Barclaycard "Inconvenience" Payment

Goggage

Hi everyone,

Like others I recently received a letter from Barclaycard telling me they had not treated me fairly etc. and offering to refund £14 to my card and offering £75 as an inconvenience payment.

There's no way to say this without sounding greedy, so I'm just going to say it, I feel quite insulted.

The debt on my Barclaycard was just shy of £13,000 and I was basically living off it, I used to pay £300 off the card when I got paid and then use the card to put fuel in my car and buy lunches, basically getting me through the month until I got paid again.

Last year in August I entered into a DMP as I realised the futility of my situation, it will be another 3 years before all my debts are cleared.

Prior to entering into the DMP the situation with paying money off the card and then putting stuff on it had been going on for about 3 years.

The stress, sleepless nights and affect on my health has been catastrophic. I'm in the process of getting divorced and am struggling with alcoholism.

Others appear to be having their debts written off by Barclaycard as they hold the balance, my debt was sold to PRA Group when I entered into the DMP, so I assume they aren't offering that as they have been paid by PRA for the debt.

I wasn't contacted by Barclaycard or involved in the decision making process or privy to how they came to this figure, but I can only guess at the amount of interest I have paid to Barclays over the years.

Is it worth my time complaining/going through an appeals process?

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't have thought so.

They've obviously calculated the impact in terms of the £14 and then made a hefty goodwill gesture in top.

Good result.

Goggage

Deleted_User said:

I wouldn't have thought so.

They've obviously calculated the impact in terms of the £14 and then made a hefty goodwill gesture in top.

Good result.

You consider that "hefty?" It's not even 1 month's interest payment!

[Deleted User]

Look at in in terms of the original redress.  Its over five times the amount.

I know everyone loves unlimited compo, but it's a good bit of free cash for you.

Goggage

Deleted_User said:

Look at in in terms of the original redress.  Its over five times the amount.

I know everyone loves unlimited compo, but it's a good bit of free cash for you.

Yes, sorry, I don't think you've understood the full details of what I have written.

D3xt3r5L4b

The compo is more than enough. You should have been paying interest as per the terms and conditions you signed and agreed to when taking the card out. Be grateful. 

sourcrates

Goggage said:

Deleted_User said:

Look at in in terms of the original redress.  Its over five times the amount.

I know everyone loves unlimited compo, but it's a good bit of free cash for you.

Yes, sorry, I don't think you've understood the full details of what I have written.

I think I understand what your trying to say.

You feel that Barclaycard was in part responcible for your debt situation, you feel they should not have lent to you, or given you all those limit increases, and when you could no longer afford your repayments, they did nothing constructive to help you with the debt, does that about sum it up ?

If it was a payday loan you were complaining about, I would be much more inclined to agree with you, as they were handed out like car keys at a swingers party, but credit cards are different, you have the choice to accept the card or not, you have the choice to accept limit increases, or not, you know that most transactions will incur interest, its all explained to you right at the start in the T`s & C`s.

Life throws us a curveball every now and then, some of us do silly things with money, its easy to blame the creditor for this, infact its a natural auto defence reaction, but unless they are aware of your situation, what can you expect them to do ?

They will remain ignorant of your divorce, or the fact your drinking more than you did, unless you tell them your situation, how else can you expect them to help you ?

Now don`t get me wrong, I am sympathetic to your plight, but unafordable lending complaints don`t normally extend to credit cards given all the chances you have to opt out, or just to say no.

Consensus on these forums recommends having a lot of these little shiney pieces of plastic, yet when you carry a significant balance on one or more of them, they are, and will likely remain, the single largest cause of debt problems in the UK.

Why didn`t Barclaycard do more to help you ?

Well first and foremost they are a buisness out to make money, it is not within their remit to provide debt advice or solutions, which is why nothing of any consequence can be done before taking advice from a debt charity, even then there is no obligation to stop or freeze interest or charges, its entirely at the banks discretion.

Ideally you should perhaps have sought help sooner, you can`t expect your debts to be written off for no good reason, if that were the case, the credit card providers would risk going the same way as the payday loan lot have, into insolvency.

Your story is no different to many others who are in debt or have been there, pride and a "head in the sand attitude" prevents you from thinking clearly.

May I suggest, to asist in your wellbeing, as well as to assertain your position, you send a CCA request to PRA group, that is one avenue still open to you, if the original creditor cannot provide the correct and legal paperwork your debt would be unenforcable in court, and you may be able to settle the debt for a lot less than you normally would, thus reducing your time in debt management.

I wish you good luck with it all.

eskbanker

Goggage said:

Like others I recently received a letter from Barclaycard telling me they had not treated me fairly etc. and offering to refund £14 to my card and offering £75 as an inconvenience payment.

[...]

I wasn't contacted by Barclaycard or involved in the decision making process or privy to how they came to this figure, but I can only guess at the amount of interest I have paid to Barclays over the years.

Is it worth my time complaining/going through an appeals process?

What exactly does the letter say?  I suspect that they're compensating you for a very specific minor calculation or processing error that they've made at some point, but you're choosing to see it in the context of a large debt that you'd have appreciated assistance with, which this money isn't intended to address in any way....

phillw

sourcrates said:
Consensus on these forums recommends having a lot of these little shiney pieces of plastic, yet when you carry a significant balance on one or more of them, they are, and will likely remain, the single largest cause of debt problems in the UK.

A significant balance is fine if it's not costing you any interest and you can afford to repay it.
I wouldn't spend beyond my means unless it was life and death and then it would be unfair of me to look back after the event and say that they shouldn't have lent me money.

Zellah

sourcrates said:

You feel that Barclaycard was in part responcible for your debt situation, you feel they should not have lent to you, or given you all those limit increases, and when you could no longer afford your repayments, they did nothing constructive to help you with the debt, does that about sum it up ?

Barclaycard did NOT put a gun to the OP's ahead. They deliberately ran up more debt on the card, knowing full well they, alone, were responsible. They could easily have cut up the card and just continue paying the balance off. But oh no, its Barclaycard's fault. People need to take responsibility for their own actions.

sourcrates

Zellah said:

sourcrates said:

You feel that Barclaycard was in part responcible for your debt situation, you feel they should not have lent to you, or given you all those limit increases, and when you could no longer afford your repayments, they did nothing constructive to help you with the debt, does that about sum it up ?

Barclaycard did NOT put a gun to the OP's ahead. They deliberately ran up more debt on the card, knowing full well they, alone, were responsible. They could easily have cut up the card and just continue paying the balance off. But oh no, its Barclaycard's fault. People need to take responsibility for their own actions.

I was citing possible reasons why the OP may concider BC to be at fault, NOT giving you an opinion.

And as far as I am aware they are repaying the debt through debt management, so your point is mute anyway.