Payment plan against my will

benjaminchard

Hi,

Really different question for you.
I had a missed payments that built up over a couple of months with Very. I went through their debt online help. Then messaged them online with saying I can pay all off in less than a week. The message chat was clear and able to see previous messages. They then replied with they will put me on payment plan for the next 10months. I refused this several times and had not even told them my outgoings or incoming. They told me again it will be set up with me refusing it three times.
This was set up anyway. This was done the day before I paid it all up to date. My credit score was not great but now even worse as I then had a report on my credit file for this payment plan. I complained to the company. I also went for a mortgage as a first time buyer and this has affected it.
I am going through their customer excellence team about this. They are trying their best to sort out. I am absolutely fuming but dont know what I can do.
Is there anything I can or should do? This happened the 27th feb and still waiting for action. The company said i am in a queue for a few weeks so whilst this is going on the report is still on my record....
Very have taken responsibility for this and say that I should have been asked for outgoings and if I agreed. They agree I definitely did not agree and they are in the wrong.
Any advice will be gratefully appreciated. Can I complain and potentially get compensation??
Kind regards 
Ben chard

[Deleted User]

Compensation! What for? You failed to pay your account, they made an error. Fairs fair 

Willing2Learn

Hi benjaminchard and welcome to the forum 

I do not agree with _shel.  'Very' should allow you to make affordable payments.  According to the rules "A firm must not operate a policy of refusing to negotiate with a customer who is developing a repayment plan."  They must treat you with "forbearance and due consideration".  They should have referred you to a not-for-profit debt advice agency.  For more details on the rules, have a read of the applicable FCA handbook linked below:
https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/CONC/7/3.html


Edit:  I recommend you ask 'Very' to freeze your account whilst you seek advice.  Use the template linked below.  This will give you a bit of breathing space.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Hold-action-on-your-account-%28sole-name%29.aspx  

benjaminchard

_shel said:

Compensation! What for? You failed to pay your account, they made an error. Fairs fair 

I appreciate what your saying but I paid all up.
The TWO missed payments were through accidental reasons.
I told them I was going to fully pay to get back correct then they put me on plan even though I disagreed as I did not need one.

You have clearly judged me before knowing the situation.....please think before judging. 

tempus_fugit

Just continue with the complaint, and if you haven’t had any joy after eight weeks take it to the Financial Ombudsman. Unfortunately expecting such a quick resolution is unrealistic. Avenues of complaint exist but they take time and patience.

ciderboy2009

benjaminchard said:
The TWO missed payments were through accidental reasons.

Whatever the reason, you missed two payments so were in breach of your agreement with them.  You might have been able to get away wth one but two indicates more than "accidental reasons".

As you have now paid it off the its effect wil be minimal.  I imagine the reason you were refused the mortgage has more to do with the fact that your credit score/record was not great in the first place as you mention.

I see no compensation due here although they may offer you a small goodwill gesture to get rid of you.

Anamox

This has obviously gone over the heads of some other users... it's not the OP's fault that Very's system or staff have signed them up into a payment plan they didn't want or need. I can imagine those commenting would bend over backwards and take it up the rear if a company treated them poorly like this!

I've experienced a similar situation before whereby Amazon's credit card company stated I had missed three payments (I only received one letter, stating this fact) and I had 30 days to pay up in full. The card had been discarded months before that as I only signed up for the free £30 voucher, and had never used the card. I checked the balance and they owed me £7! I checked my credit report and they had reported 3 months of non-payment. It was all obviously a mistake and their useless Indian call centre didn't understand at all. I was going through my mortgage checks but luckily I got my offer, but that certainly increased my chance of rejection and the adviser said it was probably going to end up in a rejection as it was so fresh. It took 10 weeks to get it removed from my credit report as it was a mistake, Amazon eventually gave me £100 in vouchers and refunded my year of Prime as a good will... 

Don't give up! You're a consumer and consumers often make mistakes on finances... them however are an organisation responsible for handling your case and if they did so with proven negligence, they need to make things right.