pt vs rbs(mint), so close to victory...

[pt1234]

Hi all.

 

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I couldn't find anything similar.

 

Will be brief.

I am discharged bankrupt (3 years ago) who has claimed £52 credit card charges back off mint.

 

They offered £48 which I accepted providing they paid by cheque or into my current account (not with them).

 

Their next letter states that as i have an outstanding balance with them (on my credit card account that's been closed for three years) so they are applying this £48 directly to my account.

 

Wonderd if anyone else had this issue or could offer any advice on whether to take it further (it's got as far as FO, which is when they made their offer)

 

Many Thanks.

[zootscoot]

Hi PT,

 

If you still have an outstanding balance with them the chances are that the charges applied to your account are comprised in that balance. You would need to check your T& Cs to see in what order payments are applied to your account and also if you have ever paid off the balance in full after the charges were applied. If the charges are part of the outstanding balance they are quite entitled to use the offer to reduce the balance. However, if you have paid the charges you are entitled to ask for a refund provided you are up to date with all your payments.

 

All the best

 

Zoot

[pt1234]

Hi Zoot,

 

Many thanks for your response, it's much appreciated.

 

Just wish to clarify,

 

2003 opened account and transferred money to it from another card.

defaulted on a couple of payments incurring £48 in charges.

 

2004 Declared bankrupt. card debt goes to 0, account closed.

 

2007 Try and get charges, eventual offer made of £48

Send acceptance letter on condition they pay me by cheque or BACS.

 

they send letter back saying they are applying the £48 to the account even though it is closed " ..we are refunding an amount which was previously debited. It is not a compensation payment, therefore we are within our rights to apply the credit to your account...."

 

From what you are saying it seems that if I have never physically paid the charges I can't claim them.

 

With other cards I had many charges that we made while I was still making payments but the balances were never cleared, do I have a claim here?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

pt

 

[hedgey06]

PT, bankruptcy changes the rules with regards to reclaiming penalty charges on bank/credit card accounts. Any charges that were applied to your bank/credit card accounts up to the date you was declared bankrupt cannot be reclaimed. Firstly, if you included the accounts/cards in the bankruptcy then any outstanding balances would have been written off - therefore you wouldn't have paid the outstanding debts anyway.

 

Secondly, your right to reclaim is considered to be an 'asset' (albeit unrealised) at the time you was declared bankrupt. Therefore, any monies you do recover should be declared to the Official Receiver and distributed amongst your creditors (even if you're now discharged from the bankruptcy).

 

However, if you didn't include the cards in your bankruptcy petition I'd advise you to seek advice from either the Official Receiver or a qualified bankruptcy practitioner to ascertain your position. It may be that you could reclaim the charges and keep them - but I'd advise you to confirm this before attempting to reclaim them as they may be viewed as another 'unrealised asset' at the time you was declared bankrupt. If you did include the other cards in your bankruptcy petition though, I'm afraid the answer is as above................. you can reclaim the charges but you can't keep them.

[pt1234]

Hi Hedgey,

 

Thanks for the reply, it has clarified things for me.

 

Back to the drawing board I guess..

 

Thanks again.

 

pt

[hedgey06]

Hi again pt,

 

Bankruptcy is an awful experience - I know this from when my hubby went through it. You will start to see a light at the end of the tunnel soon - it just takes a little longer than we'd like.

 

You've taken the best step possible to regaining control of your finances by registering with CAG though. So don't worry, you'll find that the support on this site is excellent. Whenever you need advice or support on any consumer query/issue, just start a new thread in the relevant forum and you'll soon find yourself inundated with advice that helps you to sort things out.

 

Best of luck x