Help - Shop Direct/Very and NCO Europe

hanbab

Hoping someone might have some helpful knowledge - has anyone managed to move back from a no interest payment arrangement with NCO Europe to a normal interest paying account with Very?

Background if helpful:

We have what Very terms on our statements a ‘temporary payment arrangement’ in place, with payments made via NCO. We were in an PayPlan DMP from Feb-Oct 2021 after my husband lost his job, but ended it to go self managed as we were overpaying payments on some debts (which isn’t the point of a DMP, wish I’d known that then!) and had better financial circumstances. 

When the DMP ended Very said best to stick with NCO and keep paying down while not paying interest, sounded sensible (44% interest otherwise!) so we’ve done that since and proudly halved the amount. 

Now we need to remortgage and the lender is saying the Very account is showing as a DMP on our credit file due to the Arrangement to Pay marker used (unlike any other account which defaulted back in 2021). They won’t lend unless it is removed or changed to show it isn’t a DMP. 

We haven’t yet got enough savings to clear the whole remaining Very amount though could do within 4-6 months if we prioritise paying this before other debt. 

NCO are saying we can’t exit the arrangement and return to Very as a normal debtor paying interest (we’ve been able to do this with some other accounts so I don’t think this is true). After three tries with Very today I got a sympathetic ear who is going to try and raise with supervisors. If we could return to a normal account paying interest then the lender will make the mortgage offer. 

Anyone else found NCO refusing to do anything other than keep it going or pay it off?

fatbelly

I can't see why they would refuse your request to pay 44% interest on interest -free debt. It sound like you have talked to them and they are considering your request.

You do need a plan to get rid of your debts though

EssexHebridean

Have you looked to see if your current mortgage lender has any deals you could move to, as that may well not require a credit check, and might mean you can continue with the interest free arrangement which clearly from a purely "black & white" perspective is way better than incurring high interest charges!

Have you done the maths - 4 - 6 months on the SVR for the mortgage -v- getting a better deal on the mortgage now but having to pay a really high rate of interest on the debt?