Possible to dispute these charges?

plymgary

Hi there,

I'll summarise my position...

Halifax credit card balance 23/10: £125.39

Payment due date: 18/11/25

Refund from merchant (31/10): £111.16

Total amount outstanding: £14.23

I forgot to make my own payment, so at the 18/11 the amount outstanding was still £14.23.

Credit card statement 23/11...
Late payment charge £12.00
Interest charge £6.25

To me, this doesn't sound fair? Do I have to suck it up and accept the charges? I have paid the whole outstanding balance this morning.

I did phone the call centre and was told, basically, tough! 

I'm thinking of writing a letter to dispute this if it's worth doing so?

Thanks.

eskbanker

Treatment of refunds in between statement and payment due date varies across card providers (some regard them as repayments against the statemented balance, others don't) - what do your Ts & Cs say about this?

plymgary

eskbanker said:

Treatment of refunds in between statement and payment due date varies across card providers (some regard them as repayments against the statemented balance, others don't) - what do your Ts & Cs say about this?

I can't see anything about this on the bank statement, although I can imagine a business as big as Halifax are working within their terms. However, wondered if I still had a leg to stand on? Probably not! 

eskbanker

plymgary said:

eskbanker said:

Treatment of refunds in between statement and payment due date varies across card providers (some regard them as repayments against the statemented balance, others don't) - what do your Ts & Cs say about this?

I can't see anything about this on the bank statement, although I can imagine a business as big as Halifax are working within their terms. However, wondered if I still had a leg to stand on? Probably not! 

plymgary said:

I did phone the call centre and was told, basically, tough!

As above, check your card terms rather than statements, but the call centre agent should have explained if this is their defined process specified within the published terms - if it is then you don't have a leg to stand on, but if it isn't then there's potentially room for discussion, e.g. waiving the fee and/or interest.

plymgary

eskbanker said:

plymgary said:

eskbanker said:

Treatment of refunds in between statement and payment due date varies across card providers (some regard them as repayments against the statemented balance, others don't) - what do your Ts & Cs say about this?

I can't see anything about this on the bank statement, although I can imagine a business as big as Halifax are working within their terms. However, wondered if I still had a leg to stand on? Probably not! 

plymgary said:

I did phone the call centre and was told, basically, tough!

As above, check your card terms rather than statements, but the call centre agent should have explained if this is their defined process specified within the published terms - if it is then you don't have a leg to stand on, but if it isn't then there's potentially room for discussion, e.g. waiving the fee and/or interest.

Thank you. She was probably the most unhelpful call centre employee I've spoken to for a while - one word answers for everything. 

I've just drafted a letter that I'll send to them instead. Best case scenario is that the fee is waived. Worst (and more likely!) case is that the fees will still stand. Still, worth a try for the cost of a first class stamp.

Thanks again.

etienneg

Best practice is to set up a direct debit to pay credit cards. That way there is no possibility of late payment charges like yours. Preferably DD should be for whole of balance, so that no interest is paid. However, it can be for minimum balance and still avoid late payment charges, and you can make a manual payment as well if you want, to reduce the balance owing.

daveyjp

If its a one off an appeal to have charges waived can be successful.

You do however need to know how refunds are treated as different cards have different regimes.  Setting up a direct debit avoids missed payments.

grumpy_codger

For their Clarity I see

B8.3 How refunds, cashback and credit adjustments affect your minimum payment If you get a refund, cashback or a credit adjustment between your statement date and your payment due date, they’ll reduce your overall balance.
They’ll only count towards your minimum payment for that month, after any arrears have been paid, if they reduce the balance to less than the minimum payment amount due. If this happens, and you haven’t paid your minimum payment yet, we’ll reduce the minimum payment to equal any full remaining balance.