Barclaycard please help

[jomorie]

Good morning Caggers!

 

This is my first post here and I am nervous about posting so please forgive any mistakes. For a few weeks I have been reading the many threads regarding Barclaycard and I am hoping that someone would be kind enough as to point me in the right direction regarding my situation.

 

I have an old Barclaycard dating (from memory) to around 1989.

 

The original limit was £450.00 which of course I used, and paid by direct debit.

I paid off the amount fully and the account was stagnant for some years.

 

In 1997 I started using the card again and had no problems as I was paying monthly and not in any arrears.

 

2 years ago Barclaycard upped my limit to £3450.00 which was great (sobs in hindsight) as it eased the immediate financial burden on my family.

 

Then last year they raised the limit yet again to £5350.00.

 

Looking back I cannot understand why they did this as I had defaulted with MINT just previously

- this must have been on my credit file and I remortgaged my house to get MINT off my back and pay off the debt.

 

I have been paying Barclaycard at £150 per month (minimum payment I was told was £120) untill just recently.

 

Last summer I was so sick of Barclays charges I decided to cancel all my direct debits and finally regain control of my Barclays current account.

 

I am sure Barclays hate me and this is revenge for a successful charges reclaim by myself around 3 years ago.

 

I have since had problems with BC taking out their payments from my account,

one particular occasion they took money from my mortgage account fortunately I spotted it in time and was able to make sure I had enough funds to cover my mortgage payment.

 

My current situation is that I have set up a parachute account with another bank and am transferring all my credits and DD’s out of Barclays.

 

I last made a payment to BC in February 2011 of £164.00 ( the agreed Amount was £150.00 but on the telephone I was told the account was over the limit and I had to pay £164).

 

I am already having the honour of the pre-recorded telephone calls 3-4 times daily by BC reminding me that my account needs to be paid

however I know that anything I do pay them will just cover the interest and not make a dent in the debt.

 

I only have one years worth of charges so is it worth reclaiming them?

 

Finally please is it possible to freeze the interest on this debt as it is the interest that is crippling me.

If I can get the interest frozen how do i go about this?

 

My ideal course of action would be to get the interest frozen, and then take out a bank loan to pay off the debt.

 

I thank you in advance for your time in reading my plight and any advice you can throw my way.

 

Joanne

[dx100uk]

BC can be murder to deal with as they treat their customers very badly.

 

slick wil be along soon to help you

 

but you've done the correct things so far!

 

have aread of a few threads in this forum too

 

dx

[jomorie]

hello dx

 

I have been reading the threads and my brain is in tatters with the legal jargon - it is very intimidating and i am scared of BC and their bully-boy techniques.

 

thankyou for your kind words

 

Joanne

[rebel11]

Hi Jo

 

As DX says, Slick will advise shortly, in the meantime there are some useful links in my signature (6) (7).

[jomorie]

thanks rebel - very interested in your "debt threats" link im going to have a good read after work

[slick132]

Hi Jomorie and welcome to CAG

 

You should certainly reclaim any penalty charges on this a/c. Roughly over what period have these been charged. Do you have all your a/c statements covering any time when penalty charges were made.

 

Have a look here for letters to send to BC asking for a freeze on int't. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

However, as already said above, BC have a poor record when it comes to assisting customers who fall on hard times.

 

8)

[jomorie]

Hello Slick, thanks for the welcome and advice

penalties go back around 18 months and are still being charged monthly. I intend to draw up a plan of action using the advice here which will start with a letter requesting a freeze of interest and following that a request for the original credit agreement.

 

In the mean time im going to work through my statements ( I have most of them) and work out the interest. Thankyou again for the help!

 

Jo

[slick132]

Hi Jomorie,

 

Requesting the credit agreement may not help much these days but, for the sake of £1, do it anyway - you never know !!

 

If you just claim back the penalty charges, BC will refund them in full quickly. If you want compound interest as well, you'll have to take court action to get this. As the charges are more recent, claiming compound interest will not be as lucrative compared to older charges where compound interest over several years makes a big difference.

 

You should read the Interest Tutorial here - http://www.consumerwiki.co.uk/index.php/Interest_Tutorial

 

To see if claiming compound interest is worth the extra hassle,List all the charges from your statements and put them on this spreadsheet and see what the interest comes to. http://www.shweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/interestcalcs.xls Leave the interest rate at 29.9% just now.

 

Send the "Freeze Int't" letter, even though BC are unlikely to agree. You could also enclose a Budget Planner to show that you can only afford to pay the £xx per month just now.

 

8-)

[jomorie]

Hi to all and good morning,

I am hoping for a snippet of advice from anyone who can help regarding my barclaycard. My current situation is that I have abandoned Barclays as my account was continually raided by Barclaycard to pay interest on my debt. In the short term i am intending to take out a loan in order to pay my barclaycard off in full and get them off my back.

 

My question is this. This week i had an unexpected back payment of Tax Credits into the barclays account, and immediately Barclaycard helped themselves to £300 of it. I have just withdrawn the remaining amount before they can line their pockets again. Are they allowed to do this with Benefit payments??

 

Any thoughts that you may have would be very much appreciated. Thankyou for your time in reading this, Joanne x

[raydetinu]

yep, any monies in your account can be used to offset payments owed. it does not matter where the money comes from.

You need to change where any of your benefits are paid into ( set up new account somewhere ) and tell all the likely institutions, employer etc the new details.

BC will continue to take it and may even let you go into o/d! but should not go that far.

[slick132]

Hi Jomorie,

 

There is (theoretically) a way of safeguarding your benefits which gets paid into your account IF it is needed to pay priority debts like rent, utilities, etc. See this thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?36790-Is-the-bank-taking-your-Benefits&p=289030&viewfull=1#post289030

 

The important thing is that you put the bank on advanced warning.

 

BC are well-known for raiding a/c's using the Right to Set Off . The thread linked above is massive but a more recent and useful post is here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?36790-Is-the-bank-taking-your-Benefits&p=3434332&viewfull=1#post3434332

 

If you complain urgently to the FOS and to BC as described by Desperate Daniella, you may have a chance of getting the money refunded. But you need to act quickly.

 

[slick132]

Just had a further thought...............

 

If BC are raiding your bank a/c in this way, I assume you are not making the required monthly payments. If BC are adding penalty charges to your a/c either now or at any time in the past, you can reclaim these charges in full plus interest.

 

Also, if there's mis-sold PPI on the a/c, this can also be reclaimed.

 

Do you have all your old BC statements to check for penalty charges and/or PPI. If not, and you think there are penalties on the a/c, you can get your old staements from BC with an SAR - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?552-Data-Protection

 

[dx100uk]

THey are quick to raid

 

but also there have been many cases where barclays have returned the money just as easily.

 

fire them off that letter.

 

dx

[jomorie]

Good day to all on this forum, I am hoping someone maybe able to share some advice with me.

 

- Situation in brief- defaulted Barclay card last payment made was just under 1 year ago, then as I was sick of constant "set off" payments being thieved from my Barclays accounts I abandoned Barclays and moved all my wages dirct debits etc to another bank.

 

Barclays of course objected to this as their little gold mine pot had vanished.

 

Numerous letters and late night phone calls with their system in meltdown and Barclays Bosses scared they wont get their 3 million pound bonus if i dont pay immediately £84.00.

 

Finally I am threatened by RMA with DCA who is going to turn up on my doorstep on a wednesday - joy of joys - so i think maybe its time to tackle this and get them to depart from my life please and thankyou.

 

Ok so card itself is dating from 1986 (no PIP that i can see on the last 5 years statements) (sobs)

 

original credit limit was £500

 

I was paying nominal amounts each month since 1986 no late/ missed payments untill last year

 

The credit limit had risen to £3,500, 5 years ago and then £5,300 2 years ago - strangely enough just after i had defaulted with MINT.

 

Rip- off interest added since last year totalled the credit due at £6,800.

 

I have back statements and have estimated not much in the way of late payment fees etc maybe £300 if I'm lucky.

 

OK so I sent a SAR to Barclaycard 2 weeks ago using your template letter (very helpful thankyou)

 

I guess B/C pooped slightly as within 5 days I get contacted by RMA with a settlement figure of £2,500.

 

I am currently organising a re-mortgage for some home improvements etc so the £2,500 settlement figure to get these guys off my back and out of my life sounds enticing.

 

However the letter from RMA reads

 

" further to our recent correspondance we confirm that we act on behalf of Barclaycard plc" (they haven't bought the debt)

 

" Further to this we can advise you that Barclaycard has agreed to accept the sum of £2,500 in full and final settlement of any claims arising in relation to the Account and its outstanding balance-

 

" This means that if £2,500 is received within these offices by 30/03/2012 and then the remainder of the balance will no longer be deemed outstanding and no further action be taken against you-"

 

"Following payment of the settled sum, Barclaycard will amend your credit reference file(s) to record that the Account has been partially satisfied"

 

--Apologies to be long winded but I have a few concerns which i am hoping you may be able to clarify before i rush headlong and depart £2,500 into the nearest barclay skip.

 

Firstly no sign of my SAR do you think they will still send it? and do they have to?

 

Secondly - would i be paying RMA or Barclaycard - concerned to pay RMA if they request that

 

Thirdly the account would only bee seen as "partially" satisfied on my credit file, would that go against me in the future, and can Barclaycard still pursue me for the balance at any point in the future?

 

Lastly, I doubt my re-mortgage will be through in the next 5 days - do you think that this deadline would be extended or are Barclaycard just "trying it on" ?

 

 

Aplogies again for being grammatically inferior, and making a mountain out of a financial molehill, however I have been browsing these forums for many months and am hoping someone will be able to point my naive backside in the right direction!

 

Many thanks again for any help forthcoming

 

Joanne (wont add a signature in case Barclaycard try and lift it lol)

[citizenB]

Ok.. 1st question - yes they do have to comply with your DSAR.. within 40 calendar days. Barclayshark are however one of the worst offenders and you do have to prod them.. hard..

 

2nd question.. you should obtain from them in writing, that they will NOT pass the remainder of the balance to any other 3rd party for collection. Although I would say their statement

 

"This means that if £2,500 is received within these offices by 30/03/2012 and then the remainder of the balance will no longer be deemed outstanding and no further action be taken against you-"

does kind of cover that I think

 

and finally.. sadly, they are likely to mark your credit file.. partially satisfied or settled which means the same thing

 

Do you have access to your credit files rather swiftly.. given that the time for you to agree to this offer is by the 30th.. .. you need to see if there has been any reporting on the account.. if there hasnt been for 6 years then this account should have dropped off and I would be a little concerned that by agreeing to the settlement it will let you in for a further 6 years of a bad marker.

 

I will ask a couple of site team members who are more knowledgeable in this to look in and advise.

[jomorie]

Hi CitizenB and thanks for your time on this glorious afternoon,

 

yes I believe my credit file is already trashed as the company that I am getting the re=mortgage with, has noticed and asked about this default with Barclaycard.

 

Joanne x

[noomill060]

How far back does your collection of statements go?

 

My dealings with Sharkleycard goes back to 1985 and I know they were charging £5 for late payments/ overlimits until 1989.

 

If you have evidence of any charges dating back as far as that, the interest due back to you from just one £5 charge will wipe out a large part if not all, of the debit balance.

 

For example, a £5 charge debited to your card on 16 August 1986 is at today's date worth £3009 plus the original £5 charge.

[jomorie]

HI noomill060

 

I just nearly fell off my chair LOL

 

:OOOOOOOOOOOO i only have them going back to 08 and then i have some missing - but wow at that amount

 

maybe its microfiche time?

 

will B/C put up a battle to supply all data going back to '86?

 

might need some help to find the instructions to retrieve this data

 

thanks Joanne xx

[dx100uk]

yes get reclaiming

 

theres something fishy here

 

no-one offers a discount if they can get the full cigar

 

typically, with debts with a discount

 

its typical advise to just ignore everyone

 

theres a reason for the discount

and the end result is they'll never go near court

for a fear of counter claims.

 

you need to find out why they are offering the discount

 

i bet its charges or no legal paperwork

 

dx

[jomorie]

Hi dx and thankyou for your time.

 

Should i wait for the SAR then, see if it is only 6 years worth = then request data going back to the start of the card?

 

If so is there a different letter to send them requesting this microfiche data?

 

I have read on these forums that B/C are reluctant to supply this info going back so long

 

Joanne x

[noomill060]

Ive tried and failed to get them to provide statements older than 6 years, even complained to the ICO who have confirmed that Barclaycard dont hold data older than that.

 

Im absolutely sure that they have our statements from the 80s with purchases for 80s stuff, like rounds of pints at 80p a pint, petrol at £1.46 a gallon, Dire Straits LPs and those annoying plastic flowers that start dancing at you when you make a noise, If I knew how to extract them from Sharkleys I would have skinned them a long time ago!

[dx100uk]

await slick to pop up

 

i think we've had past data before

 

but anyway, i'd not pay anything to them

 

something smells bad

 

the sar might give us a clue

 

dx

[jomorie]

Thanks dx, will do.

 

However i know from my statements going back to 08 i dont have that much regarding late payment charges etc £300 if im lucky.

 

Would like to know why theyr in such a hurry to settle tho, especially a week after getting the SAR request!

[dx100uk]

with interest?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?330996-Latest-Spreadsheets-PPI-Claims-and-Charges-Claims-Dec-2011

 

CIsheet

 

dx

[jomorie]

I havent looked at interest yet, am awaiting SAR to come back so i can sit and have a look through.

 

will the SAR be up to the current date, or the date of last payment which is 1 year ago?