Help - £267 charge to BT

Gateway

I've been reading up on Stoozing and thought I'd try my hand by applying for a new credit card and sending the BT to my First Direct credit card (which was debt free).

Unfortunately, I've just had my knuckles rapped and First Direct have informed me that I will be charged a 2% fee to transfer this balance to my cheque account which works out at £267 and that this BT was illegal.

Is there any way around this or do I just have to pay this fee??

HelenR_3

Gateway wrote:

I've been reading up on Stoozing and thought I'd try my hand by applying for a new credit card and sending the BT to my First Direct credit card (which was debt free).

Unfortunately, I've just had my knuckles rapped and First Direct have informed me that I will be charged a 2% fee to transfer this balance to my cheque account which works out at £267 and that this BT was illegal.

Is there any way around this or do I just have to pay this fee??

if its illegal why have FD let it go through ? surley not because they would do something they say illegal just to get £267 from you ?
is it too late to not bother doing it ?

H
x

martinpike

You obviously didn't read up properly!

First rule of stoozing. Do your homework.

What do your T&C's say on the subject?

The BT wasn't 'illegal' at all. It probably just transgressed their T&C's.

greenwich

1. When you say "illegal" what does it really mean? I can't imagine for one moment that you've broken any law just by borrowing money on one credit card and paying it into another card account. Ask FD what exactly you've done wrong and where it says in the T&Cs that you weren't supposed to do it.

2. Even if you have breached FD's T&Cs in some way they can't just charge you what they please. The law says (in the "Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999" - do a Google search to read them) say that a supplier can't make a customer pay a "disproportionate" penalty for breaching any terms of the contract. Unless you've caused FD a loss of £267 (very unlikely) they've got no right to sting you for that much.

3. Presumably there's nothing to stop you from telling FD that you've decided to close your credit card account. They will then be legally obliged to pay you the outstanding balance without any deduction.

MarkyMarkD

First Direct were the recipient of the funds, so it wasn't them who made the payment, Helen.

Why not get an Egg Card (if you haven't already), then do a balance transfer from the FD Card to the Egg Card for the £13,350, then do a balance transfer from the Egg Card to your current account?

Then you don't need FD to transfer the funds and they shouldn't charge you the 2%.

Clariman

Gateway wrote:

I've been reading up on Stoozing and thought I'd try my hand by applying for a new credit card and sending the BT to my First Direct credit card (which was debt free).

Unfortunately, I've just had my knuckles rapped and First Direct have informed me that I will be charged a 2% fee to transfer this balance to my cheque account which works out at £267 and that this BT was illegal.

Is there any way around this or do I just have to pay this fee??

Firstly, read your Ts & Cs carefully to understand where you may have contravened them ... if indeed you have. Also make sure you understand what charges the state that there will be in such circumstances i.e. when you put your card into credit and then want to move it elsewhere.

Armed with that knowledge, get back on the phone to FD and be politeness itself. If you have contravened their Ts & Cs, then you are not in a position to call the shots, so you have to play it cannily. I would say that you made a mistake by doing the BT - you did it to the wrong card. Could they return the money to you, without a fee, in whatever way is most convenient for them e.g. a cheque or .... and be prepared for this .... they may send the BT money back to your new card. This means that you will need to find another stoozing route, but at least it means you won't get hit with charges.

Understanding your credit card Ts & Cs is the first rule of stoozing. You say that you have read up on stoozing. Have you exhausted all the info available ? There is a link above to the stoozing information on this site. In addition there is a dedicated stoozing website which Martin Lewis sponsors which you can easily find by typing "Stoozing" or "Official Stoozing" into any web search engine.

Clariman

Altarf

MarkyMarkD wrote:

Why not get an Egg Card (if you haven't already), then do a balance transfer from the FD Card to the Egg Card for the £13,350, then do a balance transfer from the Egg Card to your current account?

With the new Egg cards this would still incur a 2% charge, but capped at £50.

MarkyMarkD

Good point - I've got an old Egg Card. But £50 is a lot better than £267.

smiggers

I very much doubt that FD will allow you to balance transfer the credit balance away. It is your money & I would be writing or phoning senior customer services to insist that it is repaid without penalty. I had a similar situation with an Associates card a couple of years ago and they eventually paid up.

If all else fails , use the card for spending (as they would charge you 2% , it effectively becomes a 2% cashback card).