Barclaycard say my token payment is not enough! What do I do now?

pepe2008

....and another Barclaycard trick is to refuse your offer ( or refuse to stop interest and charges ) unless you make it via a 'recognised 3rd Party'..i.e C.A.B, CCCS etc. This is rubbish and you can complain to the OFT ( www.oft.gov.uk ) about them for dloing so because it is unfair.

Hannah_10

I wouldn't have sent them the bit about we hope to get it resolved in 2-3 months because if it ever does end up in a full on showdown before a judge you then look as though your word is no good if your life failled to perk up in the hoped for time.

I would have sent this instead...

Dear XXXX

Re: Token payments

This morning I received your latest letter, dated 22nd July, and, frankly, I was very confused by it. I sent you a full household budget with my previous letter, which showed that my basic outgoings exceed my current income by more than £100, and yet you are asking for higher payments. It is obvious that I can not even afford a token payment but I felt it important to pay something to show my good intentions.

I see the token payment as a short-term arrangement because my partner and I are endeavouring to reduce our spending and increase our income as much as possible as soon as we possibly can. Our finances are in a state of constant change at the moment but as soon as they are more stable, I intend to send you an updated copy of our budget and as high an offer as I can then afford.

In my previous letter, I forgot to include a list of my creditors so I have enclosed it this time to give you a fuller picture of my current financial situation. I also asked you to consider reducing or stopping interest and other charges on my account and I would appreciate a reply to this request.

I have replied promptly, as you requested, to explain why it is not possible to agree a higher payment currently.


My first cheque/postal order in enclosed, marked on the reverse with my name and reference number.

Yours faithfully

The reason I would enclose a cheque/PO is that they will almost certainly cash it. Whether they cash it or not if you can prove you did all that could be reasonably expected of you then any judge this ever ends up before is going to offer them zero sympathy.

Not that this will definately end up in court you understand, just that it is wise to play to your own advantage from the outset. If you are playing to your own advantage too, there is more chance of getting a more reasonable response from them as you are making it clear you're ready if they start playing hardball back.

They try it on with everyone, it's not personal. Showing weakness and hoping for pity isn't the best strategy, they respond better to frustratingly reasonable and irritatingly well informed as an approach.

TheRealDeal_2

Bacalaycard I found to be totally unreasonable when I did the same thing, I offered them Token payments and they refused point blank, they even told me on the phone if Citizens Advice asked them to receive the token Payment they would accept it but not from me personally.

Ridiculous !

barbiedoll

Personally, I wouldn't include a list of your other creditors. it's really none of their business who you owe money to. You could just state on your letter that you have other creditors to whom you are also paying token amounts. As another poster said, don't commit yourself to a specific timeframe for paying more, you will end up with endless telephone calls and letters insisting that you increase your payments which can be quite distressing, especially if your circumstances don't improve as quickly as you hope. Make sure that you pay your monthly token payment regularly and on time, they won't refuse the payment and if/when they pass it to their inhouse collectors or sell the debt on to a DCA, let us know and we'll help you to deal with them too. Good luck

Hannah_10

Barbie if she's going to make a DMP (which looks like the way it's heading) then all creditors will have to be listed as the payments will have to be split fairly. So for example if she owes the bank 43% of the value of her overall debt, then they get 43% of her overall funds available for repayment.

barbiedoll

Hannah, do they give your creditors a list of your other creditors when you're on a DMP? I didn't know that......I thought they just trusted your debt management company to divvy up the spoils fairly on your behalf.
Having said that, I've found barclays to be ok with my DMP, they stopped interest and charges straight away and although their inhouse DCA was a bit of a pain to start with ("We're coming to your house to scare you" etc etc) after a few tried and tested template letters from here, they were fine!

Marisco

When I did oh's DMP, I just listed the other creditors under "debts" on the SOA, and offered what the debt was "worth" e.g £300 was offered £2 up to £15 for £4000, but I did it myself, not with a company.

Hannah_10

Barbie there's no need for a debt management company, most people should not use one as they will stay in debt much longer and pay thousands to the company for a service that they didn't actually need. On top of that the debt management companies often make a total mess of it, there is a post currently live called "Debt management plan help please!" on which the poor girl has been defaulted every month for three years on a debt simply because her management company are incompetant- this kind of thing is rife. The big charities administer DP's for people and charge nothing for doing so (and aren't usually incompetant) so if a person feels they truly can not do thier own DMP (which aren't as hard as they seem from the outside) then contacting one of the charities is a far better idea.

PNPSUKNET

did you place any of the following on your soa, sky, mobile, internet, emergency fund on it?

Mics_chick

PNPSUKNET wrote: »

did you place any of the following on your soa, sky, mobile, internet, emergency fund on it?

I included mobile, internet and emergency fund but not sky coz I don't have it