed off as I hadn't gone over anywhere near this amount. ...... a payment plan of £135 a month was reached to pay off the debt due to financial constraints.... the Interest currently being charged on the account is extortionate... which I think is absolutely disgusting.... give HSBC a taste of thei own medicine without having to resort to loans, IVA's or bankruptcy??

Sorry, if the following is not what you want to hear ...
1. You spend their money.
2. You spend more than they allowed you to spend.
3. You don't take this seriously and cannot service this debt properly.
4. You are thinking about IVAs and bankruptcy.
5. You are a high-risk customer.
6. The higher the risk, the higher the interest rate. This is a general financial law.
7. You have the interest rate that you deserve with your attitude.

Sorry ...

The_Boss

What Grumbler said

Joe_Bloggs

If you read Janny Boy's previous posts then it is clear that he is going through Martin's 'Where to start with problem debts' article on the Debt-Free Wannabe section of the forum. This clearly advised to try and negotiate interest rates down.
I doubt it is in the power of telephone support staff of HSBC to negotiate an affordable rate of interest. Further down Martin's article there are links to CCCS, National Debtline and Citizens Advice Bureaux. These groups may have more negotiating power with creditors.
J_B.