help me understand Virgin please?

oscar52

Not sure Canny - I cant say specifically which accounts have and havn't - I dont know what criteria they have used. I just know the old ones still exist when I look at accounts.

Shelldean

CannyJock wrote: »

Thought all the old account T&C's had been revised - any idea which ones haven't? I used to be on the old interest and charges plus £5 which from a stoozing point of view was excellent with 0% interest and £0 charges

Would be interested in knowing what other cards the OP has and which they applied for and were turned for. Has the OP mentioned yet if they've checked their credit report to see if there's anything there can be tidied up to improve their credit score?

EDIT: Has the OP checked that her wayward husband doesn't have any other credit cards that need tackled at the same time?

He also has a HSBC card which is currently on 0 % they agreed to this just for 6 mths. Balance between £4000 & £5000. Again quite high normal interest rate. He did have a citibank which we have cleared.
Can't recall off top of my head which ones he applied for
( not currently at home)

We've not viewed his credit report simply cos we had the free one a while back and can't have another and i know it won't look great cos he had several missed payments on his cards earlier in the yr. DD were set up over the summer to stop the missed payments, so payments have only been on time for maximum of 6 mths.
He also has a HSBC with while left to run. Again sorry no exact figures due to not being at home

He's on the electrol role and has been for ages

will up date with figures later

Shelldean

oscar52 wrote: »

It is only some older accounts and all newer accounts that have this repayment schedule - others are still on interest and charges plus a nominal £5

his is an older card as he's had it ages, not sure how long and of course he has no idea where his terms and conditions are :mad:

Shelldean

bringing this back to the top for some extra help...
the lovely people at virgin have done it again this mth:mad::mad::mad:
Mimimum payment was £110.15 and they charged £116.22 interest. I got OH to stop spending on the card back in November and since then he's cleared the grand total of £26.78 off the balance.

I did write a letter back in January and got no response. Yes I should've chased them but due to other issues, this was placed on a back burner. Plus the mim payment was clearing the interest plus a tiny bit off the balance.

Back in Jan I was told it was because the interest was calculated on daily basis and due to the extra holidays ( christmas etc) it was long mth.
But why have they done it again this mth???

Whats the next step???

twist-and-shout

It's for exactly the same reason as before, this month's cycle would have had more days than the month before. Basically with MBNA they charge interest daily so in a year you will have 365 days int charged but the months will vary in how many days.
Bank holidays does have a factor though. For febuary the interest may have been a little less anyway due to it being a short month so march's statment would be a longer cycle, and end of march/april we had Easter bank hols.

With MBNA you will always see a rise and fall in interest charged on a month to month basis but overall your balance will come down (very slowly). Just try and overpay as and when you can bring that balance down.
Hope this helps you

Xbigman

You're best bet, if you are organised and disciplined, is to stop with the minimums and start paying a set amount. Say £140 a month. This is not excessively over the minimum and should be affordable. Over time you should try to push that amount up bit by bit. Set yourself a target for this year, then try for £20 more per month next year, another £20 the year after...

This can be depressing at first as you realise this is a long haul but after a few years you will start to make a noticable impact and it starts to look better.
Regards


X

Shelldean

Thanks guys,

this is REALLY depressing me esp as I can't actually deal with Virgin as it's not my card. Worked it out at the rate we're going it will take 86 1/2yrs to clear the balance!!!!!!!!

Xbigman thats what I've already suggest to OH the problem is getting him to call Virgin and arrange it. If nothing else I need him to cancel the current DD for the minimum payment, so that I can then set up a DD for a set amount each mth.


Can I ask will Virgin just set up a DD for say £130 a mth, or would i be better setting up a DD or a SO for £130 myself??? Then I can change the amount as and when I'm able without contacting virgin again.

Am I correct in thinking if I set up a SO rather than DD we're in control of the amount rather than them????

fozmcfc

Not sure Virgin will do a DD for anything but either the minimum or maximum amount.

A possible solution would be to register for online credit card management and then use a debit card to pay additional amounts towards the card.

I myself have a virgin card and the DD is for the minimum amount, but I always make an additional payment with my debit card every month.

Would have to look later when at home, but it might also be possible to do a bank transfer from your bank onto the card each month via the online service also.

Shelldean

Thanks fozmcfc for the info about DD's and Virgin.

But will it work if i get OH to cancel his DD altogether and then set up a standing order for same date each mth for bit more than the minimum.

And you say you've a DD for the minimum then pay a bit extra does that affect the following mths minimum amount??? What I'm trying to say ( not very well) is with one of my old cards, if say my minimum payment was £50 and I found I had £10 i could over pay with, the card company would then only take £40. Do Virgin do this???

twist-and-shout

With Virgin the Direct Debit will take min payment regardless of any overpayments you make. So you can either keep the D/D in place and make overpayments as often as you can or you can get your partner to cancel the D/D and set up a SO for a set amount.

The only thing about SO is if Virgin do a Change in T&C's and say change your payment due date or interest rate and you dont notice it's easy to get caught out and start making late payments. Not saying this would happen but it is possible.

Also if you get your partner to call and ask him to add you as an Authorised User on his account then you would be able to speak to Virgin yourself and allow you to register for their online service and make those overpayments.