Advice sought on card payment date

philnet

Hi Folks,
I thought I'd write and see if anyone can offer any advice (from a 'what are my rights' perspective) with an issue I'm having with my card provider.
I've a creation credit card and the payment date falls 2 days before pay day. The issue that I have is that at that time of the month, I don't tend to have the money left over to make the payment. I always make the payment on pay day but as this is two days overdue, I regularly incur a £12 late payment charge.
I've been in touch with them and they're adamant that they can't move the payment date, despite me having explained the issue that it causes.
I've also explained to them that I have no intention of missing a payment, it would just be better for me if they would move the date by two days.
They are the only card provider that I've been with that hasn't let me move the payment date to fit in with personal finances and it's affecting the rate at which I'm paying the card off (I've paid off over 2 grand in the last 12 months so it's going in the right direction!)
So, the question stands, are they within their rights to do this (no doubt they are in the Ts & Cs somewhere) and are there any approaches you could advise (apart from keeping a months payment in hand!) to help?

CLAPTON

get a different card

redcard

Not sure how you can still be a month behind when you've paid off £2K in 12 months.

Why not pay minimum payment one month, and put what you have left towards the next month's payment? You don't have to wait on your statement.

philnet

redcard wrote: »

Not sure how you can still be a month behind when you've paid off £2K in 12 months.

Why not pay minimum payment one month, and put what you have left towards the next month's payment? You don't have to wait on your statement.

It was thanks to an unexpected bonus, normally I don't have the spare cash to hold over to the next month.

JKSandy

Maybe they are just stupid? Ask them to move the statement date which will then move the payment date.

AndyBSG

I'm probably going to sound harsh here but the simple fact is if you don't have the discipline to set aside the money to pay your CC statement back then you probably shouldn't have a CC in the first place.

You could quite easily transfer the money to another account on pay day and have your CC direct debit come from there to make it a bit harder for you to spend that money it's the lack of ability to budget that is the real issue here and that's not something that is the CC company's fault.

chattychappy

philnet wrote: »

I've also explained to them that I have no intention of missing a payment,

Slightly odd thing to say. The reality is, you have agreed to make payments by the due date and you continue to use the card. Your "intention" doesn't look very good given you have missed payments. It seems what you really mean is you would "like" to make the payments on time but that the CC must change the due-by date to suit you. But that was never part of the deal.

philnet wrote: »

So, the question stands, are they within their rights to do this (no doubt they are in the Ts & Cs somewhere) and are there any approaches you could advise (apart from keeping a months payment in hand!) to help?

Firstly, just because something is in the T&Cs doesn't mean it's hard and fast. CCs are highly regulated. But in short, yes they are free to set the statement date and due-by date. Only if the T+Cs expressly allow you to change the dates would they have to do it. Otherwise it's a goodwill thing and they are free to say no.

Ask them (again) to change the statement date (the due-by date follows from that). If no luck then you'll have to apply for another card. But that could be difficult if you have missed payments showing. I can only suggest you budget better and as noted, you can make multiple payments. The only requirement is to pay at least the minimum between the day after the statement date and the due-by date.

philnet

Thanks for you help so far (and judgement!).
Cheers to chattychappy, I'll certainly be checking the T+Cs on any cards in the future.
I realise that it is a budgeting issue which is down to me and me only to sort out, I was more interested in knowing (as explained by chattychappy) if there was anything in law that allowed me to move the payment date.
If there isn't then that's fine, I'll just need to pay it off.

YorkshireBoy

philnet wrote: »

I'll certainly be checking the T+Cs on any cards in the future.

You generally won't find that kind of information in a standard set of T&Cs (more likely it'll be in the benefits or FAQ* section), as these are generally in a prescribed format and deal with the legalities of the agreement under the CCA. The ability to change statement dates (from which payment due dates are derived) is generally a 'favour' that they do you.


* For example, the very first FAQ on the Creation credit cards website...

Can I choose the date on which I wish to pay my bill?



No, we cannot change the date by which card bills are to be paid.


https://apply.creation.co.uk/microsites/creation_purchase_card/?termsAndConditionsCode=MC1012&MC=18300012&operatorCode=WebMC&responseCode=ORGCPU

Granted, it's a bit ambiguous though! For example, do they mean you cannot change the payment due date (pretty obvious) or do they mean you cannot change the statement date, from which the payment due date is derived (should be possible with the majority of cards unless either a) they have set statement dates for all customers, or b) putting your personal statement date back would mean you skipped a calendar month?)