Old Credit Cards: Should I cancel them Discussion Area

Careful_Spender_3

Hiya Moggles.

That's the point though. I thought I had avoided them. I haven't knowingly agreed to any company setting up a CPA and now I find that I may potentially have several; since no list exists to say they are in place and MBNA will take any company's word over mine that there is one (if I have ever bought from them before) - despite my stressing that I have authorised no such arrangement with anyone and have cancelled the card.

Cheers anyway.

NickX

Right, the fact of the matter is that anyone can put a charge on your credit card if they have the Card Number, the Expiry Date and the 3 digit CVV code from the magnetic strip.

Quite often if you pay for car insurance on your Credit Card, the insurer will retain your card details, so 12 months on you get your renewal documentation through and it will say "You do not need to do anything, your Credit Card will be charged for the premium of £xxx on or around dd/mm/yyyy".

If you are happy with the premium quoted and don't want to move to a different insurer, this saves you having to make a fresh payment to them.

It may seem scary that they can do this, but remember the law is on your side. If someone takes a payment from your card that you have no authorized then you can dispute it as fraudulent and once investigated it should be removed.

I would agree with Moggles that Credit Cards are much safer than Debit Cards, they offer you added protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, and think of it this way : paying by Debit Card and the money is gone straight away from your Bank Account, pay by Credit Card and you do not have to actually pay straight away and have time to query anything that you might not agree with.

Careful_Spender_3

Thanks guys

As far as I was aware, I had ticked (or unticked) anything that gave this company permission to re-use my details, and removed all reference to myself on the account. It is not beyond possibility that the account holder (of the website) re-ticked this - and he would have received the emails saying they would take the money. Anyway, MBNA did not care how it may have come about. If a company says they have a CPA with me (you?) then, if I have agreed to them taking money once, MBNA said it means they can do so again and I am not able to reclaim any monies taken this way; even if the acccount has been closed for sometime!

So, (Bottom line?)...

...while one can indeed canx a Credit Card, It seems like it's impossible to actually close a Credit Card account, since there is always the potential for any company to obtain a payment long after the card has been canceled and the accout holder has forgotten about it, simply by claiming there is a CPA(Continuous Payment Authority) in place!

Am I the only one who disagrees with this? It seems wrong on so many levels.

Anyway, it affects every Credit Card holder on the planet apparently, so I am not alone. But I do feel this is an issue which should someone be looking into.
Thanks again.

:money:

flin_2

Marishka wrote: »

Does anyone know how one can find out what cards one has? sounds weird, I know but I applied for an NCDL one years ago (there was a pretty picture of a dog on it!) and when it arrived it had a maximum spend of £60 and I was so disgusted I shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it then cut it up some years later. This far on I don't have a clue which bank it was on or anything but I never actually cancelled it.

I too have credit cards which I cut up but didn't cancel, I have no idea of the numbers or which companies they were with.....HELP please

RDMD

flin wrote: »

I too have credit cards which I cut up but didn't cancel, I have no idea of the numbers or which companies they were with.....HELP please

Do you not receive statements?

flin_2

RDMD wrote: »

Do you not receive statements?

No the problem is I have moved 4 times in the last 6 years. My son got a print off of my credit rating and they show up on there. I don't owe any money, never have and they show as not owing any but would still like to be rid of them

cmh73

flin wrote: »

No the problem is I have moved 4 times in the last 6 years. My son got a print off of my credit rating and they show up on there. I don't owe any money, never have and they show as not owing any but would still like to be rid of them

If they show up on your credit rating, just call up the relevant CC companies giving your name, DOB and address you were registered at the time and they should quite easily be able to find you on the system.

It may be worth doing a check on experian as well equifax (if you havent already) as some cards show up on one and not the other.

easymoney1964

Regarding experian, is it still possible to write to them & request your credit details.

I remember doing this many years ago enclosing a cheque for £1.

I only ask because you have to telephone to cancel your free 30 Day trial if you use the internet, I always believe when you call they do what they can to hold on to you and it usually cost me money.

aristote33

Hello,

I have messaged Littlewoods to close my finance account.

After having waited for a little while, my finance account available balance does not show anymore on my littlewoods online customer profile.

However, when I check my credit report with creditexpert.co.uk, there is still a line showing Littlewoods with £0 balance.

If my finance account is really closed, should this line disappear from my credit report or does it stay inactive in the credit report?

If it's meant to disappear, is it Littlewoods Finance or creditexpert.co.uk to be contacted to sort the matter?

Thanks a lot.

Lottie's_Mum

Having paid off the balance of my credit card with Halifax in early 2008 I wrote to them saying the card was no longer needed and I wanted it closed, which they did.Nothing further received until a couple of months ago when I had a statement from them stating I owed them a sum of money for a payment (not a DD) paid from my card without my knowledge. I had made a similar payment to the recipient company a year earlier for a membership which I had not renewed. Now Halifax are chasing me for the money saying they were obliged by law to let this payment go out, even though it was without my authorisation AND after Halifax had written to me stating my account had been closed. I have also received phone call after phone call from Halifax wanting to know when this will be paid, then they will close my account (again?!) Had I emigrated by now they surely wouldn't be able to try and claim this from me, and I am mystified as to how they can try and claim this money from me under the circumstances! Any advice? I am tempted to call Halifax's bluff and say take me to court over it.