In January I took out a loan with Smile, the payment date of this was the 26th of each month. I sent them a message the other day asking if this could be changed to the 27th to tie in with the date my salary goes into the Smile Current account - I didn't want them to take a loan payment that took me over my O/D limit.

In previous months this hasn't been much of an issue since the 27th has fallen on a weekend so I've been paid on the proceeding Friday.

I've never had a problem amending loan payment dates, or Credit card Direct Debit dates.

Anyway, Smiles response to my question was,

Hello Mr xxx

 

I'm really sorry but we can't change the payment date on your loan.

 

The Consumer Credit Act regulates the agreement you signed when you accepted your loan. If we were to change any of the information we'd be breaking the agreement. The agreement's there to protect you and us.

 

Thanks

Could anyone clarify where I stand on this.

Thanks

Hi,

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

Thats not right, write to them again stressing that once they have given you your final answer, you will take the matter to the FOS, it won't cost you anything, but it will cost Smile a minimum of £450 for the FOS to look into the matter.

The reason why they say this is because they can't change it in their system. There's nothing stopping you physically paying the money in one day later, but what happens there is the collections systems kick in and show you in arrears every month. You'll end up with a credit report that shows a continuous line of 1's where you want 0's.

Now I believe they're right about the consumer credit act. Your agreement was signed for that date only. What they would need to do is make you sign a new agreement, but they can't, because that's a new loan and their systems probably don't want to offer you any more money and that takes customer services right out of the equation.

Your option, should you require it, is to speak to their money management team and request a consolidation loan. This will only be offered to you if you're in financial difficulty though. It doesn't affect your credit file, but it will restrict future lending as it's seen as a call for help - so no overdraft, credit card or loan until it's paid off. Not the best option but it's absolutely perfect for some people in dire straits, believe me.