Barclay card have cancelled my account!

MrCarrot

I have a Barclaycard, which I only ever use to make Internet purchases for the payment protection. Usually, it will get used once a year, if that, and I pay the balance off right away.

Yesterday I received a letter saying that my card had expired, and they wouldn't be re-issuing a new card. Their words were:

"At Barclaycard we conduct regular reviews of our customers' accounts to ensure the amount we allow a customer to spend is in line with our customers' ability to pay. As part of this process, we consider a wide range of information including the current situation of their account, payment history and external credit rating. Based on our most recent review of your account, we feel that it is not appropriate to reissue your card."

I called them today to find out why. In the last 12 months I used the card once and had an outstanding balance of around £100 which I forgot about. For 3 months I missed their minimum payment of £5. When I realised, I paid off the £100 balance and demanded they give me back the money they had charged in fines for paying late (which they did).

On the phone today they claimed in the last 12 months I had missed EIGHT payments. As mentioned above, I think it was 3 payments, and we are talking missed payments of £5 each!

I am wondering if they are not re-issuing my card because they think I'm a bad payer, or whether it's because they think I'm not profitable enough to them (afterall I only use the card once a year, and when I have paid late I've demanded their fines back)?

If I had a balance of £10k on the account which I was paying them interest on, and rolling over and paying their fines, I wonder if they would be so eager to cancel my account?

Finally, I'm also worried about the alleged 8 missed payments affecting my credit history. Is this likely and is there anything I can do about it?

Many thanks

MrCarrot

td_007

MrCarrot wrote: »

Finally, I'm also worried about the alleged 8 missed payments affecting my credit history. Is this likely and is there anything I can do about it?

Check your credit reports - that will tell exactly how many missed payments are recorded.

stephane_2

If you have had 8 missed payments & if barclays have notified CRA then it will have a bad impact on your file but better to check so you know where you stand. On a barclays point of view, you were spending very little, missing a lot of payments...so yes for them you are not profitable and potentially high risk

Batchy

ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THEIR DECISION...?
if you were perfect... never missed a payment, then I would have thought you would have a good argument, but so far as your credit report is concerned its quality will have fallen through the floor, and your lucky if they never put you in DEFAULT for this!

fingers crossed they never...

marksoton

MrCarrot wrote: »

In the last 12 months I used the card once and had an outstanding balance of around £100 which I forgot about. For 3 months I missed their minimum payment of £5. When I realised, I paid off the £100 balance and demanded they give me back the money they had charged in fines for paying late (which they did).

I don't understand this. You missed the payments, they charge you for it ( which is their right. ) You then demand these charges back.

I am surprised they did refund you.

stephane_2

MrCarrot wrote: »

I
Finally, I'm also worried about the alleged 8 missed payments affecting my credit history. Is this likely and is there anything I can do about it?

Many thanks

MrCarrot

You will not be able to remove missed payments, they'll be on your file for many years to come. Normally after 4/5 missed consecutive payment then would put the account in default, if that is the case then it is not looking good at all, and you will find it extremely difficult to find any providers who will welcome you...but I am sorry but you can only blame yourself

bengal-stripe

MrCarrot wrote: »

I am wondering if they are not re-issuing my card because they think I'm a bad payer, or whether it's because they think I'm not profitable enough to them (afterall I only use the card once a year, and when I have paid late I've demanded their fines back)?

Do you consider yourself to be a desirable customer for Barclaycard?

nickmack

MrCarrot wrote: »

I am wondering if they are not re-issuing my card because they think I'm a bad payer, or whether it's because they think I'm not profitable enough to them

Maybe a bit of both. 'Fining' customers is a nice profit booster, but if they think you're really struggling with meeting minimum payments, they may determine the risk of you defaulting is too great.

If you rarely use the card and have a small balance, they may decide to give that exposure to another customer who makes them more money.

If I had a balance of £10k on the account which I was paying them interest on, and rolling over and paying their fines, I wonder if they would be so eager to cancel my account?

Probably not to a point (see above), customers who have a large (non promotional) balance and pay the minimum each month are very profitable.

Finally, I'm also worried about the alleged 8 missed payments affecting my credit history. Is this likely and is there anything I can do about it?

You can check your own records and credit report to see if it's a mistake, but if it's not then no.

MrCarrot

marksoton wrote: »

I don't understand this. You missed the payments, they charge you for it ( which is their right. ) You then demand these charges back.

I am surprised they did refund you.

Yes too right I demanded the charges back and they did indeed give them me back. I missed minimum payments of £5 not £50 or £500. My total balance was never above £200. You seem surprised that I demanded the money back - I thought this was supposed to be a money saving site? Seems a lot of people here believe you should just lie down and throw your cash away at the first hurdle.

Batchy wrote: »

ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THEIR DECISION...?
if you were perfect... never missed a payment, then I would have thought you would have a good argument, but so far as your credit report is concerned its quality will have fallen through the floor, and your lucky if they never put you in DEFAULT for this!

fingers crossed they never...

I am a little surprised by their decision given I believe I missed 3 payments (not 8) for a fiver each. And I'm not trying to argue anything, simply trying to find out if this will have affected my credit score.

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Do you consider yourself to be a desirable customer for Barclaycard?

Not really given that I used the card once a year, and usually paid the balance off immedietely. But there you go.

stephane wrote: »

You will not be able to remove missed payments, they'll be on your file for many years to come. Normally after 4/5 missed consecutive payment then would put the account in default, if that is the case then it is not looking good at all, and you will find it extremely difficult to find any providers who will welcome you...but I am sorry but you can only blame yourself

I assume if they put the account into default, they would have notified me of this at the time? All they have done is refused to issue a new card now that my old one has expired. I'm not actually bothered about getting a card with a new provider since it is very rare I use a credit card (I only do it for the payment protection). I have no debts aside from a mortgage - but obviously I wish to remortgage in the future to secure better deals, hence I am concerned about my credit rating.

savagej

MrCarrot wrote: »

I thought this was supposed to be a money saving site? Seems a lot of people here believe you should just lie down and throw your cash away at the first hurdle.

Yep, this site is full of apologist for the banks and people who have not read the top line "MoneySavingExpert.com Consumer Revenge". They seem to think they are on a site for bankers all saying how bad we customers are for complaining when they charge us £39 for going overdrawn 39p and that we should not have a life but instead everything should revolve around finance and shouting "how high" when the bankers say "jump".

Moggles_2

MrCarrot wrote: »

I assume if they put the account into default, they would have notified me of this at the time?

That's right.

If you've missed payments ( ie. not late, but missed altogether) for up to 3 months, then normally you are marked on credit files as "in arrears" A default notice would usually only be issued if you have gone more than 3 months in arrears and then you're notified that a default has been registered with the CRAs.

A default would stay on your credit file for 6 years, however 3 months of arrears would generally disappear from view after 36 months (Experian), 48 months (Equifax), provided that you keep the account open and active. Once the card is cancelled, the most recent payment history stays on file for 6 years from the date the account was settled.

As above, I would check your credit files to see what's actually on there. For help, see page 1 of the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.