Change of policy for credit agreement - any lawyers in?

[TheBALDpuma]

Long story short - we took out £12k of finance on a kitchen, with a 12 month interest free agreement where if you pay everything off in the first 12 months if you pay no interest. The plan was to save as much as we can and pay the rest with a 0% credit card. Then pay that off before the end of the interested free period.

However, 7 months after we took out the finance apparently they changed their policy to not allow you to pay on credit card. They didn't inform us, they said they have only informed people as they rang up to pay by credit card.

So now we're faced with a situation we will end up entering the interest period at 7%, which is going to cost us hundreds of pounds.

Can we fight this with any legal backing to pay by card as originally planned? Or are we up st creek?

[BertBert]

what does the agreement you took out say about credit card payments and what does it say about their right to make changes?
Bert

[Cliftonite]

Apply for a Barclaycard that allows you an interest-free period on a transfer of funds to a current account. Then pay off the initial loan by cheque / debit card. HTH.

[Butter Face]

Cliftonite said:

Apply for a Barclaycard that allows you an interest-free period on a transfer of funds to a current account. Then pay off the initial loan by cheque / debit card. HTH.

This is the way round it. Cash transfer to bank, pay off with ‘cash’

[barryrs]

Does your preferred credit card provider offer a cheque book?

They will most likely charge a handling fee but could solve the problem.

[xjay1337]

TheBALDpuma said:

Long story short - we took out £12k of finance on a kitchen, with a 12 month interest free agreement where if you pay everything off in the first 12 months if you pay no interest. The plan was to save as much as we can and pay the rest with a 0% credit card. Then pay that off before the end of the interested free period.

However, 7 months after we took out the finance apparently they changed their policy to not allow you to pay on credit card. They didn't inform us, they said they have only informed people as they rang up to pay by credit card.

So now we're faced with a situation we will end up entering the interest period at 7%, which is going to cost us hundreds of pounds.

Can we fight this with any legal backing to pay by card as originally planned? Or are we up st creek?

What was originally on your credit agreement?

[TheBALDpuma]

It's gives a bunch of options to pay, including credit card. So you just take that as a given that you can pay with credit card? Taking that option off feels wrong, but they are saying because they are still offering other ways to pay they haven't done anything wrong/illegal.

Cards that's you can transfer to your current account do exist, but they all seem to have ~3% fees on the transfer. Obviously this is the option if we can't fight this, but it will mean an extra £300 we don't want to pay if we can avoid it.

[Dixy]

If when you entered in to the contract it said you can pay with a credit card they can not unilaterally move the goal posts.

[Helicopter123]

Butter Face said:

Cliftonite said:

Apply for a Barclaycard that allows you an interest-free period on a transfer of funds to a current account. Then pay off the initial loan by cheque / debit card. HTH.

This is the way round it. Cash transfer to bank, pay off with ‘cash’

Just be aware that this will have a negative impact on your credit file.

[anonymous-user]

Helicopter123 said:

Butter Face said:

Cliftonite said:

Apply for a Barclaycard that allows you an interest-free period on a transfer of funds to a current account. Then pay off the initial loan by cheque / debit card. HTH.

This is the way round it. Cash transfer to bank, pay off with ‘cash’

Just be aware that this will have a negative impact on your credit file.

Why would using the money transfer card for the purpose it's been designed for affect your credit file any worse than just spending on a credit card?

[Durzel]

+1

Why would it affect your credit rating? If you're being offered it you've been pre-approved for it anyway.

[roadsmash]

TheBALDpuma said:

It's gives a bunch of options to pay, including credit card. So you just take that as a given that you can pay with credit card? Taking that option off feels wrong, but they are saying because they are still offering other ways to pay they haven't done anything wrong/illegal.

Cards that's you can transfer to your current account do exist, but they all seem to have ~3% fees on the transfer. Obviously this is the option if we can't fight this, but it will mean an extra £300 we don't want to pay if we can avoid it.

Have you tried going back to them and informing them that you still have a copy of the original agreement and it clearly states credit card payments are permitted? If not, do so, and speak to a manager.

It does sound unfair I must admit but whether you have any grounds for recourse, I’m not sure.

[Helicopter123]

Spumfry said:

Helicopter123 said:

Butter Face said:

Cliftonite said:

Apply for a Barclaycard that allows you an interest-free period on a transfer of funds to a current account. Then pay off the initial loan by cheque / debit card. HTH.

This is the way round it. Cash transfer to bank, pay off with ‘cash’

Just be aware that this will have a negative impact on your credit file.

Why would using the money transfer card for the purpose it's been designed for affect your credit file any worse than just spending on a credit card?

Using a credit card for cash is seen as an indicator of financial distress by the credit rating agencies. I’m not commenting if this is right or wrong, just making the OP aware.

[bad company]

roadsmash said:

Have you tried going back to them and informing them that you still have a copy of the original agreement and it clearly states credit card payments are permitted? If not, do so, and speak to a manager.

This.

[TheBALDpuma]

bad company said:

roadsmash said:

Have you tried going back to them and informing them that you still have a copy of the original agreement and it clearly states credit card payments are permitted? If not, do so, and speak to a manager.

This.

This is what we have done. They just said they understand, but all they can offered a 3 month extension to pay the entire balance. Or such it up and pay the interest.

The manager is calling us back within 4 working days (next Tuesday)

If the manager sticks to the same script I'm not sure what the next step is. It isn't worth seeking legal advice because we'll end up spending more than the interest we will incur. And I don't know enough to argue it's legalities.

[Jakg]

Helicopter123 said:

Using a credit card for cash is seen as an indicator of financial distress by the credit rating agencies. I’m not commenting if this is right or wrong, just making the OP aware.

A money transfer is very different to going to a cashpoint.

[bad company]

TheBALDpuma said:

bad company said:

roadsmash said:

Have you tried going back to them and informing them that you still have a copy of the original agreement and it clearly states credit card payments are permitted? If not, do so, and speak to a manager.

This.

This is what we have done. They just said they understand, but all they can offered a 3 month extension to pay the entire balance. Or such it up and pay the interest.

The manager is calling us back within 4 working days (next Tuesday)

If the manager sticks to the same script I'm not sure what the next step is. It isn't worth seeking legal advice because we'll end up spending more than the interest we will incur. And I don't know enough to argue it's legalities.

Sounds like there credit card facility has been withdrawn. I’d ask for a longer extension to allow you to pay it off without incurring interest charges. That’d put you in the position you would have been.

[Durzel]

Helicopter123 said:

Using a credit card for cash is seen as an indicator of financial distress by the credit rating agencies. I’m not commenting if this is right or wrong, just making the OP aware.

Are you basing this on any kind of knowledge or experience or is it your gut feeling?

[xjay1337]

TheBALDpuma said:

It's gives a bunch of options to pay, including credit card. So you just take that as a given that you can pay with credit card? Taking that option off feels wrong, but they are saying because they are still offering other ways to pay they haven't done anything wrong/illegal.

Cards that's you can transfer to your current account do exist, but they all seem to have ~3% fees on the transfer. Obviously this is the option if we can't fight this, but it will mean an extra £300 we don't want to pay if we can avoid it.

They cannot not accept credit card payments then.

[ElectricPics]

Durzel said:

Helicopter123 said:

Using a credit card for cash is seen as an indicator of financial distress by the credit rating agencies. I’m not commenting if this is right or wrong, just making the OP aware.

Are you basing this on any kind of knowledge or experience or is it your gut feeling?

Credit Card cash withdrawals do leave an imprint on credit files and while they don't directly affect your score, they can be seen and in combination with a credit utilisation of over 30% it will affect it.