Is this actually legal?

ALIBOBSY

thenudeone wrote: »

If you think it's bad, just pay more.

The statements always show the estimated interest for the next month and what the minimum payment is, so it's pretty easy to see whether the interest will be covered by the minimum payment or not, and make any extra payment.

You have to take some responsibility for the repayment of your debts. Don't blame the banks because YOU decided not to pay any more than the minimum.

Did you read the OP properly. She/he states they are using this card to hold debt (presumably rolled up from other higher rate cards moved to a lower rate on this one) whilst she throws money at other debts. this is exactly what Martin advises transfer as much as possible to lower rates and pay off priority then higher rate debts first. The poster is in fact taking responsibility for their debt and appears to have a plan to clear it, she just imagined this card could be a holding card for some debt whilst clearing elsewhere, then this would get its turn.

Personnally i think it is wrong that paying the min doesn't at least cover the interest and agree wholeheartedly with the new rules that ensure that even the min starts to pay things off.

Try reading things properly before you jump on your bandwagon :rotfl:. Especially the bit where you are asked to be nice.

Ali x

thenudeone

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

She/he states they are using this card to hold debt (presumably rolled up from other higher rate cards moved to a lower rate on this one) whilst she throws money at other debts. this is exactly what Martin advises transfer as much as possible to lower rates and pay off priority then higher rate debts first. The poster is in fact taking responsibility for their debt and appears to have a plan to clear it, she just imagined this card could be a holding card for some debt whilst clearing elsewhere, then this would get its turn.

That is all very well and to be commended but doesn't absolve the OP for the responsibility of reviewing and managing the account.

If they have other debts at much higher rates of interest then then it is absolutely correct to pay only the minimum on this card; because that reduces the overall interest charge. If that's the case, the OP has no grounds for complaining at all, because by having a low minimum repayment, this card has freed up more cash which can be used to reduce the balance (and therefore the interest) on higher rate cards.

It sounds like the accounts are being managed properly and that the OP is indirectly benefiting from the low minimum repayment. If so - why complain?

bigbloke45

vandiesel wrote: »

Hi,
So having checked my Halifax credit card statement (owing almost 10k), I note that last month, the balance was 9950.32. On the 10th may, I made a (minimum) payment of £186.00. On the 17th, there were two interest charges of £22.25 and £169.86.
This month, I note that the balance is now 9956.43 and the minimum payment has gone up to £197.11 . This card is not used for anything other than holding debt while other more pressing debt is paid off (so no additional transactions).

From this, I assume that Halifax are actually charging more in interest than the minimum payments so the on-going account balance is actually increasing, despite paying the minimum amount on-time every month.
I assumed (naively possibly), that if you paid the minimum amount,
it was supposed to cover the interest and pay a nominal amount of the capital off. From my statement it would seem that this is not actually happening.
My question is, is what Halifax doing actually legal/following banking rules/etc ? It does seem to be against the whole premise of paying off the minimum amounts.

Cheers, vand.

If it is the case that the minimum payment is not enough to cover interest, have you considered seeing if Halifax will allow you to pay by standing order?

You can then calculate a figure that will clear your interest so that the amount owed won't increase. Also, if you select an amount, say £10 above the interest owed, you will gradually reduce the debt because the standing order is a level amount and not a percentage of the outstanding balance.

It works, I know from bitter experience.

Good luck with your financial planning; stick to it and you will get through :cool: