DMP and barclaycard

darjeeling

Hi We have been on our DMP for 5 yrs and it is managed by Payplan. They seem ok to a point apart from trying to sell insurances etc.
To the main point, within the last week we have found out that of the 7 creditors, Barclaycard have been charging interest so the debt has nearly doubled ! Payplan say they do not normally check balances except, when it goes 40% difference between their figure and the creditors it flags up !
I know all creditors can charge interest if they wish, but why do they wish to add more burden to you when the majority are working with you.
Do you have any experience of this happening ?

Thank you

Puzzcat

I'm with stepchange so not entirely the same but have understood that it is my responsibility to update balances as they assume interest is frozen. Have you not had any statements from bc throughout your dmp?
I did see an earlier post similar to yours, assume a different poster, who also had thought the creditor was not charging interest, the advice then was to complain to creditor and if that fails complain to fos.

GibbsRule_No3

I'm with Payplan and I have Barclaycard as a creditor. They have always charged interest, in fact the only debt left is the interest they have added, but I have always had bills from them so knew Payplan's estimate was wrong. So not sure why you were unaware, surely they have to send at least one bill a year to you. If you had updated the remaining BC debt unfortunately Payplan would have paid them more of your monthly payment, so a win, win for BC and a loose for the creditors that do stop interest. Barclaycard must have friends in high places because no one calls them on it in the press, TV or radio. Even Martin never says anything about them.

Monkeyballs

darjeeling wrote: »

Hi We have been on our DMP for 5 yrs and it is managed by Payplan. They seem ok to a point apart from trying to sell insurances etc.
To the main point, within the last week we have found out that of the 7 creditors, Barclaycard have been charging interest so the debt has nearly doubled ! Payplan say they do not normally check balances except, when it goes 40% difference between their figure and the creditors it flags up !
I know all creditors can charge interest if they wish, but why do they wish to add more burden to you when the majority are working with you.
Do you have any experience of this happening ?

Thank you

Hi Darjeeling,

I am with SC and have 12 creditors in total and of them the only one to charge interest in Barclaycard although they have reduced it and it's now 0.56% pcm.

When you say the debt has nearly doubled, do you mean that it's gone from say £1000 at the start to £2000 now and is all interest and charges?

I only ask because at the start I was getting charged interest and having charges applied and racked up about £150ish in just over a month and when I contacted them they denied being contacted and froze charges and reduced interest straight away...

I'd hope this isn't the case for you as I would have hoped they would have contacted you before now but it's worth a call to ask what the situation is?

It is really very frustrating because all other creditors (including the much maligned Vanquis) have agreed but when challenged Barclaycard rejected my complaint and told me they continue to charge interest in line with FOS regulations and have no intention of stopping regardless of other creditors decisions... I now just want to pay them ASAP and close my account

MB

National_Debtline

Hello there, can you tell me if Barclaycard have been sending you six-monthly letters called 'arrears notices'? They have a legal requirement to do this, if they haven't been doing then they are not allowed to charge ANY interest whilst they do not adhere to this rule.

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.

fermi

Not only that, but Barclays card are subscribers to the lending code and as such are obliged to follow it.

Doubling the debt in a DMP over time due to interest and charges is without doubt making the repayment period excessive, as it will never be paid off on those terms.

Complain to Barclays and take them to the FOS if necessary.

http://www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk/docs/lendingcode.pdf

Interest and charges concessions

224. Subscribers should consider reducing or stopping interest and charges when a customer evidences that they are in
financial difficulties. Such reduction/suspension decision should be based upon an income and expenditure statement
indicating that they are unable to make repayments sufficient to meet contractual terms. Where a customer is able to
make only token payments, their debt should not increase as a result of interest and charges levied. The assessment
should reflect the customer’s lack of ability to pay rather than the stage an account has reached in the arrears cycle or
whether they are using free sources of debt advice. Where a firm declines to allow concessions, they should be
prepared to explain why to the customer or their adviser if requested to do so.

225. It is inappropriate for interest and charges to continue to be taken where the result would be that the repayment period
for the customer becomes excessive. In forming a judgement on what might be excessive, a subscriber should take
into account the type of product and the individual circumstances of the borrower.

226. Concessions should not be arbitrarily withdrawn irrespective of a customer’s ability to pay or without any evidence of a
change in the customer’s circumstances. Expiry of a repayment arrangement should not automatically lead to the
withdrawal of concessions. This does not rule out regular reviews and if a customer’s position has improved then
interest and charges can be reintroduced.

227. Where possible, subscribers should have consistent policies for customers holding more than one product type in
terms of charges and interest concessions.

cynicalgit_2

Barclays are one of the main sponsors of PayPlan.
Work it out for yourself.

debtdawg

Barclaycard have continued charging interest at 3% apr on my account since my DMP with Stepchange started - I've been checking the balances on my debts regularly so was aware of this.

mum2one

I'm sure Bcard has its own rules, I have about 2k I owe them (I'm with stepchange) and they dont charge me any interest - yet vanquis charge me less than 1% x

gig11

We are with SC and have 2 debts with Barclaycard one quite large one and one less than £500.They are charging us 6.9% on both. We have received statements every month and an annual statement so have been aware of the charges from the start and have updated the balances on our monthly DMP statement. They are not the worst Marks and Spencers are charging us 24.9% and refuse to budge.:mad:

fermi

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hello there, can you tell me if Barclaycard have been sending you six-monthly letters called 'arrears notices'? They have a legal requirement to do this, if they haven't been doing then they are not allowed to charge ANY interest whilst they do not adhere to this rule.

Yes, they are obliged to send you 6 monthly "notice of sum in arrears" under s87D of the CCA. Failure to do so means the debtor is not liable for any interest or default sums charged during the period of non-compliance.