Barclays slashed my credit limit for non payment of unauthorized transactions

Sarahspangles

cheekykid said:

I got a letter from Barclays saying that because I haven't made any payments for a while my credit limit will go down from £100 to £4000 and if I don't clear my balance my account will be closed. I was shocked as I hadn't used my card for months. I rushed to log in online and I saw some contactless transactions for less than £10. I have disputed them however my limit is now gone. Any idea if Barclays would or could restore it later on given that what happened wasn't my fault?

At this point you’re not making them money, you’re costing them because you’re not running your account in the expected way so they’re having to interact with you. Remember they get merchant fees for money through the account so their profitable customers are ones actively using the card and even better sometimes paying interest.

You can earn back your ‘customer’ status by clearing the balance and building up usage again so they lift your credit limit.

Although I don’t really understand how there is benefit to having what amounts to a potential line of credit, considering the interest rate is then so high.

Nasqueron

cheekykid said:

Hoenir said:

cheekykid said:

I got a letter from Barclays saying that because I haven't made any payments for a while my credit limit will go down from £100 to £4000 and if I don't clear my balance my account will be closed. 

What's a "while" ?   As I'd be surprised if communications hadn't been sent earlier if no payments were being made. 

3 months. Not communications, no txt messages other than a monthly email telling me you new statement is up. No missed payment alert of any kind. 

born_again said:

Accounts that are not being used have a higher risk of fraud. Which is nicely summarised by this tread, by them not being checked. Especially when paper statements are turned off.
One reason as well to have a DD in place & use once card every few months just to keep it active👍

Do you still have the card? If not when was it last seen?

No I don't have the card. Last seen was 3 months ago

This would raise an immediate red flag for me - if you are not spending on the card, you wouldn't expect a statement to be produced - my cards with no use do not produce them - if you were getting statements you should immediately check them

cheekykid

I am under no obligation of any sort to be checking all my email accounts. I had received no sms or email alerts of any missed payments, just an email that a statement is being released and just disregarded it thinking it will with 0 balance. I did not know one is issued only if there is a charge on it and whether "I should have known" this or not is besides the point. Again I received no missed payment notification that would have allowed me to catch this earlier. I am pretty sure I had an account somewhere that generated statements when there wasn't any account movement. I think it was with with my bank account. 

Debbie9009

So to summarise, you haven’t been checking your statements and don’t believe you have any obligation to do so, you also haven’t seen the card for three months. Personally I think it’s good that Barclays have lowered the limit as it has alerted you to the issue, and saved you from someone using the card for large amounts.

lr1277

Are missed payment notifications a thing?
@cheekykid have you ever received a missed payment notification?
Over the years, but last time maybe 5 years ago I missed payments. But I was acutely aware the payment was due, but the money had not arrived in place due to my poor organisation and for various reasons not having a direct debit in place.
i don’t remember if I received any missed payment notifications on missing a payment.

Edited to add: I can see missed payment notifications might be useful for charge cards, as you have to pay them on time or I presume (but don’t know), you will face large fines. But for credit cards, because the card provider can start charging you interest, and it is allowed within the rules less need to send out a notification?

Nasqueron

cheekykid said:

I am under no obligation of any sort to be checking all my email accounts. I had received no sms or email alerts of any missed payments, just an email that a statement is being released and just disregarded it thinking it will with 0 balance. I did not know one is issued only if there is a charge on it and whether "I should have known" this or not is besides the point. Again I received no missed payment notification that would have allowed me to catch this earlier. I am pretty sure I had an account somewhere that generated statements when there wasn't any account movement. I think it was with with my bank account. 

You're not but equally, by choosing not to check or look at the statement, you were negatively impacted.

Your first two sentences contradict each other.

I check all my accounts maybe once a week, even accounts I know I have not set up anything on e.g. empty banks used for switches, takes seconds to do

MEM62

cheekykid said:

I am under no obligation of any sort to be checking all my email accounts. I had received no sms or email alerts of any missed payments, just an email that a statement is being released and just disregarded it thinking it will with 0 balance. I did not know one is issued only if there is a charge on it and whether "I should have known" this or not is besides the point. Again I received no missed payment notification that would have allowed me to catch this earlier. I am pretty sure I had an account somewhere that generated statements when there wasn't any account movement. I think it was with with my bank account. 

What you have an obligation to do and what it is prudent to do are not necessarily the same thing.  What others are trying to point out is that, by neglecting to keep an eye on your account, you find yourself in the situation that you are in. Maybe you feel you had no obligation. That's your choice but having not done so you need to live with the consequences.  

Sarahspangles

cheekykid said:

I am under no obligation of any sort to be checking all my email accounts. I had received no sms or email alerts of any missed payments, just an email that a statement is being released and just disregarded it thinking it will with 0 balance. I did not know one is issued only if there is a charge on it and whether "I should have known" this or not is besides the point. Again I received no missed payment notification that would have allowed me to catch this earlier. I am pretty sure I had an account somewhere that generated statements when there wasn't any account movement. I think it was with with my bank account. 

Barclaycard no longer do paper statements, but if they did would you have opened those or just shredded them? The statement is how they confirm payments out. Why would they send you something else in addition? Their backstop is the letter you have now received and I suspect that’s come via snail mail only because they need to send one in case they need a CCJ.

JonVarnas

cheekykid said:

I am under no obligation of any sort to be checking all my email accounts. I had received no sms or email alerts of any missed payments, just an email that a statement is being released and just disregarded it thinking it will with 0 balance. I did not know one is issued only if there is a charge on it and whether "I should have known" this or not is besides the point. Again I received no missed payment notification that would have allowed me to catch this earlier. I am pretty sure I had an account somewhere that generated statements when there wasn't any account movement. I think it was with with my bank account. 

Come on, you're an adult. You should be keeping an eye on these things.

cheekykid

lr1277 said:

Are missed payment notifications a thing?
@cheekykid have you ever received a missed payment notification?
Over the years, but last time maybe 5 years ago I missed payments. But I was acutely aware the payment was due, but the money had not arrived in place due to my poor organisation and for various reasons not having a direct debit in place.
i don’t remember if I received any missed payment notifications on missing a payment.

Edited to add: I can see missed payment notifications might be useful for charge cards, as you have to pay them on time or I presume (but don’t know), you will face large fines. But for credit cards, because the card provider can start charging you interest, and it is allowed within the rules less need to send out a notification?

I did not receive any missed payment notifications anywhere. I was only alerted when I received a letter in the mail.

The only emails I got were of the "You have a new statement" variety. That's it. Obviously if I had received a missed payment alert I would have acted on it a lot sooner. I did not make these charges yet I pay the price for them.