Why Can't They Tell Me How Much My Debt Will Cost?

Jeannie100

I'm coming to the end of my 0% on my Tesco Credit Card. To help me to decide whether to try to pay off, I called them to ask how much the interest would be on the amount I have on the account now, based on the interest rate they told me in a recent email (when advising that my 0% was coming to an end - which I appreciated as I thought it was later!).

Even though I have said:-
1. Base the amount on a fixed and unmoving amount
2. Base it on the amount that I have now on my card
3. That I appreciate that this might change - that I'm okay to know what roughly the payment might be
4. Just tell me what you can tell me

They have said they are unable to indicate anything at all. They told me I have to wait until I get the statement with the interest charged on it.

I would have thought that through as a responsible lender, they should be able to tell me more or less what this amount will be. I have complained and it was escalated, they called me back; they said the same, I have complained and they have said it will be dealt within the next 10 days.

Am I going mad or is this not a reasonable question to ask BEFORE I get charged interest to be able to manage my debt?

I know there are options to move my debit to another card, but I'd really like to understand why they cannot give such important information.

[Deleted User]

Because they don't want to be held to anything, plus most customer service staff won't have the skills.

However, you have all the information you need to work it out to any scenario you want.

Jasonh2015

Barclaycard have a repayment calculator on their website, you put in the amount and APR and what you can afford and it gives an indication.

bris

You got the information when you signed up? What APR did you sign up to and what is the minimum payment % wise? With this information you can easily work out your minimum payments with the calculators that are easily available to use.

BoGoF

Why would it help you to decide whether to pay it off? Surely that's a no brainer unless you are transferring?

Standard APR's are minimum 19%.

18cc

The interest you will pay will be:

1. the amount you have on the card now - as an example say £500

multiplied by

2. the APR they are quoting you - as an example say 23%

In this example would be 500*23/100 per year = £115 a year

Divide £115 by 365 to get the daily amount, by 52 to get the weekly amount and by 12 to get the monthly amount.

vacheron

Should your bill each month not show the next months estimated interest? That should be enough time to decide what to do?

I can understand them not wanting to be accountable. I recently messaged First Direct to confirm when my 0% deal would end and they explained it very clearly.

Unfortunately the next month I received a statement with an interrest charge of £78. Queried them for an explaination and they advised that the previous advisor was mistaken and refunded me the full amount.

Jeannie100

Indeed, I'm still in the 0% so wanted to know that the interest would be should I not pay it all off. They suggested I wait to be charged the interest in the first month to know how much it would be.

They have been good at indicating the time left in the 0%

Jeannie100

When cash flow is an issue, I want to be able to make other financial decisions, attempting to understand how much it would be. I questioned my own calculations - not everyone feels confident with the calculations.

Jeannie100

Thank you very much - I wasn't confident in my attempt at the calculations

touch1337

You can have different interest rates on different parts of your balance. The interest charge can also vary depending on the number of days in the month and the dates of transactions during the statement period.

Generally, everything will be at your standard APR and you can calculate it quite easily but the provider wont do it for you because there's too many variables.