Santander Credit Card Direct Debit trap

hawkez99

Hi - wondering if anyone can provide advice...?

1) I got a new "Zero" credit card from Santander late last year.
2) I didn't use it until March this year, and set up a direct debit to pay the full payment at about the same time. At the time the DD was set up, I was not told of any delay before it would take effect.
3) I can't be sure exactly when I set up the DD, so can't be sure a full billing cycle had passed before my first payment was due.
4) In early April I received a notice of default sums and was charged £12 + interest for a missed payment. Of course, this was quite a surprise, as I had thought the DD would cover it.
5) I complained. They said "don't worry, it won't be reported to the credit agency" - this was OK for me as I can't be bothered chasing £12 only, but my credit score is important.
6) It was reported to the credit agency.
7) I complained again.
8) They said they didn't care (in a nice way).

Can someone please tell me if I have any chance if I take this to the Ombudsman, or should I just close all my accounts with Santander?

Thanks!

the_insider

Have you made a formal complaint or did you just talk to someone in the call centre?

YorkshireBoy

hawkez99 wrote: »

2) I didn't use it until March this year, and set up a direct debit to pay the full payment at about the same time.

I suspect you were too close to your statement date to catch it with the DD.

Under the terms of the DD guarantee the originator must give you 10 (working?) days notice of both the amount and date of DD collection. The only method they have for this is the statement.

Is this your first credit card and/or the first time you've had a DD set up on one?

scott_lithgows

Try and close all your accounts if you can however they can be hard to get rid of,I,ve been sent a card and pin number for an account closed over a year ago.

anna42hmr

did your statement say that the payment will be taken by direct debit as its only then that you do not need to make any payments manually.

as for affect on credit report affect, as long as you miss no more payments and have a good history apart from that, shouldnt affect you too much in the long term

hawkez99

Hi there,

Thanks for the responses:

the_insider: yes, have made a formal complaint. They sent back a letter saying they won't do anything about it, along with a booklet detailing how to contact the ombudsman.

YorkshireBoy: No, no my first CC, but was the first time I set up a DD to pay me CC - always done it manually previously. I guess I was too close to the statement date for them to tell me the DD would be taken. But surely they should have told me that this was the case - and I should make a manual payment?

anna42hmr: statement did not mention the DD, but as this was my first foray into the world of paying off my CC by DD, I didn't think anything of this.

Overall - would I have a case if I mention that this was the first time I set up a DD to pay my CC, and they didn't mention about this delay (I set up the DD online)?

Sorry this is really important because my wife is pregnant and we need to move house - so I need a mortgage. NEver had bad credit in my life, and this was (at worst) an admin error. Don't think I should be penalised 000's with a bad mortgage deal...

fozmcfc

There are much more savvy people around here, but here's my view.

You are at the stage where I don't believe you will get the missed/late payment marker off your credit report IMO. You seem to have gone past the gesture of goodwill stage, although as a gesture they did remove the £12 fee.

I do have sympathy for you, but unfortunatley I think you are stuck with it.

The good news is that although it's a black mark, it isn't a complete disaster. Reading many posts on here suggests, one missed/late payment over many years of being responsible credit wise, won't be frowned upon by most companies.

You might be best to leave it as long as possible, before applying for a mortgage and also try not to obtain further credit in the 6 months - 12 months.

Good Luck.

TFD_2

hawkez99 wrote: »

anna42hmr: statement did not mention the DD, but as this was my first foray into the world of paying off my CC by DD, I didn't think anything of this.

Overall - would I have a case if I mention that this was the first time I set up a DD to pay my CC, and they didn't mention about this delay (I set up the DD online)?

Your statement would not have mentioned a DD.

With any DD, the company is obliged to confirm the amount and date it will be taken. If they haven't done that, then you can be safe in the knowledge no DD will be actioned.

DizzleUK

I think you've reached a dead end with this one.
It is entirely your responsibility to make sure your statement has been paid on time, whichever payment method you use.

Your statement is produced on day 1 and you usually have around 3 weeks to make a payment on it. I don't know of any credit cards where the payment due date is the day before the next statement is due.

Late payment charges are only added on the day your statement is produced.

If there is a DD set up, your statement will tell you when to expect payment to be taken (around 2 weeks after your statement date).

If for any reason this DD fails, you still have time to correct this before your payment due date (usually around another week).

If DD is a new way of paying a bill then you must show due diligence and check the payment has gone through by

1. Checking with your bank
2. Checking with your credit card company.

Your statement would tell you when your payment is expected by (if you're not paying by DD) and if you fail to make sure, by checking yourself rather than relying on blind faith, that the payment has cleared you only have yourself to blame, not the CC company.

I believe the ombudsman will tell you the same thing.

The good news is, that if the late payment marker is the only one on your file in a field of otherwise perfect payments then this will not affect your ability to get a mortgage.

Consider it a lesson learned and move on.

*Addendum*

I notice at the bottom of your OP you want to know if this matter is worth taking your business away from Santander. Why would it? You set up the DD online so you didn't speak to anyone. If you had any concerns about whether it was in time to pay the latest bill you should have spoken to customer services- it's what they are there for.

Sorry, I do get a little narked with people who try to lay the blame at anywhere else other than with themselves.

I think your only cause for complaint is against the agent that told you that it wouldn't be reported to the CRA as you were misinformed. Your payment was late, that's a fact. This accurate information was recorded on your file.

As I said, if this is your one and only late payment marker, you won't have a problem.