Thread: Abbey - unfair high interest charges advice needed??

When my 0% Abbey credit card ran out in March '08 I began to pay the agreed 15.9% APR.
2 months later Abbey changed it to 19.9%.
4 months later Abbey changed it to 29.9%.


It's almost doubled from what I was originally paying.
I do owe money to other creditors which obviously shows on my credit report BUT I have NOT defaulted or missed any monthly payments to any of them.


I just read this on www.apacs.org.uk website:-

Increased transparency on risk-based repricing:
The second change will increase transparency for customers in the area of risk-based repricing. Many credit card companies use risk-based repricing to calculate the risk of lending an open-ended, unsecured line of credit to a customer whose financial position can change over time. Risk-based repricing can result in changes to the overall cost of credit to a customer. These agreed changes will ensure that customers will be notified when their interest rate is being changed as a result of risk-based repricing, and critically, if their interest rate goes up they will be given sufficient time to close their account or be offered an alternative product, where available. Credit card issuers have also agreed that they will not increase the interest rate on a card on the basis of risk during its first twelve months, or more often than six monthly thereafter. No risk-based repricing decisions will be taken after 01 January 2009 that do not comply with these principles.

We are now working to ensure these changes are built into The Banking Code so that they can be independently monitored.

This obviously came in force in Jan 2009 whereas Abbey started to hike up my interest only after 2 months in May 2008.

Does anyone know if I am able to pick Abbey up on this and try and get them to reduce my existing APR back to what it originally was in March 2008 - 15.9% since I have not defaulted or missed any payments?


Also I read somewhere else aswell that they should have given me the option to not use the card ( I've not used it since Sept '08 ), close my account and pay them back monthly over an agreed time period.

Has anyone else heard of the above??


Thanks in advance.


Enigma

Yes, this is undoubtedly an unfair practice and it is carried on not only by Abbey but by many other companies.

They rely on their contractual term which allows them to vary the contract and interest rates from time to time. However to my mind this is not a variation this is complete change in the quality of what they have promised you and so in my view this is beyond a mere contractual variation.

The problem is that it needs customers with the anger and the tenacity to bother to do something about it.

I would certainly suggest that you complain to the OT and trading standards under the CPUT regulations. This is an unfair commercial practice. They attract you to become the custom and once they have got you can they change the interest rates out of all proportion to the surrounding financial circumstance. Not only is this unfair but frankly it is quite dishonest.

My view is that it would even be worth challenging the court. He would threaten them and demand the return the excessive interest that you have paid and when they refuse you would sue them.

It would be very interesting to see what the bank had to say about it. You probably wouldn't declaiming very much money and so will be a small claims, they are very cheap claims fee and no cost penalty if you lost.

To the second part of your question -- yes they should have given you the opportunity to make an informed decision as to whether you want to continue to contract under their new conditions or whether you want to stop and simply have an opportunity to repay at the original contractual rate. What do you expect from the bank? Integrity? Fairness? Evenhandedness? Straightforward dealing? Transparency? Reasonableness? Decency? The big picture?