Credit Card Reclaiming Discussion

jjww_2

Sorry I may have been a bit unclear the cheque i got first time around was not for me it was someone elses. I accepted the 31.70 without predjudice but it is a big wayoff the £251.39 I have paid in charges.

I was wondering whether it is worth trying to pursue them for the remaining £219.69. and if so what should my next step be.

The reason I got these charges was because my handbag was stolen with my cards in it I had to cancel my card mbna then charged me a balance transfer fee (3% of balance)for replacing my card because they had to give me a new account number this then pushed my card above the limit. This then caused a few months where I could not afford to pay enough off to get it under limit even though I was paying more than minimum each month.

Thanks

Jjww

Premier_2

jjww wrote: »

Sorry I may have been a bit unclear the cheque i got first time around was not for me it was someone elses. I accepted the 31.70 without predjudice but it is a big wayoff the £251.39 I have paid in charges.

I was wondering whether it is worth trying to pursue them for the remaining £219.69. and if so what should my next step be.

The reason I got these charges was because my handbag was stolen with my cards in it I had to cancel my card mbna then charged me a balance transfer fee (3% of balance)for replacing my card because they had to give me a new account number this then pushed my card above the limit. This then caused a few months where I could not afford to pay enough off to get it under limit even though I was paying more than minimum each month.

Thanks

Jjww

Refer to the MSE credit card reclaiming guide:

e.g.

It makes a partial offer
There is a chance it’ll offer some of the money you want. If you have asked for the full refund this may be the difference between the fee and the £12 OFT recommendation. Whatever it offers, you need to decide whether it’s worth continuing or just taking the cash.

Should you accept a partial offer at this stage?
This is always a very tough decision. Whilst there’s a temptation to say ‘fight the good fight and take ‘em on’, what’s actually more important is protecting your pocket.
Let’s say you’ve £500 of charges and are offered £350; the first thing is try not to think “I’m £150 short” but instead that you’ve got £350 you thought was gone forever. The ultimate decision is yours. It’s a combination of whether you want the hassle of continuing versus the ‘certainty of the cash’.

The fact you have already accepted the offer, and they have now senty you the money, may have prejudiced your right to any additional claim

I don't follow your claim at all. :huh:
If the cards were stolen, and you advised the company of this, you won't be charged for any subsequent unauthorised transactions let alone charges on those transactions.

Neither will you have any balance transfer fee unless you specifically requested a balance transfer (in which case the charge is not refundable)
Yes you would get a new card, and the existing balance (if any) would transfer to that new card, but there is no fee.

In fact with MBNA, you keep the same account number as it's totally different to the card number anyway.

brownj

hi I am new to all this but here goes, i have debts on several credit cards which spiraled out of control through a very tough time with family health issues, i no longer use the cards, well they have been stopped obviously because i am severly in debt and all the late fees, charges etc etc etc, well its just got to a ridiculous amount and they dont seem to want to help with offers of repayment as i can only afford minimal which they say they not prepared to accept, can i reclaim all the charges even though i am severly in debt to them, i would then use this to pay off some of the debt in hope to reduce them and get myself and my family back on track...help please anybody x:(

Premier_2

brownj wrote: »

hi I am new to all this but here goes, i have debts on several credit cards which spiraled out of control through a very tough time with family health issues, i no longer use the cards, well they have been stopped obviously because i am severly in debt and all the late fees, charges etc etc etc, well its just got to a ridiculous amount and they dont seem to want to help with offers of repayment as i can only afford minimal which they say they not prepared to accept, can i reclaim all the charges even though i am severly in debt to them, i would then use this to pay off some of the debt in hope to reduce them and get myself and my family back on track...help please anybody x:(

Yes of course you can try.

Any success you achieve will invariably first go towards reducing the existing debt you have with the company concerned.

Follow the guide.

jjww_2

Premier wrote: »

I don't follow your claim at all. :huh:
If the cards were stolen, and you advised the company of this, you won't be charged for any subsequent unauthorised transactions let alone charges on those transactions.

Neither will you have any balance transfer fee unless you specifically requested a balance transfer (in which case the charge is not refundable)
Yes you would get a new card, and the existing balance (if any) would transfer to that new card, but there is no fee.

In fact with MBNA, you keep the same account number as it's totally different to the card number anyway.

My card was stolen I stopped it the same night no transactions had been made they changed my account number which was the same as my card number to a new number and charged me a balance transfer fee to move my balance onto the new card/account.

I rang mbna at the time after they did it but they insisted this was the only way to do it and as I did not have another card to move the balance onto I had no option.

when i first rang up to report it stolen they basically said they would block it and send me a new card but they did not explain that all of the charges would be incurred.

I have since closed my account after paying off the balance, but have all of my statements etc from the time which show the transfer fee etc. my card number definitely was the same as my account number.

Hope that clears up any misunderstanding. I told mbna in my second letter that I was accepting the cheque without prejudice as part payment towards the £251 outstanding.

All I really need to know is if anyone thinks I would have a claim if I took this to the courts.

Premier_2

jjww wrote: »

...I rang mbna at the time after they did it but they insisted this was the only way to do it and as I did not have another card to move the balance onto I had no option...

That is not the way they should have done it at all.
I've often had replacement cards, usually as an ongoing renewal programme, but sometimes for other resaons (damaged card, possible security risk, etc) and never been charged a balance transfer fee by any credit card company, including MBNA

Infact, according to their own website, to do so would be against their own terms.
(And I believe similar terms of all credit card companies)

...You cannot transfer amounts between credit cards issued by MBNA....

http://www.mbna.co.uk/help-centre/account-faqs/bt-cash.html

icecoldfairy

hi can anyone give me some advice have sent off letter to ask for my charges back which was for £492 i have had a reply offering only £79.02 and they say they will take it off whats owing on the card. this will not help at all as they add so much to the card each month and its not been used for three years and should be paid by now but keeps going up with the charges do i keep fighting it the bank is lloyds tsb thanks

JaspaC

I've been offered a full settlement from Vanquis Credit card.

But i've only been given three options:

1) full refund is given (without interest) and the account is closed.

2)I decline and carry on without any refund.

3)full refund given (without interest) and account is adapted such that no charges of any kind will ever be applied in future. However an annual fee of £25 will be taken and my interest rate will go from 35% to 60% apr!

Should I complain to the ombudsman about this practice?

Premier_2

icecoldfairy wrote: »

hi can anyone give me some advice have sent off letter to ask for my charges back ...... had a reply offering only £79.02 ... this will not help at all ...do i keep fighting it the bank is lloyds tsb thanks

Hi icecoldfairy, and welcome to MSE :hello:

Ever heard of the saying,'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' ?

This is some of what the MSE credit card reclaiming guide suggests in such circumstances:

It makes a partial offer
There is a chance it’ll offer some of the money you want. If you have asked for the full refund this may be the difference between the fee and the £12 OFT recommendation. Whatever it offers, you need to decide whether it’s worth continuing or just taking the cash.

Should you accept a partial offer at this stage?
This is always a very tough decision. Whilst there’s a temptation to say ‘fight the good fight and take ‘em on’, what’s actually more important is protecting your pocket.
Let’s say you’ve £500 of charges and are offered £350; the first thing is try not to think “I’m £150 short” but instead that you’ve got £350 you thought was gone forever. The ultimate decision is yours. It’s a combination of whether you want the hassle of continuing versus the ‘certainty of the cash’.

podperson

icecoldfairy wrote: »

hi can anyone give me some advice have sent off letter to ask for my charges back which was for £492 i have had a reply offering only £79.02 and they say they will take it off whats owing on the card. this will not help at all as they add so much to the card each month and its not been used for three years and should be paid by now but keeps going up with the charges do i keep fighting it the bank is lloyds tsb thanks

Is this the difference between the £12 and the higher earlier charges? If so it is fairly standard for them to offer this first (all mine I have reclaimed against have invariably done this!). It's up to you whether you wish to accept it or not. I wasn't happy with it so wrote back quoting OFT guidelines back to them that while the OFT had said they would not pursue action against charges £12 and under they were not saying these charges were a fair level or reflected the necessary costs involved and that only a court could decide on these. I advised I was perfectly willing to let a court decide this as I believed they could not justify their costs in these charges and all but one replied back offering me the full charges back (and the one that hasn't involves charges over 6 years old).
Be aware though that whatever they offer you back will generally come off the account first.