Capital One - Late Fee £12

zudecke

Hi guys,

I have a Cap 1 account that I use for the last 10 months. EVERY month, on or before the 25th, I pay whatever incurred balance in full.

I was just charged a late fee, which I know will screw up my credit rating .

What happened was, I THOUGHT I was settling my September balance last month when paying, however, only now have I discovered that 3 payments were charged after I settled.

SO my statement looks like:

26 Sep 2011 27 Sep 2011 PLACE £12.50
26 Sep 2011 27 Sep 2011 PLACE £6.46
26 Sep 2011 27 Sep 2011 PLACE £20.88
24 Sep 2011 25 Sep 2011 PAYMENT RECEIVED £573.46

So while my payment due date is the 23rd, these charges which appeared late counted as a late fee, even though I thought I was paying everything off when I made the payment..


Cap 1 obliged to refind the £12 late fee they charged, but unfortunately this will stick on my credit rating... Any suggestions?

Also, any ideas how I can prevent this from happening in the future?

I get paid on (or 1-2 days before) the 25th of every month. I asked Cap 1 to make the payment due date the 25th.. Should I make it later?

Thanks,

Z

SnowTiger

zudecke wrote: »

SO my statement looks like:

26 Sep 2011 27 Sep 2011 PLACE £12.50
26 Sep 2011 27 Sep 2011 PLACE £6.46
26 Sep 2011 27 Sep 2011 PLACE £20.88
24 Sep 2011 25 Sep 2011 PAYMENT RECEIVED £573.46

So while my payment due date is the 23rd, these charges which appeared late counted as a late fee, even though I thought I was paying everything off when I made the payment..

[...]

I get paid on (or 1-2 days before) the 25th of every month. I asked Cap 1 to make the payment due date the 25th.. Should I make it later?

I think you were very lucky to get Capital One to refund the £12 late fee. Your payment was due on the 23rd. You didn't pay the bill until the 24th and it was credited to your account on the 26th. You paid late.

You might be better off moving your payment date to the beginning of the month, which would give you plenty of time to pay it on time.

dunstonh

Cap 1 obliged to refind the £12 late fee they charged, but unfortunately this will stick on my credit rating... Any suggestions?

Good result in getting the £12 refunded. However, removal of the late payment is less likely as you did pay late. The record is a true statement of events.

I was just charged a late fee, which I know will screw up my credit rating .

The late fee wont. However, if they record it as a late payment on your credit file it will. Typically held against you for about 3 years nowadays.

Also, any ideas how I can prevent this from happening in the future?

Dont leave it late. Pay earlier in the month (obvious I know but it would stop the problem)

zudecke

I still don't get it..

It's so confusing and Cap 1 suck balls in terms of their interface.

It's not like I don't have the $ to make repayments, I just don't have a clue how they're calculating it!! Argh!

SnowTiger

zudecke wrote: »

I still don't get it..

It's so confusing and Cap 1 suck balls in terms of their interface.

It's not like I don't have the $ to make repayments, I just don't have a clue how they're calculating it!! Argh!

LOL.

Log in to your Capital One account.

Click on "View Estatements."

You'll then see a list of statements. Click on "View estatement" next to the statement you wish to view, presumably the most recent.

But as it's all a bit much for you, perhaps you should consider closing your Capital One account.

Capital One's interface isn't the worst I've seen.

garth549

A single and isolated late payment wont be disastrous to your report. Missed payments are a lot worse.

JohalaReewi

Or just set up to pay the whole account by direct debit. That way, you will never be late again.

Hominu

Or even the minimum balance. It wont stop you getting charged interest but at least you'll never get another late fee.

zudecke

garth549 wrote: »

A single and isolated late payment wont be disastrous to your report. Missed payments are a lot worse.

The reference used on there actually says: "LATE OR FAILURE TO PAY".. ?

Hominu wrote: »

Or even the minimum balance. It wont stop you getting charged interest but at least you'll never get another late fee.

JohalaReewi wrote: »

Or just set up to pay the whole account by direct debit. That way, you will never be late again.

It's not that I have a fiscal difficulty paying.. It's that those charges occurred after I settled what I thought was the FULL balance. Then those charges were incurred.. Not sure how a DD would have helped in this instance..

zudecke

Also.. I've now set up my account so that the statement date is on the 2nd of every month and the payment deadline date is 27th of every month.. Presumably that'll fix the problem..?

SnowTiger

zudecke wrote: »

It's not that I have a fiscal difficulty paying.. It's that those charges occurred after I settled what I thought was the FULL balance. Then those charges were incurred.. Not sure how a DD would have helped in this instance..

The problem is that you paid your Capital One bill late, and has nothing to do with additional purchases you made later.

From your original post:

"my payment due date is the 23rd"

and

"24 Sep 2011 25 Sep 2011 PAYMENT RECEIVED £573.46"

Payment was due on or before 23rd. You paid on the 24th and the payment didn't hit your Capital One account until the 25th.

A direct debit would have helped because you might no be able to work out what to pay and when to pay it, but Capital One will and take it from your bank account automatically.