Help please! Barclaycard nightmare

bustylil

Hello everyone,
I am writing to ask advice about Barclaycard.

I am in a debt management plan (and have been since May 2008) and all my creditors have been very understanding - except Barclaycard.

I started the plan owing them £2660

Since then I have paid them £2,458 (yay!)

I am very pleased that I have managed to pay this off, however, with interest piling on every month (even though they said it was a lower rate), I now owe £1028!

I spoke to them today and explained that although I am in a debt management plan I have paid off so much (nearly all of it except £200 ish) and I haven't defaults, run away from the debt, refused to pay etc, yet I still owe so much.

They said there was nothing they could do and I have to keep paying it - I will never be debt free at this rate!

I told them that I lost my job, the reason for my debt management plan in the first place, and I have struggled to pay since, although I have managed to, and continuing to charge me is horrible, even though I have paid so much of my original balance - I even offered to pay the outstanding £200 today if that is what they wanted (my parents have offered to give me the money) but they said no.

They said there was nothing they could do, unless I lodge a formal complaint - I have done this and they are supposed to be calling me in the next 48 hours - in the meantime does anyone know if there is anything I can do?

Even including the interest, my debt management company thinks the balance should be around £500, not double that.

Please help - any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance xxx

DevCoder

Ask for a breakdown of the interest applied from Barclaycard and check that aginst the same breakdown from your DMP coompany.

Unfortunately they (barclaycard) do not have to freeze interest for DMP's.

JimmyTheWig

Even at a relatively low interest rate (for credit cards) of 15.9%, it would take around 10 years to pay off the debt at this rate.
The good news is that now the amount you owe is less, each month more and more will be coming off the balance and less and less will be taken in interest.

bustylil wrote: »

Even including the interest, my debt management company thinks the balance should be around £500, not double that.

This is worth looking in to. Ask the debt management company how they arrive at this figure.
Ask Barclaycard how they arrive at their figure (have you been getting statements from them each month?).
Try to find out why there is a difference.
But I'm afraid to say that a balance of £500 would mean an interest rate of about 4%. Not many credit cards would charge that low interest.

GibbsRule_No3

Bustylil, I'm in the same lifeboat. BC have so far charged me £2500, probably be over £3000 by the time the debt is paid off. I requested F&Fs but was told no, not even at an offer of 99%. Not surprising, they are getting the money, so why give F&Fs? The more I pay them each month, the more they charge and the nearer the end the higher the interest gets. Lots of press about payday loans but nothing about people on DMPs still getting charged interest. It is not just BC, other threads mention M&S. I was lucky with them, they did stop interest and offer F&F.

eyeopener2

Barclaycard are complete scum and I am on a one man mission to bring them down. Of course it won't happen but I tell as many people as I can to move bank accounts away from Barclays, to move credit cards and loans away from Barclays because of their completely intransigent attitude to those of us in debt.

They will not help and then they start increasing the interest the more you pay them! I tried writing to the CEO, just fobbed off, COS are a waste of time where Barclays n Barclaycard are concerned.

Awful company

beth3735

I have had big issues with Barclaycard too.

My original balance with them was £1617.55, my current payments to date through my DMP is £1588.03. I still currently owe them £709 before anymore interest each month is added!!

They won't stop interest for the rest of this DMP as they are so called giving me a "good will guesture" rate!! Sodding rip off company.

I do understand that they dont have to stop it BUT we all could of ignored this debt, let them sell it to DCA so they got pennies. We would all of been given defaults rather than AP on each month, messing everything up for another 6 yrs once its finally paid! And we could of paid a % off as settlement! But NO Barclaycard just like to mess around with everyone involved!

carol1963_2

Oh God No. I'm with Barclaycard and I'm struggling to pay my bill each month and my 0% rate has now ended, I'm trying to get another credit card to do a balance transfer but the only one I'm eligible for is, I think a Capital One card - that's what the eligibility check says I am, I daren't apply for any others just in case I get refused and that goes against my credit rating or whatever they call it as I think that must be pretty crap by now.

eyeopener2

Carol, I read your other thread. The best thing you could do in your situation is just pay your creditors £1 a month till your situation stabilizes. Barclaycard will freeze interest at that point, it's only when you get back on your feet they treat you badly.

bustylil

Thank you everyone, I am just waiting on Barclaycard to send me some paperwork as I plan to complain to the financial ombudsman.

Apparently they will accept 60% of the balance as a settlement figure.
Had I known that at the time, I would've settled and paid back £1,500 I have now paid back 92% (an extra £1,000) and they still want another grand! Ridiculous!

I was also told had I only paid back 1% every month I wouldn't pay such a high interest figure, but as I had been paying back more than the minimum payment I was being penalised with a higher interest rate - again, punished for paying the debt back!

I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again everyone for your help

eyeopener2

They said the same to me, once your past 1% you pay a higher interest rate. Apparently your no longer in financial difficulty once past 1%, even if, as I was at the time, your still owing £15k!!!!

heatherks

i was told if you pay anything over £15 a month it will accrue 12-9% interest ..i was on a DMP through CAB and without notice they added interst on.. CAB phoned them and they still didnt remove the interest i was on benefits/ carers allowance at the time and they wanted me to pay £45 a month i threatend them with the FSO and they removed interst for a year