Fallen behind with Very & Littlewoods who to pay first?

michelle_stt

Hi everyone.

We had an unexpected bill in February and we missed our Very & Littlewoods payment and we've been playing catch up since. On each account we have had a £12 late payment fee and £12 fee for not paying the minimum. I have been paying the balance from the previous bill. This has been around £60 for Littlewoods and £100 for Very.

As of this month I owe £165 to Littlewoods and £225 to Very before the 16th and 20th of the month.

I have £200 but what i wanted to ask is, should I pay the £165 to Littlewoods so thats bang up to date and the £40 on Very or pay £100 on each?

I just feel like Im drowning with them at the minute. Im getting at least 10 phone calls a day.

Thank you in advice for the brill advice as always.

bbk87

I'd clear little woods and put the remainder on Very.

That way you will only get one late charge, which would be from Very until, presumably, next month when you can clear Very.

michelle_stt

The next bill for Very is going to take it to around £300 which I cant pay off in one month. I could pay half and pay my usual littlewoods bill which will go down to around £40.

I'm thinking I might be best writing to Very to explain my circumstances. I have been with them for about three years and before February I had never missed a payment.

SavingForTravelling2012

I think calling Very and explaining to them what has happened and offering them half of the payment would probably make them happy until next month. I often find that by calling the company I am able to convey the situation in a way which allows me some leway until I can sort things out. They may let you off without having another £12 fee if they feel your situation is quite dire at the moment. As far as I am aware the companies do have a duty to not hound or harrass people who simply cannot make a payment. Worth a try either way. definitely try to make a payment of some kind to both though

sourcrates

SavingForTravelling2012 wrote: »

I think calling Very and explaining to them what has happened and offering them half of the payment would probably make them happy until next month. I often find that by calling the company I am able to convey the situation in a way which allows me some leway until I can sort things out. They may let you off without having another £12 fee if they feel your situation is quite dire at the moment. As far as I am aware the companies do have a duty to not hound or harrass people who simply cannot make a payment. Worth a try either way. definitely try to make a payment of some kind to both though

I would not hold my breath where shop direct group are concerned, however it is worth a try, but there customer services are pretty dire when it comes to payment arrangements, but if ya don't ask, ya don't get !!

michelle_stt

Thank you for our replies.

I sent an email last night which has been forwarded to the arrears department.

I highlighted when I fell behind and listed £60 worth of charges since that date.

I also informed them that before this date I have always been on time.

I have offered a £40 payment this month and explained my situation with Littlewoods aswell and that I will be paying that so as not to receive anymore charges. Followed by half the payment they will ask for next month.

Fingers crossed!

Im hoping as its quite a large amount it catches up quickly!

chasingfreedom

If I was you I would give them a call and explain your issues. They are both part of the same group and might be able to put your accounts together or come to an arrangement with you?


I only know because I have both and recently accidentally sent a return to the wrong place and they credited my other account with no queries whatsoever.

Worth a go instead of being so stressed and incurring all these charges. Good luck x

michelle_stt

Well I had a reply to my email.

I had a look on some threads on here about freezing interest and reclaiming charges so I included that in my email. I was very polite and brutally honest with our financial situation and highlighted that prior to this we have never missed a payment and always paid more than the minimum

I explained everything to them and explained I would be paying off the Littlewoods this month as its the smaller amount

They rejected my offer of £40 this month and £100 each month after that.

They will not freeze interest and not refund charges and If I only pay £40 this month I have incur more charges. They then said that they will accept £140 per month and are unable to accept my £100 offer

sourcrates

michelle_stt wrote: »

Well I had a reply to my email.

I had a look on some threads on here about freezing interest and reclaiming charges so I included that in my email. I was very polite and brutally honest with our financial situation and highlighted that prior to this we have never missed a payment and always paid more than the minimum

I explained everything to them and explained I would be paying off the Littlewoods this month as its the smaller amount

They rejected my offer of £40 this month and £100 each month after that.

They will not freeze interest and not refund charges and If I only pay £40 this month I have incur more charges. They then said that they will accept £140 per month and are unable to accept my £100 offer

Yep, that's about the response i thought you would get.

Ok, ignore what they say, just make the payments you are able to make, when you are able to make them.

If they charge you late payment fees etc, then complain again, in writing, if they still say no to a refund, make sure you get there final response letter, then complain to the FOS.

It can take some time, but charges are nearly always refunded in cases like this, once the complaint gets to the ombudsman, so basically just do what you were going to do regardless of what they say.

michelle_stt

Thank you. I replied asking them to look at it again and I will make those payments regardless instead of totally missing payments.

Thanks for you're help and advice.

Brightspark87

Hi just to say I had this issue and I just paid what I could didnt tell them and caught up as soon as possible to ensure £12 fees werent charged and that they didnt pass on my debt. However, if you hear from NDR dont panic thats their internal debt collectors. Just keep paying what you can and get it sorted ASAP. Dont forget they require payment every 28 days regardless of if that is twice in your pay period