Virgin !!!! up again

norwichboy

I have a virgin cc and transfer balances to the card and always seem to have had problems with them taking the correct amount and have spent hours on the phone to them trying to sort it out month after month. My 0% period has now finished and a have DD set up to pay minimum amount. However, I noted on my first bill after the 0%, they were requesting a minimum payment that was less than the interest being charged. this obviously resulted in the CC debt increasing. The next month the minimum payment was a couple of pound above the interest payment, surely still not right. I have not contacted them about this yet as I am not sure what my rights are. This must be a breach of contract. If I don't pay I get clobbered with a charge. What can I do about this, and demand from them, if anything?

Any help/advice appreciated.

Many thanks

Typhoon2000

That sounds about right.
The minimum payment is what you have to pay to avoid being hit with fees.
Insterest for the next month is only esitmated and is dependent on how soon after the statement date you pay.

norwichboy

So I can't phone them up and charge them £15 for not requesting a payment above the interest due.

Although thinking about, they made money our of me by taking less than the interest. I'm sure the terms and conditions state that a payment above the interest level will be taken as a minimum payment. May have to look into that.

Any

Minimum payment has nothing to do with the amount of interest charged.
Those two are not alligned what so ever.
It's not morally right, but since when any bank worried about any moral issues?

CannyJock

norwichboy wrote: »

So I can't phone them up and charge them £15 for not requesting a payment above the interest due.

Although thinking about, they made money our of me by taking less than the interest. I'm sure the terms and conditions state that a payment above the interest level will be taken as a minimum payment. May have to look into that.

You can try phoning them, but it'll just cost you more in time and phone bills.

Virgin's current summary box explains the situation http://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/credit-cards-v3/popup/summary.jsp - we should probably have a sticky made with T&C's and summary boxes because there's so many times we refer people to them - though they'd need revised from time to time I guess.

The bit you're looking for is the minimum payment that applies where your balance is £250 or more where it says: 1% of your statement balance before any default charges and interest (to which we'll then add the default charges and interest).

So that means they'll work out your minimum payment before they add on your interest for the month. So if your APR is 12.68% or higher then your balance will always go up if you only pay the minimum.

Not saying it's fair or right, but it is there in black and white. It is worth nothing that with MBNA cards you can made additional payments and they will still take your minimum payment by DD, so you can use this to chip away at the balance. Pay as much as you can as often as you can to minimise the interest as it's calculated daily.

Or maybe look to transfer the full balance onto a new non-MBNA backed 0% card? Full list here on the stoozing site (sponsored and supported by MSE).

oscar52

If you look at your last statement with no interest it will give you the estimated interest for the next month. Your minimum payment is based on this charge and will be higher. In the same way, your next statement, will be based on the interest charge this month, and will be higher next month.

Incidentally, due to the number of non working days over xmas/new year, next months interest will be significantly lower than this months payment and your balance will come down