Huge Interest Payments VERY catalogue!! HELP

[Flombay]

Huge Interest Payments VERY catalogue!! HELP

Hiya all I hope someone can offer me some advise,

I have a 'Very' catalogue that ive had for years, Ive always paid and was aware of their

interest

rates being high however they have changed their buy now pay later to something called Take 3 and the buy now pay later option leaves you payment free for a year and after that time the interest & goods value is added to your account, last year I thought ok fine no probs TILL NOW

In 3 months ive gone from having a managable ballance of £600+ with interest of £16+ to having a ballance of £2000+ and interest ranging between £200+ with apr last month being 39.7% to this month interest was £145, apr on this statement 19.9%

I asked on the phone WHY the interest changed so much and was told it was variable!!??

My minimum payments on this account are £88 & should my interest remain at £145 per month im going to have my ballance go up every month by £56 unless I can pay £223 just to cover interest & minimum payment, I cant possibly afford that

My husband is in employment but in a Debt payment plan & Im not working as we have 2 small children

To make matters worse Ive another £314 & £279 'maturing' in october & November, To opt out of god only knows how much interest on top of what I already have added to my account each month ive to pay £314 before the 16th of this month,

I cant do this I dont have the money & in addition to that would have to also pay £223, this months interest & minimum payment

I hope this is making sense, My interest could double in the next few months because of my buy now pay laters maturing so I would effectively owe them money forever and that amount would increase as would my minimum payment??

What am I to do??

Ive never had credit where the minimum payment does not include your interest, even if my interest remained at £145 for a year (which it wont) paying the minimum payment my ballance would increase by around £800....When I rang to confirm the interest I saw on my statement I said to the woman 'so if I only pay the minimum payment my ballance will go up every month and she just said well yes'

 

I hope this makes sense, Im at a loss as to what to do, am feeling very stupid at not reading the 'Terms & Conditions' but having used this catalogue for many many years without bother I just didnt think it mattered, Stupidly thought they were just Jazzing up their buy now pay later, More fool me,

Im in Scotland by the way and would really appreciate any advise

Thanks In advance

[fishtastic]

Hi Flombay,

 

This is a bit old but you may still be stuck.

 

Take 3 and BNPL are two different things;

 

Take 3 - If you pay 1/3 of your balance, you do not pay interest on the remaining debt.

 

BNPL - Delays the first payment for, say 12 months if it's 12 months BNPL. But you then get backdated interest charged if you don't pay the item off before the BNPL charge date.

 

I would guess the reason for your very variable interest charge is that you are getting BNPL items maturing.

 

For example I owe £1000, my take 3 payment is £330, if I pay that there is no interest. If I pay the minimum, and my APR is 29.9, then miniumum payment is £50 and interest charge would be £20-odd quid (say £23).

 

The big interest you are seeing is the maturing BNPL.

 

So in the example above I add a £1000 plasma TV which matured last month they are going to add interest to my account this month ~ £300 so my balance is now £2.3k and the interest is £300 + ~£23 = £323 my minimum payment is £115.

 

The month after, the interest would back down to ~£47.

 

If you have enough for this month's payment and it's larger than one of the maturing items then make a targeted payment for that item, by ringing and paying, saying that you want to make a targeted payment.

 

Cheers

 

Fish

[hilaryfrances]

yes I have been caught out by these con men as well