@mbna Please Can You Give Me Advice On What To Do Regarding This MBNA CC Account

[CambridgeGuy]

Hello Forum

 

I apologise in advance if this is answered somewhere else but I cannot find it.

 

My ex-wife had a credit card with MBNA and amassed debts of £4700 on it.

 

This was 7 years ago and I have only found out today that she is still paying this debt off.

 

She is paying the minimum monthly payment which would appear to be mainly interest therefore she is never managing to reduce the amount.

 

Today for instance her latest statement stands as follows:

 

Balance from Previous Statement: £3411.06

Payment Received: £120.41 Cr

Interest Charged: £89.02

New Balance: £3379.67

 

Estimated Interest Next Statement: £77.31

 

I have no idea as to how to work out just how much interest is being charged but to me it seems that she is never going to be able to pay this off and as she is now a pensioner, I envisage her getting more and more depressed over this.

 

I would appreciate any advice you may be able to offer in how to perhaps approach MBNA to see if things could be improved.

[CambridgeGuy]

Have I asked for advice in the wrong forum or am I being impatient in hoping for suggestions?

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome. Sorry you ere missed.

 

Difficult this. As she has been paying minimum payments, there is unlikely to be any charges to reclaim however, you could send a SAR to MBNA to get a fuller picture of the account.

 

In the library (top left in green) are some letters that will help you get started in the process of getting the interest rate reduced for starters. If the bank don't know of the financial situation, they won't help.

 

Oh yes, cut the card up. This stops any temptation to spend on it.

[CambridgeGuy]

Hi silverfox

 

Thanks for your reply. After looking into this a bit more it would appear that she originally took this card out with Alliance & Leicester, but it was subsequently passed to MBNA when they got taken over by Santander. She is sure that the interest rate at the time was no more than 20% APR but it seems that since MBNA have taken it over the rate has now risen to 2.5292% per month which if I have worked it out correctly is about 36%APR.....Could they have increased the interest without ever informing her as she has no record of them doing so?

 

Also...if she has been paying the minimum every month why would they increase the interest rate and especially to this amount which seems far too high.

 

Should I get her to ask for a SAR from MBNA to find out the exact state of affairs as she does not even know if she is paying for PPI which would be of no benefit to her whatsoever.

 

Sorry to sound like a numpty, but I am a bit lost myself. I have told her to stop paying them anything until I find out a bit more information. Is this wise?

 

She has not used the card since 2005 as she did cut it up at the time!!

 

Thankyou for your help.

[citizenB]

They are indeed obliged to advise that interest is being increased, giving the customer the opportunity to close the account and repaying the outstanding balance at the old interest rate.

 

You should be able to establish if there PPI on the account by looking at the statements, it should be separately itemised. If the current statements don't show this, then you would need to obtain a Subject Access Request, mentioned by Silverfox in the previous post. This entitles you to ALL data held by MBNA in respect of your Wife's account.

 

IMHO, I would not cease payments totally, but write advising a change of financial circumstances and asking for a respite period of say 6 months. Ask them to cease adding interest during that period. Work out an affordable sum and make the first payment on the next statement.

 

I have popped a draft letter for you below. Sadly, MBNA are not the nicest of people when a customer hits a financial hiccup, so you might have to persist with this.

 

I have also attached a budget sheet, so you can work out how much she can afford to sensibly repay once priority debts have been accounted for.

 

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

Account No/Reference No: XXXXXXXX

 

Since making our previous agreement with you, my circumstances have changed considerably, resulting in my not being able to continue with the agreement previously arranged.

 

I cannot now afford the previously agreed monthly payments because [your reasons added here]. I also enclose a Personal Budget sheet which shows my total income from all sources, and the total outgoings of my household. As you can see I have no money left to make offers to my creditors.

 

In view of my current situation, would you please accept a token offer of £1.00 per month to be reviewed in X months? If interest or other charges are being added to the account, I'd be grateful if you would freeze these so that the debt does not increase. Should my circumstances improve, I will contact you immediately. In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you could send me a paying-in book / standing order form to make it easier to pay.

 

Thank you for your assistance, I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

or you could request a payment holiday..

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

Account No/Reference No: XXXXXXXX

 

Since making our previous agreement with you, my circumstances have changed somewhat, resulting in my not being able to continue with the agreement previously arranged.

 

I cannot now afford to the previously agreed monthly payments because [your reasons added here]. I also enclose a Personal Budget sheet which shows my total income from all sources, and the total outgoings of my household. As you can see I have no money left to make offers to my creditors.

 

In view of my current situation, would you please accept no payment at present, to be reviewed in six months? If interest or other charges are being added to the account, I'd also be grateful if you would freeze these so that the debt does not increase - if my circumstances improve, I will contact you immediately.

 

Thank you for your assistance, I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellens Budget Sheet.xls

[CambridgeGuy]

Sorry to be so ignorant, but if I do a SAR do I just send it to the MBNA address on the statement she receives as that is the only address I can find for them.

The address I have is: Card Services, Thyme Street, Bolton, BL11 1AZ