A couple incurred charges on a credit card after their bank cancelled their payments without warning

Helen Lord has been a customer of HSBC since the Seventies, but her loyalty to the bank hasn’t stopped it from treating her poorly. Her case uncovers an industry policy that could leave customers facing late payment charges and potential damage to their credit histories. In May, Helen and her husband Steve went on holiday to Australia for four weeks. The couple, from Dorset, packed their Post Office credit card, which they only use while abroad because it doesn’t charge any fees for overseas purchases. The couple assumed that, as had always been the case in the past, Post Office would collect any due amount from HSBC via a direct debit authority that they set up more than two years ago. This time, however, because the credit card had not been used since April 2013, 13 months earlier, HSBC had cancelled the direct debit due to dormancy, and the Post Office was unable to collect the outstanding payment, resulting in the credit card bill not being paid. When Mr and Mrs Lord realised the payment had failed they quickly paid the outstanding bill, but the couple had already incurred late payment fees and interest amounting to £51.....Read more here