Card Protection Plan (CPP) rip-off: a warning!

YorkshireBoy

rcf100 wrote: »

OK so he didn't cancel, and OK so he didn't read the T&C's, but do you know what, I would have done the same. Assumed that because I'd cancelled DD and not renewed that my contract was cancelled.

You, and the OP, are obviously not fully aware of the direct debit guarantee, which clearly states...

You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us (the originator).

http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Collecting/Pages/CustomersRights.aspx

Until you cancel with the originator you still have a contract (both for services and payment).

YorkshireBoy

rcf100 wrote: »

I for one am happy that the OP poster has posted this so I do not make the same mistake.

I agree it serves as a useful warning...and for car insurance, home insurance, RAC membership, subscription services, etc, etc, as well as card protection plans.

rcf100

And so because we're not fully offay with everything we can't post a warning to others in a forum like this? He made that mistake, I prob would have in the same situation. No doubt there are others.

All I'm saying is when someone who hasn't posted very much, like myself, tries to warn others of behaviour I believe to be underhand (despite what the T&C's say) to prevent others making the mistake as well, he gets told that he's in the wrong.

Yes he is and technically they are in the right. But morally the tactics of using cards that have been provided for protection and not payment is underhand, and not expected behaviour, and the warning is welcome from me, without getting into the blame game.

I just would have thought a thankyou for the info would be a nicer response than the one he got

Kavafy

magpiecottage wrote: »

It sounds as though the OP did not tell them. Not only is that not the fault of CPP but they have been insuring OP against the loss of this non-existent card for some years.

If the card didn't exist then surely it made no difference whether they were insuring me or not. I was paying. Where is the risk to them?

All of this could have been avoided if they were more up-front about the fact that they might take card details that were provided for the purpose of protection, and use them for payment. But of course, they don't want to do that because it looks bad.

Kavafy

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You, and the OP, are obviously not fully aware...

I think you're being rather smug. There are obviously things I could have done better, like reading the T's & C's to the last letter. But you are contributing nothing by telling me that. Try to understand that my motivation for posting was to warn other people about this underhand tactic (and I bet you that only a tiny minority of CPP customers realise that it goes on).

Then again, my motivation shouldn't really need spelling out as it's right there in my original post. If only you'd read that as avidly as the Direct Debit Guarantee before adding to the thread!

Kavafy

rcf100 wrote: »

Yes he is and technically they are in the right. But morally the tactics of using cards that have been provided for protection and not payment is underhand, and not expected behaviour, and the warning is welcome from me, without getting into the blame game.

I just would have thought a thankyou for the info would be a nicer response than the one he got

Thank you - I appreciate your comments. I thought the whole point of this site was to educate people about these pitfalls, but heigh-ho. Not everyone likes to be constructive.

dkmax_2

Kavafy wrote: »

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions, but my take is that auto-renewing is a money-making scheme for these people, and using card details that you gave them for “protection” is just wrong. I’m not sure what I can do about it, if anything, so I thought I’d at least post this warning for everyone else.

I think that it is good that you have highlighted this. It does no harm to remind people even if they are aware of this dubious clause. It is certainly not something that most people would expect to happen - it not an issue of having a continuous payment authority, for example and most people's experience of cancelling Direct Debits is that the contract is cancelled too.

The fact that something is in the T&Cs does not make it legally binding - there are such things as unfair terms in contracts. Also, burying the fact that they will seek out funds from registered cards in the Data Protection section is particularly sneaky. Indeed a reading of an earlier section says:

"We will cancel your policy if you do not pay on the date it is due the amount payable for the policy comprising both the premium payable to us and the fee due to CPP."

The reality seems to be that "If your agreed payment mechanism fails, we will use the card data you have provided to extract payment. If all these fail we will cancel your policy..."

Looks like sharp practice to me.

melanieconway

I would like to say thank you as I have a CPP policy and wasn't aware of this clause. It seems a bit on an unfair T&C to me, because you quite rightly say that you are listing your cards for protection, not exploitation should something go amiss at the bank!

I might be being naive here, but surely if a card has been cancelled or account closed, how on earth can it randomly be opened just because a payment request has come in?

I have lots of cards that I have destroyed (hopefully safely) as the accounts have been closed, or I have been issued new cards. CPP aside, I would hate to think that any merchant could get hold of my old card/account details and the organisation just pays up without rejecting the payment.

Snap-ant

Thank you for highlighting this.
I have been with CardGuard (CCP) since 1991 & have never had to make use of their services. After reading this I have written to them asking them not to renew my Policy when it ends in December. I have requested the DD is also cancelled & I expect to have written confirmation of both requests.
To back this up I have now rung them also.
Hopefully I have given them enough notice............

Have completed my own cards spreadsheet with help from MSE Cards Gone.com (fabulous tool) & will regularly up date & print off when needed - saving me £69 for 3 years

rickbonar

Just a thought ...

I wonder if there's any breach of the data protection act here by CPP?

Many of these cards were ripped up years ago from what members here have been saying.

I think it's not on whatever their terms and conditions .... and their terms and conditions cannot be an excuse for this behaviour and breaking the law.