credit card charging a late payment fee for early payment

0142mo

Hi,

I have a CC with intelligentFinance, I have been paying every month by standing order on the 2nd of each month. The payment due date is usually at the end of each moth and it varies from 26th -30th of each month.

My CC company credited 2 payments (2nd March and 2 nd April ) to one month-March and charged me a late payment fee for April as no payment was made by the end of the month.

I raised this with them and they agreed to refund the late payment fee, however they have sent a notification of late payment to the Credit company and now I have a late payment mark on my credit history. CC company are refusing to correct this info as they claim it wasnt a banking error and they have to be truthful in reporting missing payments.

I would understand if there was no payment , but I promptly paid on 2nd April. They sent me a statement dated 2nd April advising to pay by 27th April. When I disputed it they said it is my responsibilyty to make sure I pay on time.

In my view I paid on time as the deadline for the previous month was 27th March and anything paid after that day should be credited to the next month. I also paid on the day the letter was issued, therefore in a banking period for April.

I am looking to buy a new house, but now it will be more difficullt with a late payment mark on my credit history.
anyone looking at my credit history will think I havent paid where in fact I always pay early and on time.
:mad:
Am I right in saying that the information that CC passed to the credit company isnt true and misrepresnts me as a client? Can they get away with this?

Tixy

It is your responsibility to check the statements each month and ensure you pay at least the minimum payment each month between the date the statement is generated and the due date.

You did not pay in accordance with the T&Cs so it is acceptable and accurate for them to reflect that on your credit file.

Its happened to others on standing orders and is always a risk if you pay by SO and don't carefully check your statements.

You can certainly try to get them to remove it as a goodwill gesture but you do not have a right to have it removed.

0142mo

that is exacly what I did , i paid on the day when the statement was generated and they still credited the payment tgo the previous month and sent info about the late payment to th credit company

Tixy

So when you received the statement generated on the second you obviously saw the payment dated the second appeared on that? giving you a balance of X.

And you also saw on the statement it said Y amount minimum payment due by the 27th?

0142mo

yes, but then I paid again on 2nd May, but they credited that payment to May not april.

thenudeone

Best way to progress is to rung up, apologise, agree to set up a direct debit to take the minimum each month, and ask them to refund the fee, as a goodwill gesture.

They've done everything correctly and you don't have a leg to stand on if you try to push it.

Tixy

0142mo wrote: »

yes, but then I paid again on 2nd May, but they credited that payment to May not april.

But you had to make a payment after the 2nd and before the 27th.
Even if the May statement had also been generated on the 2nd and the payment made on the 2nd May had appeared on that - you would still have paid late.

As said above - most people find in these types of situations that the best way to get what you want is to accept and admit to the bank that you are in the wrong, and ask them for a goodwill gesture.
Certain banks such as MBNA seem to pretty much always offer the goodwill if people behave like this, but stick strictly to the rules when people phone up complaining and stating the bank are in the wrong.
I don't know whether your bank is the same, but its probably worth a shot.

prowla

The situation appears to be that if you pay before the statement date then that is just taken off the balance on that date, pre-statement, and does not count as a payment towards that upcoming statement. (It may be that the interest due on that next statement is reduced accordingly too.)

This happened to me a while back, and it cost me a few quid in missed payment fees too.

0142mo

many thanks for all replies, at least it makes more sense to me what happened,

I had called them complaining prior to posting on this forum, I dont think I will be calling them again in this matter, they have already given me refund and they are not willing to correct the info on my credit history

tomsco

If the statement is generated on the 2nd, it might even be worth moving the S.O. to the 3rd, just to be safe in future.

AdamJK_2

If you're paying by SO then why not just set up a Direct Debit for a fixed amount (same as the SO)? That'll take all the headache out of managing the card and payments. Plus if anything goes wrong in the future you can guarantee it's the banks issue and you'd also have the direct debit guarantee to fall back on.

I appreciate that you pay the statement each month as is but these little niggles will always crop up from time to time. Maybe even consider setting up a direct debit for min payment. That way if you miss the payment date with the SO at least the min payment will be taken so as to protect you from late fees and negative reports to your credit file. If you make the payment via SO 4-5 working days before the payment date on your statement then the direct debit wouldn't be taken so you won't be out of pocket because of it.