Help with understanding my vanquis account please

sammy86

Hi all so I have a vanquis credit card to help with rebuilding my credit rating I always make regular payments and on time as it's all done online I rarely check my statements which I know I should do!

When I opened the account I opted into the repayment plan now after checking I feel I. Now in a good place to cancel the repayment plan especially after realising how much they've had my question is can I get them to pay it back even tho I agreed to it? Also checking g my statement could someone please help me understand what "BILLED DEFERRED FINANCE CHARGES £16.08 DR" means? my statements show this and some being only 5p?!? I don't get it.
thank you

[Deleted User]

I believe Finance charges is what Vanquis call interest.

You can't get them to pay back the repayment premiums if you agreed to it.

sammy86

I didn't think I could o well I shall still cancel it that money could be going to clearing the balance

Every statement has has these 3 things on

10 Jun 14 BILLED DEFERRED FINANCE CHARGES
10 Jun 14 REPAYMENT OPTION PLAN
10 Jun 14 PURCHASE INTEREST

I guess it don't understand as it says deferred and 5p interest doesn't seem right

SnowTiger

sammy86 wrote: »

I didn't think I could o well I shall still cancel it that money could be going to clearing the balance

Every statement has has these 3 things on

10 Jun 14 BILLED DEFERRED FINANCE CHARGES
10 Jun 14 REPAYMENT OPTION PLAN
10 Jun 14 PURCHASE INTEREST

I guess it don't understand as it says deferred and 5p interest doesn't seem right

Deferred finance charge is the interest Vanquis would have waived on the first statement you didn't pay in full.

It's deferred because Vanquis didn't know you wouldn't pay the statement in full, so didn't charge you interest at the time. Because you didn't pay a statement in full the interest is deferred to the next statement.

When you don't pay a statement in full, every purchase you make using the card attracts interested from the date it appears on the statement.

I'm not sure why it's appearing on every statement, though.

Are you sometimes paying statements in full and other times not?

sammy86

I see I understand that now thank you. No I don't pay it all in full sometimes I will pay more if we can afford to the deferred charges variey from 5p to £16

Simon7685

You really need to make sure you are paying your bill in full every month. A vanquis card is a good tool to build your credit rating IF used correctly.

Once you start down the road of incurring interest with Vanquis it can get out of control before you realise it, especially if your balance is close to the limit of the card.

My advice as someone who has gone from nobody prepared to offer me any sort of credit to now able to access prime credit cards (which I am proud of) is ALWAYS pay in full, particularly with Vanquis. This forum is littered with people who have got into all sorts of problems through not operating their accounts in the right manner.

To stop the interest you need to clear the balance in full for 2 months as the interest is charged in arrears, so interest charged in September is from transactions made in August and so on.

Also try to avoid using the card in the 2 to 3 days before your statement is due. Sometimes this can result in an unexpected charge for interest on any transactions made during that time, due to the delay between when you use the card and when they physically apply it to your account. That is another common thing with Vanquis.

Other advice I would say to you is, pay your bill when you receive the statement rather than leaving it until the date they want it paid by. It is then done and out of the way and you don't need to worry about it.

Also set up a DD for the minimum payment in case you forget to make the payment, that way you can have peace of mind and not miss any payments.

Lastly if you cannot afford to clear the balance always pay more than the minimum, even if only £1 more. A minimum payment is flagged on your credit report and other lenders can then see you are struggling to meet your payments and that affects you getting credit in the future.

It is so easy to end up in a mess with Vanquis, so please take the advice. If you do you will not be paying them any interest and at the same time building a good credit history.

Sorry for droning on and I hope some of this is useful advice for you.

SnowTiger

Simon7685 wrote: »

Also try to avoid using the card in the 2 to 3 days before your statement is due. Sometimes this can result in an unexpected charge for interest on any transactions made during that time, due to the delay between when you use the card and when they physically apply it to your account.

Complete nonsense.

If there's a delay, the transaction will simply appear on the following statement.

Once a statement has been produced, Vanquis, or any other credit card provider I know of, will not quietly add transactions to it.

Simon7685

Actually it is not nonsense at all, there a number of threads on this forum relating exactly to this practice of Vanquis's. This is a Vanquis customer service agents explanation when questioned about a £1 minimum finance charge;

"I telephoned them, and they said it's because I bought something using my card around the date the bill was issued, so interest was charged on it as it appeared on my next statement."

The further advice from Vanquis was not to use the card for a couple of days either side of when the statement was due.

SnowTiger

Simon7685 wrote: »

Actually it is not nonsense at all, there a number of threads on this forum relating exactly to this practice of Vanquis's. This is a Vanquis customer service agents explanation when questioned about a £1 minimum finance charge;

"I telephoned them, and they said it's because I bought something using my card around the date the bill was issued, so interest was charged on it as it appeared on my next statement."

The further advice from Vanquis was not to use the card for a couple of days either side of when the statement was due.

Yes, there's a lot of nonsense mentioned and regurgitated in these forums.

From Vanquis' T&C:

If in any statement period you incur interest (excluding any Repayment Option Plan transaction charge) and that interest is less than £1, a minimum finance charge of £1 will be added to your account in place of that interest which will be waived.