Vanquis

sleepyjones

I wonder with these Vanquis account closures, people want to keep the positive markers on their credit file and it seems they always give you notice ie : We'll close your account on 25 October (or whatever the date is) ... if you pay off your balance and close the account yourself, I wonder if they will then no longer remove the history because you closed the account, not them?

bradders1983

sleepyjones said:

I wonder with these Vanquis account closures, people want to keep the positive markers on their credit file and it seems they always give you notice ie : We'll close your account on 25 October (or whatever the date is) ... if you pay off your balance and close the account yourself, I wonder if they will then no longer remove the history because you closed the account, not them?

I suspect its a blanket closure/credit agency wiping for everyone because the cards should not have been opened in the first place and Vanquis are clearly cacking bricks.

In any case, the accounts will have effectively been closed by Vanquis anyway - when they blocked spending on the cards when sending the letters out.

sleepyjones

I suspect its a blanket closure/credit agency wiping for everyone because the cards should not have been opened in the first place and Vanquis are clearly cacking bricks.

In any case, the accounts will have effectively been closed by Vanquis anyway - when they blocked spending on the cards when sending the letters out.

You would think that was the case, but it seems Vanquis might be giving people time, I haven't heard a definitive answer yet on whether people can still use their cards after receiving the letter but it seems like people are receiving the letters a couple of months in advance of their accounts being closed, ie they'll receive a letter in July saying their account will be closed in September ... Why would they not just close it instantly if the cards have already been blocked. I get that it seems unlikely / strange to tell people they will clear all balances and refund any charges while still allowing you to build up a higher debt / charges on the card, but I haven't specifically heard anyone say that they can / can't still use their card after receiving the letter.

@OldMacdonald12, have you tried to use your card after you received the letter?
Does the letter say specifically when the card will no longer be able to be used (other than the account closure date)?

bradders1983

Probably giving time for mugs like the OP to clear their own balances 

The OP has suggested in this thread he can't use the card, or at least that is how I read it. Surely it would be bonkers if they DIDN'T block it, think about what people would probably do with the card if they didn't!

danthemoneysavingman

Never heard of a company being able to remove history from a credit bureau. This sounds like nonsense to me. Would be a believer if I saw the (redacted of personal info) letter.
What business would tell customers they are going to forgive their debts, in advance! In fact what business would forgive debts rather than sell them onto a third party collection agency. Makes no sense, particularly at this point in the economic cycle...
make me a believer!

bradders1983

danthemoneysavingman said:

Never heard of a company being able to remove history from a credit bureau. This sounds like nonsense to me. Would be a believer if I saw the (redacted of personal info) letter.
What business would tell customers they are going to forgive their debts, in advance! In fact what business would forgive debts rather than sell them onto a third party collection agency. Makes no sense, particularly at this point in the economic cycle...
make me a believer!

There have been a number of threads on this, so it must be true. As well as this one, here are another two, one of them has another forum member stating the same thing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6172706/vanquis-are-closing-my-account/p1
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6174700/please-advise-on-how-to-keep-my-credit-score-vanquis-closing-my-account-their-error

2,500 customers according to someone on those threads.

Surely they checked they could delete the data before sending the letters out saying they would? Or maybe not.

OldMacdonald12

I got my letter on around 21st July and it said my account would close on 21/09/2020 but I wouldn't be able to use my card from 21/08/2020.
And yes, my card was active up until that day. I'd not really thought about it after getting the letter, mind on other things because of Covid, but the day before I bought something from Amazon and it's this card on there. The payment went through no problem. Can't lie, I was tempted to buy a new phone or something on it, but I wasn't sure whether they might just add anything extra I spent to my last direct debit. They didn't, so I've lost out all round.

sleepyjones

danthemoneysavingman said:

In fact what business would forgive debts rather than sell them onto a third party collection agency. Makes no sense, particularly at this point in the economic cycle...
make me a believer!

Apparently (at least in some cases, maybe not all) because they made a mistake in authorising the application and gave a card to someone that normally / having done the correct checks they wouldn't / shouldn't have approved.
So, they're cancelling the accounts now and refunding fees to ensure people can't claim, somewhere down the line, that Vanquis didn't do their diligence and gave them access to un-affordable debt (like the whole "Had a payday loan?" refund type stuff that forced a lot of those companies out of business)

bradders1983

OldMacdonald12 said:

I got my letter on around 21st July and it said my account would close on 21/09/2020 but I wouldn't be able to use my card from 21/08/2020.
And yes, my card was active up until that day. I'd not really thought about it after getting the letter, mind on other things because of Covid, but the day before I bought something from Amazon and it's this card on there. The payment went through no problem. Can't lie, I was tempted to buy a new phone or something on it, but I wasn't sure whether they might just add anything extra I spent to my last direct debit. They didn't, so I've lost out all round.

You should have just cancelled the full balance DD. Paid the minimum a different way, then again why bother paying the minimum when its being written off and there will be no record of it? Suppose hindsight is a wonderful thing.

OldMacdonald12

The reason I want to make my minimum this month is because until it happens, I don't 100% trust that there won't be some problem and I'll find out they did report to CRA. Though maybe the fact I have a letter from them saying they won't, would be enough to get any black mark sorted if they did report it. Doesn't matter hopefully as I paid the minimum last night.