help please!-credit card late payment fees!!

pippitypip_2

A stong case backed by the Financial Ombudsman service, see Martin Lewis's guide - my link above.

There are thousands and thousands successfully claiming full charges (inc £12 ones), as they're disproportionate to the costs incurred by the credit card company.

I've done it myself, there are no specific circumstances required to meet, therefore if you've had late payment charges, you have a strong likelihood of having them refunded. Irrelevant who the debt is now with, debt collection agency or original credit provider.

There's no point debating this, there is a procedure that works and many people choose to follow it and have their charges refunded, it has no effect on your credit rating (though the late payments themselves will already have had an effect, granted).

If you don't like that this is an option, fair enough - but it's not fair to give the OP incorrect advice.

Thanks,
pippitypip

chattychappy

I agree with pippitypip, it's worth a go. Incidentally, pretty much all penalty charges under consumer contracts are covered by the same regime (not just banking/credit arrangements). The principle is that the charge levied should not exceed a reasonable estimate of the cost to the party concerned. This is (almost) regardless of what is written in the contract.

£12 is only a de-facto standard. Above this and the OFT said they would presume a charge to be unfair. So charges could be fair above this amount and could be unfair below this amount.

Additionally, these days, banks are supposed to treat consumers "fairly". This is a different regime but may also be applicable - particularly in dealing with the bank now about this.