Have Halifax ripped me off?

happyformonths

Hi everyone

I thought I was quite numerate but Halifax have confused me.

I took out a Halifax card about a year ago with a 0% balance transfer offer for 28 months. Transferred about £2000.

Then about six months ago they increased my credit limit and offered me another balance transfer offer which was 0% until April 2015. I took advantage of this and transferred about £900.

I am paying slightly over the minimum repayment each month and I see my payment is being applied to the larger figure (the one on the longer BT offer).

So when we get to April 2015, my smaller figure won't have been touched by any of my repayments and they're going to start charging me the standard rate on that £900. Aren't they. Until I have entirely paid off the larger figure.

So in order to not be charged 22% interest on that £900, I would have to pay off the larger figure straight away. So basically the offer they gave me, of a shorter BT period for a new BT, has eliminated all advantages of the original offer.

Very very clever and I wish I had seen it coming. It was all done over the phone; she read out the script of T&Cs very quickly so I suppose they may have officially "explained" this to me but it certainly wasn't done in any clear way.

I'm hoping someone will tell me I'm wrong, or that there is a class action to try to stop this kind of thing. Otherwise I think I'm basically screwed. Thanks Halifax.

HFM

grumbler

As soon as they start charging the interest on £900 make £900 payment and it will clear the second BT leaving £2K at 0%.

happyformonths

Thanks. That's what I always hoped and planned (I will be able to do that in April 2015), so I don't know why I suddenly thought they'd "locked up" that 900. I think perhaps I have panicked...:o

Let's get this straight: Once the £900 starts earning interest, if I didn't pay it off, Hfax would start applying my repayments to THAT debt, right? Because their terms say repayments go to the most expensive debt first.

Hope that's true. Thanks for your reassurance.

HFM

leeroy2009

my Barclaycard pays off the balance transfer ending the soonest, nice heads up should I ever take a card with Halifax (that's if what your saying is totally correct)