Credit Card Reclaiming Discussion

helpneededagain

Have recently reclaimed CC charges of some companies and have today received an offer from one which doesn't seem to make sense.
The first bit does in that they are offering the difference between the £12 and £20 they used to charge and I can get the sume to that figure but they are only offering to pay £3.95 interest on £56 and they describe it as interest charged on those fees. The penalties were incurred in Sep 2005 and Jun / July 2006 and they were charging me 14% + at that time. I understood that they had to offer 8% and I had used one of the spreadsheets available to calculate the interest on the penalties and I get it to £23 am I doing something wrong. Even 8% simple interest on 56 is more than 3.95 ?
Also if they have sold the debt on will they give me the money or pass it on to the DCA ?
Thanks

Big_Jack

Dear All

I have recently cleared numerous credit card balances, and am about to start claims for excessive charges.

Would you advise keeping these accounts open at their nil balance, or to close them immediately? Will it make any difference to the likely success of the claim if I were to close the accounts?

Many thanks

jjww_2

Hi Big Jack,

I have recently claimed on two cards one mbna which I had closed two weeks previous and one hsbc which I left open till day I got decision.

Hsbc replied straight away and refunded all charges mbna took weeks offered roughly £30 out of £250ish I refused and after 2 more letters they are now revaluating.

So in my experience the open account was sorted easier however this may be just because they are different providers.

Hope you get sorted soon.

scunner

Hi

I am due redunds of credit card charges from several providers. All the accounts have outstanding balances but some providers have passed the management of the account to a debt collection agency (DCA) whereas other providers continue to manage the account themselves. I have received a letter from Citibank stating that as the account is being managed by a DCA, they will send the refund direct to me. However, Halifax, HSBC and First Direct, all of whom have also passed the management of those accounts to a DCA say that they are offsetting the refunds against the outstanding balances.

Does anyone know which is the correct approach please? Citibank are very clear in their letter that they will refund - other are equally clear they will not!

Thanks

helpneededagain

I think it depends whether the DCA is collecting on behalf of the OC or whether they have bought it .

MY OH and I have just done this and are awaiting replies from some of the OC's but I received a cheque from FD who had sold the debt on but with our two NW cards the funds were set against the debt. Still waiting on the others !

Good Luck

steveimp

Surely the debt is with the bank and not with the DCA?

scunner

steveimp wrote: »

Surely the debt is with the bank and not with the DCA?

I'm sure that where the cc company has sold the debt to a DCA, then that is the end of their interest. That being so, I'd thought that the cc company should make any subsequent refund to the account holder. I would really appreciate some clarity on this though. I have tried FSA and FSO but as yet they havnt replied.

Premier_2

Think about it.

Why would anyone repay a debt that they had already successfuly disputed???

Whilst debts may be sold on, they will always refer to the original alleged debt. If that debt has been successfully disputed and agreed not to exist, no one would ever pay it would they??? I'm damned sure I wouldn't.

Think about it from the creditor's position. Do you really think they will send you cash when you never paid them that cash in the first place???
e.g. The creditor says you owe the £100. You don't pay it. You later dispute the alleged debt and the creditor agrees to the error. Do you really think they'll send you £100? That would leave them £100 down. The situation should be that all parties are left in the situation as it would have been in no error was ever made.

Think of it from the DCA's position. They are offered and accept to purchase a debt. That debt is later agreed not to exist. So what exactly have they bought???
What will usually happen is the (now non-existent) debt is returned to the seller (the original creditor) for a full refund of the purchase price.

It may be on the odd occassions, perhaps due to some specifics of a particular case, another arrangement is entered into, but the norm would be to put all parties back to the position they would have been in had no errors occured.

MattyA

Can anyone advise how far back you can claim credit card(default) charges.
I have claimed back o jul 98 - I have the statements to prove.
They have written back saying that the time period is limited by law to 6 years from the date of my first letter.
Is this correct - or can I challenge it in court if need be?
They have also calculated interest for some years at a compound rate with no statutory interest and others with statutory and no compound rate.?
They also have negleted to include the PPI applied to my balance at the time of the charge.
Does anyone know if I can reclaim this as well - I dont see why not as it was applied to charges which they are now refunding.
It makes a huge difference to the claim and will clear my balance if I can make it stick.

Thanks & regards,

Matty

Premier_2

MattyA wrote: »

Can anyone advise how far back you can claim credit card(default) charges.
I have claimed back o jul 98 - I have the statements to prove.
They have written back saying that the time period is limited by law to 6 years from the date of my first letter.
Is this correct - or can I challenge it in court if need be?

This appears to support what the MSE guide to reclaiming credit card charges says:

...You can go back six years in England and Wales or five years in Scotland; these time periods are limited by law....

MattyA wrote: »

They have also calculated interest for some years at a compound rate with no statutory interest and others with statutory and no compound rate.?

This is what the MSE guide to reclaiming credit card charges says:

...If you were to go to court and win, you would be entitled to add 8% interest (not compounded) on top of your claim, from the date you were ‘first deprived’ of the money (i.e. the date of each charge).
Therefore as a negotiating tactic, you may want to ask for the interest as part of your initial claim. Do understand though, you’re not legally entitled to interest unless you win in court; but asking for interest now is all part of pushing the lender. Think of it as a bit like haggling.

You may strike lucky and get the interest on top but even if not, asking for it could help push the provider to settle quickly, as it may just say “here’s the money, without interest”. In which case, I’d grab it...

MattyA wrote: »

They also have negleted to include the PPI applied to my balance at the time of the charge.
Does anyone know if I can reclaim this as well - I dont see why not as it was applied to charges which they are now refunding.
It makes a huge difference to the claim and will clear my balance if I can make it stick.

Thanks & regards,

Matty

I suggest you ask about this on the reclaiming PPI and other insurance board.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=169
In the meantime, you may be interested in this article indicating many financial institutions are currently stalling over PPI reclaims pending a judicial review due early next year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11989657