Orge vs BC **WON**

[orge]

Right,

 

I'm having some problems with Barclaycard...

 

The balance on my card is largely (probably more than!) comprised of charges, which I am in the process of claiming back. I should really be moving a bit quicker, but I'll be honest and say I haven't made this enough of a priority.

 

They're now getting very arsey, because I've not made a payment for several months. It's currently with Mercers (I understand this is effectively still Barclaycard) but they're threatening to sell it off to a local debt collection agency. I was told that this would mean I would be unable to pursue the claim with Barclaycard. I'm certain that this is all a load of rubbish, with the intention of scaring me into making a payment.

 

I've got my CCA and SAR sorted and will send them recorded delivery this afternoon. I understand that the CCA will probably buy me some time. However, with BCard's reputation for dragging their heels, I imagine this is going to take a while... Is there anything else I can do to stop them in their tracks, or should I just let them get on with it and any mess will be sorted once my legal process is concluded?

 

Thanks,

 

James

[pjdavies2000]

The CCA will giev you at least 12 days le-way, and will force their hand. anything over the 12 days and you can stop paying anyway, until they provide the CCA.

 

For some reason BCard seem to have sped the SAR process up a bit - why, not sure, sneaky reason, almost definately!

 

Once you send the Prelim off, you could argue your card is then in dispute again, and you could stop making payments on anything under what the charges amount to.

 

Best check back again then!

 

Peter

[orge]

Thanks for the clarifitcation and info, Peter.

I'm on my way to the post office now!

 

Cheers,

 

James

[moneyhelp]

Good luck with this James - my account is with Mercers too

[orge]

Ok. CCA and SAR sent separately today. Will update once there is more info...

Thanks guys,

 

J

[orge]

Credit Card Agreement arrived back today - what a swift turn around from Barcaycard on this one. No sign of the statements yet though.

 

I guess there's nothing else I can do until they arrive?

 

J

[Ripley]

Ogre, your situation with Barclaycard is similar to my own with my HBOS visa card in that the balance is entirely made up of charges - in fact, it is by my calaculation in credit to the tune of a tenner.

My approach has been to say that I will simply regard the account as closed and let them off the tenner. I have no intention of going to court on this one.

Their response so far indicates that they haven't understood what I am doing. I am interested to see if they threaten legal action when they do; "make my day, Punk"!

I have promised not to apply for a stay!

[orge]

It's an interesting strategy and it doesn't seem like they would legally be able to force you to repay the money. However, I'd be worried about the effect it might have on your credit history. Obviously, you would be able to remove any entries later.

 

I'm actually hoping that Barclaycard will end up paying me some cash! I plan to chase them for compound interest and there are charges going back several years, so I think the bill will be more than the balance.

 

I'll subscribe to your thread and keep an eye.

Good Luck!

 

J

[moneyhelp]

Have a look at Maxine's thread - very helpful for CI.

[orge]

I've just had a (standard looking) letter from Barclaycard which refuses my SAR request until they receive a cheque for £10... I'm absolutely certain that I included said cheque and it was correctly made out (I triple checked everything).

 

Has this happened to anyone before?

I'm pretty ****ed off, as it seems as if its simply an attempt to slow me down...

 

I guess my only option is to send this again, but is there anyway I can ensure they won't do this again?

 

Thanks,

 

J

[pjdavies2000]

Staple the cheque to the letter, and write the cheque number on the letter.

 

For example, ...I enclose a cheque for £10, cheque number 12345, as per, bla bla bla...

 

There's not much else you can do!

 

Peter

[orge]

Ok.

 

I've finally got the statements from Barclaycard and, after charges, it looks as if my account will be in credit by £540.

 

I've spoken Mercers this evening and explained the situation. As before, they told porky's and threatened me - they're trying to transfer the debt to a third party. I told them that I would be quite happy to go to court and informed them that I would be sending them a Letter Before Action tomorrow.

 

Before I send this, I have a couple of questions:

 

1. A substantial amount of the charges are for exceeding my credit limit (~£450). Will this mean that it is possible/likely that my claim may be stayed?

 

2. I've charged CI at 14.9%, as this is Barclaycards's nominal rate. Is this right?

 

3. I'm pretty certain that there is very little they can do to enforce this debt, but what would happen if they took me to court in the meantime?

 

4. They have only sent me statements for the last 6 years (I think there are another 4-5 years previous). What is the status with claims in excess of 6 years? I will be asking for the other records anyway, but I'm not going to hold up the rest of my claim in the meantime.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

James

[slick132]

Hi Orge,

 

First off, get your claim started to reclaim charges formally with Prelim letter claiming chgs and CI. Follow up with LBA after 14 days

 

Second, write to Mercers and tell them a/c is in dispute and there will be a pay't due TO YOU when your claim is settled.

 

Tell them, if they continue to bombard you with calls and harass you, they will be reported to the OFT with regard to the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines section 2.6 (a) and 2.6 (h).

 

Send copy of this letter to BC.

 

Have a read here - http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

 

Slick

[orge]

Cheers for the advice, Slick. I'll be sure to remember the OFT guidelines for any furture conversations!

 

I'm sending my LBA today, so that should stall 'em for the moment.

 

J

[slick132]

The best action is to refuse to have tel cons and ask them to put anything in writing before hanging up.

 

Slick

[orge]

Ok. Letters sent and process started!

Feels good!

 

Also, spoke to them about missing records and was given the response:

"the DPA means we don't keep records longer than 6 years"

 

The manager seemed to be a bit of her depth on this one, so I asked if she would be prepared to put that in writing and send me a certificate to verifiy it's distruction. Cue, some backtracking and an attempt to pass me to their Data Protection Team. I'm expecting them to call me back tomorrow.

 

Frankly, I don't buy this 6 years rubbish. I can't imagine any bank/credit card company rushing to destroy records (at least, not until now...!).

 

J

[slick132]

Orge, Have a read here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclaycard/50148-barclaycard-microfiche-they-wrong.html - it's from the Stickies at the top of this forum.

 

You will often be wasting your time and breath talking to the banks and they have shown, Barclays in particular, that they will ignore or lie to you unless they have a legal duty to respond.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the call back and I would put everything formally in writing.

 

Slick

[orge]

Yes, they're pretty **** for returning calls - although I did get a call back today!!??

 

I made sure that I got a direct address to write to, in case I do not hear back. However, they're not hiding behind the old microfiche argument, I'm being told that they do not keep records older than 6 years. If that's their story, I intend to get them to state that in writing (whilst reminding them that the DPA means they have to give me EVERYTHING they have on file).

 

If they have destroyed them, I'm going to demand some sort of certificate to prove when this was done. They had better have been systematically destroying them since my account started, rather than shredding the whole lot in the last few months...!

 

J

[slick132]

Orge

 

Have you read the link I gave you.

 

Slick

[orge]

I read the first couple of pages, but had missed the bit about noomill's DPA fight. V useful info, I'll be sure to raise it with them!

 

Thanks,

 

J

[orge]

Been looking again at the recommended threads and I'm getting a bit confused...

 

There have been some comments that CI is not recommended any more, but it's clear that it's fair to chase after the interest accrued on credit cards. Originally, I had plugged my charges into Vampiress's spreadsheet with Barclaycard's lending rate. This would calculate the interest on each charge as:

 

(date of claim - date of charge)/365 * charge * APR

 

This is non-compounded, but I also had a look at a compounded calculation (adds about £100 to my claim). However, I then had a look at the "advanced" interest calculator and that's when things got really bad...

 

I can understand that this is attempting to apportion the interest based on the outstanding charges, balance and interest paid. However, it doesn't seem to work properly if your balance gets cleared (it also leaves my claim ~£200 down!). I was wondering which of these methods people are actually using/recommend?

 

Thanks,

 

J

[slick132]

I'll leave this to Noomill or others.

[noomill060]

orge- out of interest, what did your CCA consist of?

 

Was it simply the application form you completed at the time you asked for a Barclaycard?

 

You may have been rather generous only claiming CI at 14.9%.

 

What does your CCA say the interest rate was going to be?

[noomill060]

Use this to calculate your CI using the current Barclaycard % rate.

 

Compound interest calculator

 

12 "rests" per year and 360 day year.

[noomill060]

Calculate the interest on each individual charge, from the day it was applied until todays date, or the date you want to start your claim, then add the totals up and thats the amount you have been scammed into paying and the amount you will settle for before filing your claim.

 

While you file your claim, calculate 8% simple on the total (charge + CI)from the date of each charge. This is your county court interest.

 

Add Charge+CI+County Court Interest + court fee.

 

This is your settlement figure once your claim is in the court system.