22 Mar 2015

A question about : DMP and barclaycard

Hi We have been on our DMP for 5 yrs and it is managed by Payplan. They seem ok to a point apart from trying to sell insurances etc.
To the main point, within the last week we have found out that of the 7 creditors, Barclaycard have been charging interest so the debt has nearly doubled ! Payplan say they do not normally check balances except, when it goes 40% difference between their figure and the creditors it flags up !
I know all creditors can charge interest if they wish, but why do they wish to add more burden to you when the majority are working with you.
Do you have any experience of this happening ?

Thank you

Best answers:

  • I'm with stepchange so not entirely the same but have understood that it is my responsibility to update balances as they assume interest is frozen. Have you not had any statements from bc throughout your dmp?
    I did see an earlier post similar to yours, assume a different poster, who also had thought the creditor was not charging interest, the advice then was to complain to creditor and if that fails complain to fos.
  • I'm with Payplan and I have Barclaycard as a creditor. They have always charged interest, in fact the only debt left is the interest they have added, but I have always had bills from them so knew Payplan's estimate was wrong. So not sure why you were unaware, surely they have to send at least one bill a year to you. If you had updated the remaining BC debt unfortunately Payplan would have paid them more of your monthly payment, so a win, win for BC and a loose for the creditors that do stop interest. Barclaycard must have friends in high places because no one calls them on it in the press, TV or radio. Even Martin never says anything about them.
  • Hello there, can you tell me if Barclaycard have been sending you six-monthly letters called 'arrears notices'? They have a legal requirement to do this, if they haven't been doing then they are not allowed to charge ANY interest whilst they do not adhere to this rule.
    Best wishes,
    David @ NDL.
  • Not only that, but Barclays card are subscribers to the lending code and as such are obliged to follow it.
    Doubling the debt in a DMP over time due to interest and charges is without doubt making the repayment period excessive, as it will never be paid off on those terms.
    Complain to Barclays and take them to the FOS if necessary.
    https://www.lendingstandardsboard.org...endingcode.pdf
    Quote:
  • Barclays are one of the main sponsors of PayPlan.
    Work it out for yourself.
  • Barclaycard have continued charging interest at 3% apr on my account since my DMP with Stepchange started - I've been checking the balances on my debts regularly so was aware of this.
  • I'm sure Bcard has its own rules, I have about 2k I owe them (I'm with stepchange) and they dont charge me any interest - yet vanquis charge me less than 1% x
  • We are with SC and have 2 debts with Barclaycard one quite large one and one less than Ј500.They are charging us 6.9% on both. We have received statements every month and an annual statement so have been aware of the charges from the start and have updated the balances on our monthly DMP statement. They are not the worst Marks and Spencers are charging us 24.9% and refuse to budge.
  • Barclaycard will charge interest if you are paying a good amount off your DMP. My advice would be to drop you DMP payments dramatically, stating a change in income or similar. They will probably then stop the interest and you can put the balance into a savings account, ready to make a full and final offer in the future which will also be easier if you have been paying less.
    Some may say this is dishonest but these are banks we are dealing with. You have to play them at their own game.
  • Hi there. My balance with Barclaycard is about Ј600 and I pay back Ј22.50 per month. They haven't frozen interest for me either, but they have reduced the rate to just over 1% a month. Hope you manage to get this sorted.
  • I don't rate Payplan as a good place to go for a DMP , I went to them and they said I couldn't do a DMP and then tried to get me to remortgage my house for a Ј5000 debt, I wasn't sure what to do but it seemed excessive to do a remortgage for what is not a huge debt, then when I got their paperwork with the sums on there was a discrepency between how much I would be paying them as it was more a month than I owe my creditors,so I decided not to go with them
    I then contacted Stepchange and gave them all the same details and they worked out a DMP for me straight away , I have decided not to go with them but only because I don't want to change my bank account and have a possible blip on my credit score,, I would highly reccomend them though as they were really helpful
  • I guess you know this now but even with a 'managed' DMP whether it's with Payplan, StepChange or one of the charging companies, it is so, so important to keep updating your balances every time you get a statement from a creditor. StepChange make it clear this is your duty, not sure if PayPlan make it so black and white.
    For ages, Santander charged me interest so the balance was actually going up and up but never down ... eventually they stopped interest completely (after several begging letters from me) but they're not obliged to if they're following the rules.
    Bizarrely, when my CC was with EGG, they froze interest completely but when Barclaycard took over their business they started to charge interest again - if you don't keep checking your statements it can be a surprise down the line.
    It would be worth contacting Barclaycard and asking if they'd review the interest charged or stop it altogether. Also, assuming they have your correct address, if you haven't received statements over the past few years, then you can contest the interest and charges in full as they still need to keep you updated as to the state of your debt.
Категория: