Does anyone use CommuterClub to save money?

fantasyvn

I've just found this website, https://www.commuterclub.co.uk/, which claims you can:

"Pay for the first month of travel upfront only (at the same price as a Monthly) and commuter club will order and pay in full for an Oystercard on your behalf. Pay for your Annual in 10 further monthly Direct Debits. Travel for free on the 12th month. "

Does anyone use this? Is it really a good and safe way to save your money?

Thank you

Altarf

It seems to be a company that wants to lend you money to do a 'logbook' loan for an Oystercard - except they don't exactly say that.

A poor start with some nice weaselwords like "club". It isn't a "club" it is a company, and people are not "members", they are customers.

From reading their FAQs -
You pay a deposit of 1/11th the cost of the annual card
You pay another 10 monthly payments
You pay 5.6% interest

But the interesting point is the answer to what happens if you fail to make a payment - "After four days we will suspend your card and you will incur a £25 late payment fee. As soon as you pay your outstanding balance via Debit Card we will send you a replacement Annual Oystercard by post."

Hmm, so who's Oystercard is it? Yours or theirs? If it is yours, how can they cancel it. If it is theirs, do you trust them not to take your money, cancel the card, and disappear?

Since there is no proper set of terms and conditions for the loan agreement on the website, which itself is registered to "Unknown" at a residential block of flats...

Good luck.

fantasyvn

Wonderful advice. I suppose we cannot trust this 'club'.

Thank you.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Im not even sure if that is legal either unless the Oyster is going to be in your name.

And if that is the case then how do they actually claw the money back should you cancel at any time because if it is in your name then only you can cancel the agreement with TfL and claim the money(if any ) that is left on the card.

Ill look into it more in time but I wonder how their 'Rail Partner' are.

And if anyone is thinking of doing this then dont, you are more than likely able to get a season ticket loan through your workplace which will be cheaper than this.

quidsy

Some people can't get season ticket loans through work place, self employed etc.

The company have an OFT number but they have a very small presence on the web but they look to have only started middle of last year.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Looking further there are some misleading statements too

Let's take an Annual Zone 1 to 4 Oystercard as an example. It cost £1,744 in total from TfL. With us you pay £99 in interest giving a total cost of £1,843, which you pay for in 11 monthly payments of £167.50. This is the same cost as a Monthly Travelcard for Zone 1 to 4.

The Prices they quote are from last year so not up to date as now a 1-4 is £172 per month or £1800 per year, so they could at least up date their information.

Our offer always includes a brand new Oystercard, with the Annual Travelcard pre-loaded. There is no additional fee for this, despite the fact that TfL charges £5 for a new Oystercard

Thats only for a new PAYG Oystercard not an annual

The size of the savings will depend on how you currently pay for your commute:

• Ifyou tend to buy Monthly Travelcards you will get one month's free travel.
• If you tend to buy 7-Day Travelcard will get as much as 10 weeks' free travel.

Regardless, you also lock in this year's fares, beating TfL's endless price hikes.

with an annual you actually only pay for 40 weeks travel so 10 months, they actuallymention this further down in the FAQ

Yes, an Annual Oystercard costs the equivalent of 40 weekly tickets, or 10.5 Monthly Travelcards.

and what endless price hikes from TfL? They do it once a year...

n I access my journey history on TfL? We will be rolling out this functionality in the coming months. In the meantime if you would like your journey history, please let us know by emailing us at [EMAIL="cancellation@commuterclub.co.uk"]service@commuterclub.co.uk[/EMAIL]

And this ties in with who actually owns the Oystercard - this means that it is they who own the Oystercard as if it was in the purchasers name then they should be able to view it on any TVM/POM or even online should they so wish.

We will request that our rail partner cancel your card immediately. We will send you an email with a link to pay the £10 replacement fee. This is the fee that is charged by National Rail to replace an Annual Oystercard.

Thats National Rail, AFAIK TfL do not charge you to replace a lost Annual Oyster card and indeed there are a few TOCs who also do not charge you to replace your season ticket(2 times in some TOCS)


Maybe one of the MSE team could look into this as at 5.9% interest and the problems of them buying you an Oyster in your name yet it is essentially a credit agreement you are entering into which could adversly affect someones credit score - though it doesnt mention that could happen for a late payment - only the fee should you do so.

And they also quote Martin and MSE on their FAQ so maybe MSE could look into this further?

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi

The company has asked to provide a reply to the thread. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company posts on the Forum.

Thank you for your interest and queries about CommuterClub. We value feedback and appreciate your comments. We are a relatively new business currently in pre-launch and we welcome any further suggestions to help us improve CommuterClub or to make the proposition easier to understand. We have updated our FAQs to reflect the latest prices and improve clarity.

CommuterClub offers a low cost credit product for regular commuters, who do not have access to an employer loan and who could benefit from the savings of season tickets. Including interest, our customers pay for an annual in 11 monthly instalments at the same price as a Monthly Travelcard, with no additional fees if payments are made on time. We work in partnership with Greater Anglia to process and issue all Oystercards. We are authorised and regulated by the OFT, transitioning to FCA on 1 April, and our website is registered to our Trading Address, 23 Savile Row, W1S 2ET, London, UK.

CommuterClub uses a secured loan structure that gives customers the benefits of an Annual Travelcard while paying monthly at a low interest rate. Like all secured lending, if customers fail to make payment, as a last resort we would cancel the card and reclaim the remaining value, but our first step is always to contact the customer and collect payment before incurring any fees. All Oystercards are issued in our customer's name and are owned by them. As this is a secured loan, in the event of default the Credit Agreement assigns the right to cancel the card to CommuterClub. We do not have the right to cancel a card when payments are on time. Cancellation allows us to use the refund from TfL to pay off the outstanding loan, meaning the customer does not have any further obligations and we can offer an attractive interest rate. Because this is a loan, late payments could adversely affect credit score, this is captured in our Credit Agreement and we have made this explicit in the FAQs.

Our customers can certainly view their journey history at any ticket machine or TfL kiosk, and will soon be able to do so online. We follow the lost / stolen charges levied by Greater Anglia and National Rail, there are no additional costs levied by us. Unlike TfL, Greater Anglia do provide reimbursement for up to a week of travel while a replacement card is being issued. We are verifying with TfL the cost of new Oystercards that come with Annual Travelcards.

iAMaLONDONER

fantasyvn wrote: »

I've just found this website, https://www.commuterclub.co.uk/, which claims you can:

"Pay for the first month of travel upfront only (at the same price as a Monthly) and commuter club will order and pay in full for an Oystercard on your behalf. Pay for your Annual in 10 further monthly Direct Debits. Travel for free on the 12th month. "

Does anyone use this? Is it really a good and safe way to save your money?

Thank you

If you can get a loan at a rate of less than 5.6% then don't bother!

cameroonmaniac

I can't see how they can operate legitimately?

1.) How can they secure a loan against something that remains the property of TfL?

2.) Who's name is the oyster card registered under? It has to be registered under the name of the person using it as per TfL conditions of carriage. So if it is in the name of the person traveling, how can the company claim a refund or stop the Oyster card if the traveler fails to pay up?

If it's in the name of the company, that is breaking TfL's conditions of carriage, and the commuter can be fined for traveling with an invalid Oyster card.

I would like to know how they have gotten round this (or not!)

iAMaLONDONER

cameroonmaniac wrote: »

If it's in the name of the company, that is breaking TfL's conditions of carriage, and the commuter can be fined for traveling with an invalid Oyster card.

I would like to know how they have gotten round this (or not!)

True, however ticket inspectors rarely-if ever- check that the traveller is the same as the person whose been registered as the Oyster card holder.

I have an oyster with a railcard discount but I've never been asked to show my railcard by a ticket inspector!

wealdroam

cameroonmaniac wrote: »

I can't see how they can operate legitimately?

1.) How can they secure a loan against something that remains the property of TfL?

2.) Who's name is the oyster card registered under? It has to be registered under the name of the person using it as per TfL conditions of carriage. So if it is in the name of the person traveling, how can the company claim a refund or stop the Oyster card if the traveler fails to pay up?

If it's in the name of the company, that is breaking TfL's conditions of carriage, and the commuter can be fined for traveling with an invalid Oyster card.

I would like to know how they have gotten round this (or not!)

Your questions were answered in CommuterClub's response via MSE Andrea:

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

CommuterClub uses a secured loan structure that gives customers the benefits of an Annual Travelcard while paying monthly at a low interest rate. Like all secured lending, if customers fail to make payment, as a last resort we would cancel the card and reclaim the remaining value, but our first step is always to contact the customer and collect payment before incurring any fees. All Oystercards are issued in our customer's name and are owned by them. As this is a secured loan, in the event of default the Credit Agreement assigns the right to cancel the card to CommuterClub. We do not have the right to cancel a card when payments are on time. Cancellation allows us to use the refund from TfL to pay off the outstanding loan, meaning the customer does not have any further obligations and we can offer an attractive interest rate.