Late Payment Charge Balance of £1.18

Kugakt

Evening. I recieved an email notification from my credit card company today, stating my statement is ready. I have logged on to check the balance and noticed i have a late payment charge from the month before.

The statement the month before showed Total of £1.18 owed and i was already 5p pence in credit thus making the balance due £1.13.

Now for whatever reason i have not paid it and have recieved a £12 late charge. I appreciate that i am in the wrong and have not made a payment but i feel it is very harsh for a very small balance.

I am after advice on wether it would be worth me trying to get the late charge removed and also the late mark on my credit score.

I have seen on my statement Dispute Resolution, would this be how i challenge it? Or do i not have a lot of choice with my not making the payment.

I have paid the balance in full today along with the late payment charge. I have held the account for over two years and have never had a late payment before. I have also set a direct debit up to take the minimum payment each month, although i dont make lots of purchase`s on this card, just used for my I-Tunes account.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in Advance

Karl T

wornoutmumoftwo

If this is a one off I would give them a call, apologise for your error and ask them to waiver the fee as a gesture of goodwill

CannyJock

Kugakt wrote: »

I am after advice on wether it would be worth me trying to get the late charge removed and also the late mark on my credit score.

Never does any harm to ask the question (and sometimes it pays to ask repeatedly) but personally I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

You've learned the lesson, that's the main thing.

Ritchie74

Speak nicely to the agent (it's shocking how many people go in 'all gums blazing' and ruin their chance of rebate), explain it's a one off oversight, reiterate the fact you now have a DD in place. Hopefully the agent is having a nice day and will waive the fee, if not call back later and hope to speak to a different agent. All else fails, ask to close the account, this may help but it's not guarenteed to so be prepared to follow through with closing.

Kugakt

Thank you for all the replies you have been very helpful. I have called and they have agred to reduce the charge by half.

This is good news, but my main concern is the late mark. They have give me an address to write to. So i might give that a try. Is this worth doing? Or am i fighting a loosing battle.

Ritchie74

Kugakt wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies you have been very helpful. I have called and they have agred to reduce the charge by half.

This is good news, but my main concern is the late mark. They have give me an address to write to. So i might give that a try. Is this worth doing? Or am i fighting a loosing battle.

Good result!
Not sure what address they have given you but only they can have the missed payment flag removed. People can add a 'notice of correction' whereby you make a statement on your file as to any special circumstances that led to arrears, however the missed payment flag would remain and I can't see this relevent in your case.

Are you sure a late payment flag is on your file? How late was you? You may have been lucky and paid before the lender send their report to their bureaus.

To check, apply for a statutory report from both experian and equifax for £2 each.

izools

Indeed, often credit card companies don't mark your credit report as late unless you fell 30+ days late. A week or so late isn't normally an issue.

Also if you settle and close the account, and it did have a late marker, it'll be less likely to affect you than if you left the account open. Potential creditors and most credit scoring systems pay far more attention to active accounts than closed / settled ones