Cash interest caused me to go £1.59 overlimit (Vanquis)

mark2200

Hi,

First time poster, but unfortunately i dont have a happy story to tell (typical right:D), atleast not from my side.


Well, ive had a Vanquis account for well over a year now, but have very rarely ever used it- ive actually used it for maybe 4 or 5 months in that period- which is nothing really. Anyway, i used it last month and went to my limit (my limit is £250).

My 'payment due' date was 7 Oct and my 'Statement date' was 11 Oct. Well i paid off the minimum owed amount well before the 7th, and checked multiple times before the actual date and it said i had £0 left to pay. However on the 13th Oct Vanquis added a £6.99 fee for 'Cash Interest' and this appears on my statement, despite the Statement date at the top clearly displaying 11th Oct. I dont get how that could display on a statement that says it was for prior to the 11th Oct??:undecided

Because of that my balance was £251.59, which put me £1.59 over and will now (i assume) put a late payment marker on my credit report?


Do i have any ground to appeal or fight this at all, im trying for a mortgage and because of that have been squeeky clean with all my accounts for a long time now, for all that to be ruined because of this would be heartbreaking really!


I havent called them up yet, but i will do anyway, but i just wanted to see if anyone here had been in this situation before or knows someone that has- or thinks there is any possibility i could get that marker removed?

opinions4u

Make a payment NOW to get well under the limit. Assume an additional £12 fee will be levied and pay that too.

Ring them and apologise. Be nice. Tell them you've just paid an extra £xx. Ask if, as a one off, they can remove any charge.

Then ask about the CRA reporting. There's no reason for them to change anything, as it's accurate. But it's more than possible that they've reported nothing. Yet.

In future go nowhere near the credit limit. And stop using cash transactions as these can be interpreted negatively when applying for credit elsewhere.

rolls99

Echo Opinions4u.

Remember, Cash withdrawals are charged at eye watering interest levels AND you get a 3% fee on top of this too, with £3 being the minimum: if you took a tenner out then that costs you £3 before interest.

As already suggested, pay Immediately, and I would if you can pay the £7 charge, the £1.59 and at least another £30 or £40 to get the card below the limit.

It is very easy for others, myself included to say 'stay well clear of your limit', but you need to: with a £250 ceiling, to be perfectly honest you shouldn't be carrying any balance on the Vanquis card, or if you have to try and keep about half way and no more.

mark2200

Hi,

I already paid off the £1.59- strange really because I paid that on the 11th Oct and it displays as being paid on the 12th Oct on my November statement. So a payment from me for the 12th Oct displays on the November statement, yet the charge from them dated the 13th Oct is on the Oct statement.

Surely that is wrong on their part?

opinions4u

mark2200 wrote: »

Hi,

I already paid off the £1.59- strange really because I paid that on the 11th Oct and it displays as being paid on the 12th Oct on my November statement. So a payment from me for the 12th Oct displays on the November statement, yet the charge from them dated the 13th Oct is on the Oct statement.

Surely that is wrong on their part?

You can worry about statement conventions, the big bad card issuer and all the rest of it later. You are best working from a starting point of they're probably right in how they account and you don't understand it, rather than the other way round.

£1.59 paid won't bring your house in order if there's trailing interest. It could nudge you over limit again.

Take action to bring your account well and truly in to the safe zone NOW. Then worry about how to handle the card issuer. This is your error.

Sinhanada

No it is not wrong at all. They have correctly charged and applied the interest. Sometimes a transaction can take a couple of days to appears on your statement (As with using a debit card and your banks).

The most important thing to remember is that if you are going to apply for a mortgage and the lender sees that you are at your available credit limit each month then it is likely you will not be approved for one. Try to stay at least 50% or more under your available credit limit for at least six months before applying

StuC75

Cash advances have no interest free period so the interest would have been charged regardless of when you made the payment. Also try to get the balance cleared down to zero ASAP so you avoid trailing interest especially as it would show a split of purchases & cash balances with no interest free periods being given for future transactions either..

rolls99

Again, agree with all replies here.

An easy way to think of this:

1) You get one statement a month - "£0 to pay" does not mean "£0 balance" - it simply means you've paid at least the minimum based on the statement

2) There are effectively TWO people making transactions on the card - you, and Vanquis (interest and charges) - thus, if you look at your last statement you will see a figure (or figures) which add up to £XX - this is what you need to think of as 'spent' on the card for next month (unless you clear it off).

You might have 'available credit' of, say £50 when your statement arrives, and you might pay the minimum - BUT this will only reduce your balance by a very small amount.

You then make a transaction for perhaps £25 - and then Vanquis correctly apply £30 interest which takes you over limit.


This is what has happened here: always, always remember there will always be 'transactions' (interest/charges) when you carry a balance.

mark2200

Hi, and thanks for all the replies by the way- its much appreciated!



I understand i will need to pay the interest etc, but its just that if i look at the statement on the 7th Oct (which was the 'pay for by' date) and i see the 'minimum to pay' says £0, its only natural to assume that youre safe for that statement (barring you dont use the card again) surely?

I have paid off the remaining £250 this morning, so now it says ive spent £0.


I do understand ill probably have a 'fine' of some sort for the late payment for October, and i have no problems paying that whatsoever- the only thing i am worried about and have concerns over is the marker for my Credit Report. As this is the 1st time ive had a late payment aswell, surely they could let me off for this? To lose a chance at a mortgage over £1.59 would be crazy:(

StuC75

I think you've got very confused with the terminology used.

The Due Date was the 7th October with a statement date of the 11th - as and when interest is added is irrelevant. It is down to when they prepare the information..

Having £0 to pay just means that the minimum payment had been received by then (so no payment obligation in play).

So you haven't paid late according to what you have mentioned so far..

What is more likely the case is that purchases made in the meantime along with the Cash Advance interest (Since they are never interest free) has taken you over the 'guide' credit limit..

Depending how long this was for, you may attract an overlimit charge, or they 'may' show as been over limit if that fell at the time that they update with the credit reference agencies - so ensure you keep all this information together which shows the sequence of events should it 'ever' impact on a future mortgage application..

rolls99

mark2200 wrote: »

Hi, and thanks for all the replies by the way- its much appreciated!



I understand i will need to pay the interest etc, but its just that if i look at the statement on the 7th Oct (which was the 'pay for by' date) and i see the 'minimum to pay' says £0, its only natural to assume that youre safe for that statement (barring you dont use the card again) surely?

I have paid off the remaining £250 this morning, so now it says ive spent £0.


I do understand ill probably have a 'fine' of some sort for the late payment for October, and i have no problems paying that whatsoever- the only thing i am worried about and have concerns over is the marker for my Credit Report. As this is the 1st time ive had a late payment aswell, surely they could let me off for this? To lose a chance at a mortgage over £1.59 would be crazy:(

Good!:j

Now you've paid it off, phone them and ask about any charge.

You've acted quickly and now paid a whack into it.

You will still have some interest on next month's statement too (how much will depend on what has accrued to now) which will need paying and possibly the £12 fee.

You haven't as Stu says paid late - you went over limit and you've done so between statements; for now, phone them and hold your hands up to the error in reading the statement: your account is 'in order' now (subject to sorting out this hopefully) as far as balance is concerned.

From now on, try and just use the card for about £50 a month and then pay it off - this will get you a line of 'greens'

Remember, your interest rates and other things might alter now so it's more expensive to carry any balance, but you will minimise it by clearing in full each month - and pay a lot less than carrying a balance!

Good luck and let us know what they say on the blower!