Tesco Bank - Credit Card Harassment

UnderCanvas

I am trying to pay off credit cards by paying off the higher rate interest one off first while paying the minimum on the lower rate cards.    One of the lower rate cards is Tesco and being paid at the minimum monthly payment each month without fail.   However, Tesco is the only Credit Card company that is relentlessly sending me weekly letters demanding higher payments that for now, I cannot afford until other higher rate cards are cleared.    Tesco have stated that despite being disabled, they will not stop sending demand letters and threatened to mark 'disabled' on my credit file?.  The stress of which is mounting as I am trying to clear a lot of debt.  I do not know why Tesco is acting heavy handed while other credit card providers are not.  Is there anything I can do to stop them trying to constantly pressure me?

oldagetraveller1

Are they actually "demanding" or suggesting/recommending/advising you pay more?

I would have thought that the longer it takes to pay off, the more they receive in interest which is to their advantage?

Ebe_Scrooge

It sounds like the "persistent debt" thing.  If you've been paying only the minimum for an extended period of time, lenders are now obliged to remind you that doing so will cost you more and take longer to clear the debt.  They will often suggest increasing the amount you repay.

With respect, being disabled should have no bearing on your financial situation.  Although, the term "disabled" can cover a wide range of conditions.  I do know that a lot of lenders have a category of what they call "vulnerable customers", I'm wondering if this is what they're referring to?  If so, that could be a good thing as they will aim to assist you as much as possible.

Best thing is to call them and talk to them.  Explain the reasons that you are only making the minimum payment, and see what they say.  They are usually pretty understanding once you get to talk to a human being rather than being at the mercy of a computer-generated algorithm.

Alternatively, would it be feasible to pay, say, a fiver more than the minimum each month?  That may be all it takes to stop the letters.

elsien

Yes “threatening” to put disabled on your credit file sounds odd. Please can you share the exact wording? 

Although you acknowledge you do have a disability so they wouldn’t be saying anything inaccurate. 

DullGreyGuy

UnderCanvas said:

I am trying to pay off credit cards by paying off the higher rate interest one off first while paying the minimum on the lower rate cards.    One of the lower rate cards is Tesco and being paid at the minimum monthly payment each month without fail.   However, Tesco is the only Credit Card company that is relentlessly sending me weekly letters demanding higher payments that for now, I cannot afford until other higher rate cards are cleared.    Tesco have stated that despite being disabled, they will not stop sending demand letters and threatened to mark 'disabled' on my credit file?.  The stress of which is mounting as I am trying to clear a lot of debt.  I do not know why Tesco is acting heavy handed while other credit card providers are not.  Is there anything I can do to stop them trying to constantly pressure me?

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/persistent-credit-card-debt.aspx

If you look at the comms again almost certainly it talks about "persistent debt" which is a requirement from the Financial Conduct Authority from last year. The FCA defined what persistent debt is and made credit card issuers identify those customers in it and contact them with a view that those who's situation doesnt improve the card should be suspended.

Ultimately if you are comfortable in your approach then you can safely ignore them, presumably you dont have an issue if the card is suspended. I know with some issuers they have offered to lower the interest in conjunction with suspension and so it may even be a beneficial thing. 

sourcrates

Just pay £1 or £2 over your minimum payment, hey presto, you are no longer paying the minimum payment, so won`t fall fowl of the persistent debt rules and won`t trigger Tesco`s computer to send you a template letter on the subject.

flo22

You may be better off speaking to your bank about consolidating the credit card debts into one loan (which would be a more favourable rate than the credit cards), it would certainly help repay the debts quicker and be less stressful for you.

Ebe_Scrooge

flo22 said:

You may be better off speaking to your bank about consolidating the credit card debts into one loan (which would be a more favourable rate than the credit cards), it would certainly help repay the debts quicker and be less stressful for you.

Consolidation is very rarely a good idea.  In theory it can work, if you are super-disciplined and close the credit cards as soon as you've paid them off - otherwise the temptation can be to simply start using them again, and you're soon looking at twice the debt you started with.

The other fly in the ointment is that a lender has to make the assumption that the loan will be in addition to, not instead of, the existing debt, as they cannot guarantee that you will in fact use the loan to pay off the cards.  So when they run their affordability calculations you may very well find that you're declined, or else offered a loan at a very much higher rate of interest.

eskbanker

UnderCanvas said:

Tesco is the only Credit Card company that is relentlessly sending me weekly letters demanding higher payments that for now, I cannot afford until other higher rate cards are cleared.    Tesco have stated that despite being disabled, they will not stop sending demand letters and threatened to mark 'disabled' on my credit file?

As mentioned in earlier posts, all lenders are required to follow the FCA's persistent debt process for those borrowers who aren't making inroads into long-running debts, but that only entails occasional letters every few months, not weekly ones, so if Tesco are literally sending them weekly then that's excessive and worthy of a complaint to them IMHO, with escalation to the ombudsman if they don't address the issue adequately.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/persistent-debt-help/

MEM62

flo22 said:

You may be better off speaking to your bank about consolidating the credit card debts into one loan (which would be a more favourable rate than the credit cards), it would certainly help repay the debts quicker and be less stressful for you.

Errrr..... No.  Consolidation loans are rarely successful.  You cannot borrow your way out of debt.  

binao

As above.

Just pay £1 extra and see what happens.