Persistent Debt - Barclaycard

maxximus75

When you pay the minimum payment on a credit agreement, this is flagged up every time.

This gets factored into the lending decisions of other providers and can reduce your chances of getting a product or if you do, at a non-competative rate.

To other lenders, it looks like you are financially overstretched.

Once you start paying it back at a higher payment and this starts to form a pattern, you will probably find more attractive offers may be offered to you.

Credit is like going on a date..... you want to look your most attractive.

IAMIAM

I have raised a complaint with Barclaycard, as when I phoned to speak to them I was put through to a call centre, with a person who kept thinking I had phoned to take out the payment plan, so I escalated it to a complaint so they would ring me.

See the difference, Indian and strongly accented is irrelevant. As you are a strongly accented British person. The subtle discrimination in writing is ridiculous and I see where the problems stem in todays culture. 

cymruchris

Have you actually tried any eligibility checkers for zero percent cards ? 

If you can’t get any mainstream ones at the moment - you might get a sub-prime like aqua or vanquis who usually offer short term zero percent deals to get people onto their high rate cards - usually 6 months - 9 months - that would take you beyond your car loan. So you could try getting one of these - they’d not give you such a high limit - but if they gave you a £1000 credit limit - you could take a chunk of the barclaycard debt off In one go, pay no interest on it, get your car loan sorted, then address the card balance before the zero percent ran out. 

It may not solve the entire problem - but it might be a way to get through it a bit more easily. 

Naomim

Deleted_User said:

No, it's not sharp practice - it's away of them complying with the regulations. And your credit rating is irrelevant. It's not a factor in lending. Neither is it a factor in your rental searches, so that's fine.

The utilisation is an issue, but it's your affordability, history of minimum payments and lack of disposable income which is the major problem and the reason why you're not getting accepted for credit.

Get to the DFW boards for advice on cutting costs and getting rid of the debt faster. 

I agree with @Deleted_User come over to the DFW boards where you can get some more tailored advice on cutting your debts.

I was also getting persistent debt letters in Nov 19 but with the help of the boards am now managing to pay it down.

Naomim 

Jumblebumble

Pop_Sox said:

I am getting to the end of paying debts off, the last big loan, which is a car loan, is paid off in this June, which is £309 a month. I have not got any arrears, missed payments or late payments for the last 6 years for anything. I have kept on top of everything even though it has taken a while to pay it off, and some months I have had very little money left over.

Due to a relationship break up six years ago, I had to use my Barclaycard to purchase contents for a new home, this was done as cheaply as possibly, but still was a fair amount, I also had to sometimes use the credit card to buy groceries, fuel for work etc. due to the other commitments. The credit limit at that time was £14,500. The balance at the moment is around £7K although it has never gone above £8K. I have paid off the minimum amount every month (around £180), sometimes I have paid £20 or £30 more a month if I can afford it. My plan was to transfer it to a 0% interest card once my car loan finished, and pay it down at £500 a month.

About 18 months ago the persistent debt letters started coming, and then Barclaycard would reduce the credit limit to a few pounds over whatever the balance was, and then every time the balance went down they would reduce the credit limit to around £200 over the balance, the credit limit is now £7,200. I don't use the card any more.

The issue with this is that my credit rating has also gone down drastically - it used to be excellent, as instead of utilising 50% of my credit available, I am utilising practically 100% of it for the last 18 months, and as such am deemed to be "over stretching" myself. I looked into this when I kept getting turned down for 0% balance transfer cards or low interest loans, and was told it was due to my Barclaycard being maxed out constantly. The only loans available to me are the huge interest rate loans such as Amigo loans, or credit builder credit cards. This has infuriated me, as Barclaycard have ruined my chances of getting any alternative but paying their rates of interest for the next x amount of years.

I recently had the letter saying the card would be suspended unless I took out a paydown plan of £211 a month with them which had a lower interest rate - which is £40ish a month than I am paying now, if I took out this plan the card would also be suspended. So the card will be suspended either way! Alternatively they advised me to look for a low interest loan or balance transfer card - well I would - but they've messed up any chance of that!!! Surely this is sharp practice, as I am now tied into their interest rates?

There was no other reason for them reducing my credit limit - my payments were always made on time via direct debit, I have never exceeded my credit limit - or even come close to the original £14.5K limit they gave me.

I have raised a complaint with Barclaycard, as when I phoned to speak to them I was put through to an Indian call centre, with a strongly accented person who kept thinking I had phoned to take out the payment plan, so I escalated it to a complaint so they would ring me.

As a nurse, I have asked Barclaycard to phone me between 8.30am and 9am, which is when I know I can take a call and won't be with patients, however they have insisted on phoning twice now at 2pm and leaving messages.

Is there anything I can do about this? Obviously they won't put my limit back up to it's original so short of paying it off once I can, I am stuck with the poor credit rating and unable to access any low interest products due to this. I am also a renter, this could have an adverse effect on me should I decide to move house as I won't pass the credit check.

I am sure that you have considered that offering 0% deals to people who can only make minimum payments and are therefore likely  to be risky  is probably not very good business sense. 
I don't really understand why you have a beef with Barclays as they do not dictate how another lender manages  their risk profile