Barclaycard low limit to below balance

[ckplay]

Hi

My friend ask my a question and well I thought where better to find the answer.

Basicly Barclay card are lowering his limit from 5,000 to 4,000 but he has a balance of about 4,500 and they have give him 4 days notice.

Now my first reaction was they can not do that but after searching i think i have got it wrong they seem to do this a lot.

So my 1st question is it legal for them to lower his limit to below the balance and 2nd don't they have to give more than 4 days notice.

He is away in hong kong at the moment and there is no way he can bring the account balance down by the 15th or any time be fore end of feb.

Any suggests on what would be the best thing to do

[Pixie]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

I've heard of them lowering the limit to the balance...usually when you ask to make token payments for a while.

Has anything prompted them to lower his limit?

Someone will be along that will have more idea about this than I do (though the forum is usually quiet on a Friday night)

[ckplay]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

He makes minimum payments has for a while he has just finished uni and is starting his own biz.

His fiances have been on life support so to speak from his parents back in HK and me but all payments have been made and accounts never been in breach of any of the terms,

The email they sent listed a few items minimum payment no direct debit ( he all ways make a transfer of just over minimum but only just over the minimum)

He also so banks with them so they can see the minimum payments being sent to him and then him passing them on.

Am not surprised by them wanting to lower it as its not hard to see he would be flaging a lot of the early warning signs for defaulting.

But we have put a lot of time and effort in to making sure he keeps up with his commitments as prevention is much easier than a cure.

Just fuming that they can lower it with 4 days notice ( 3 really as the email was sent very late at night about 10pm ) and effectively take him over is limit triggering well a shit ball of utter crap that will take a monumental effort to sort out if what has happened to others is any thing to go by.

Also am not sure how fast they prosess payments but the limit will be lowerd on the 15th so in affect they have only given him one working day to being his account in line so may not even be able to prevent him going over his limit even if he could pay them.

Hopefully some one better informed than my self can shed some light on this as my bull in a china shop approach to problems is prob not the best way to go but i am a one trick bull so to speak

[PriorityOne]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

If I were him, I'd be putting in a complaint in writing as soon as possible.

They know d*mn well that this will cause problems but have either done it anyway or, lacked the common sense to look at his account first. Either way, it's no way to treat a customer.

So.... get him writing.... and if you/he would like to post it up here afterwards, we can tweak it if needed.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

They can only reduce the limit to the actual balance and NOT below the balance limit. In this case you can explain that the balance was higher than their reduced limit and as per the terms of the agreement you will only pay 3% each month. If they try and charge you or add derogatory data then you can complain to ico & FOS.

Basically they cannot demand the £500 in 4 days as under the protracted terms it is not due because he has not defaulted or given the lender cause to default/terminate hence the difference between the balance & limit is not actually due yet.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

Deja vu...?

heads up: barclaycard a bit underhand here

ps the replies in that thread are not 100% accurate. As I say, first complain to the bank then the FOS but the reporting of inaccurate data would fall under ICO but that's irrelevant at this stage until the bank or FOS agree that this was "Treating a customer unfairly"....

[ckplay]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

Yes i also spotted that.

My fear is he has a few credit cards and over draft typical student nothing massive but close to limit on most of his account just above minimum payments so on but if he was to gt a over limit or something like listed in the link you posted.

It would trigger a domino affect and wipe out his avlible credit which would remove his brething space and could end up with it all falling apart which is what we have been trying to avoid for the last 6 months +

This is debt built up over years as a student its not unmanageable and once he gets back and starts getting money coming in it will be come very easy for him to manage and reduce just makes me so angry what will happen i can see it and all the complaints in the world escalating it to regulators and so on.

all takes time to sort out no one will take responsibility and in my mind its much much worse than when they do this to ppl who have fallen behind ( not to say its justifiable to do to any one)

I can not put in to words how much this is making me angry just thinking about the damage this company is about to do to some ones life some one who has not ever breached any of there conditions not even come close and the months/years it will take to resolve once this domino starts to tumble.

We are going to try make the payment to bring it inline but not sure about time as there is in effect one working days notice. ( i hate hate this approach and feel this letting the bully's win )

To make me feel better about sending him the money and to hit back.

I think i will slap a letter before action on them demanding lots of documents and compensation of £300.

then when its refused issue the court claim will only cost £25. just so they have to pay to defend it.

I know its not constructive but am not going to let them piss about with complaints and stuff which will end in a ye sorry it was short notice hear is £20.

No dam way there actions are indefeasible and i am under no illusion i know the out come of the court action will not be in his faver but it will cost them money and that will make me feel better i will correspond like no tomorrow with there solicitors just to run up there costs.

I will make sure the case can not be classed as irresponsible to the point they could get costs.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

Woah. Issue a claim?

No chance. Absolutely wild and presumptuous.

Why would you even dream if doing something so suicidal?

[ckplay]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

I agree that it will fail in the sense that we will not get compensation or the limit reinstalled.

That's not my aim the only thing we will get is the warm feeling that we cot them money.

A bit like the Palestinians approach with there fireworks that they fire lets be honest there pointless in fact there worse than pointless it gets real missiles sent back at them.

So why do it because its something its saying yes your bigger yes your stronger and yes there is little i can do to stop you running over us like we are worthless treating us worse than a stray dog.

But we can do nothing and you Will still treat us this way or we can do something just so we can say we did what we could we did not lie down and take it we hit back and i can rest a night knowing that we did hit back

I am not trying to say this is in any way smiler to what the poor ppl of Palestine put up with but it is a tip of the hat to there approach to total domination from an unaccountable uncaring occupier.

You can take what you want but god dam it you will pay for it in some way you will pay for it

[PriorityOne]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

Niddy is right...... reign yourself in a little here if you can.

While we would all like to get sweet revenge on a myriad of companies who have shat on us from a great height, it's not wise to do it in the way you're planning.

Advice here is to issue a written complaint; which they'll be obliged to respond to.

Please don't make this situation worse by going in like some kind of gladiator. It's really not worth it.....

[ckplay]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

Yes i agree my last post was a bit OTT and as it is not my battle and as this approach is likely to have side affects it is not something i will suggest him todo.

But i stand by my attitude they fuck with ppl they then set up there systems and processes and rules for us to run around chasing them while they ignore us weeks months pass with there actions taking an ever greater toll on are lives.

When the issue is mostly something simple that has a simple commonsense answer but its cheaper to have a computer system which automates most tasks ( am not against computers ) the problem is the ppl who use it are trained to think and act like its some form of magic and if it says it on the screen its right regardless of what it says.

Like the link niddy posted the staff they admit its wrong they admit there's a mistake then say that there is no way to alter it like it's magic beyond the contorl of a mere mortal.

Then you fight and fight to get some one just to look if some one just took 5 mins to look it could be solved in no time but all you get is a template letter which has absolutely no connection to what you sent them if you get a reply at all.

The outcome after it all is £100 or something insulting even if your good you get a few grand. Thats nothing to the stress and hopelessness they make ppl feel.

Now non of this apply to me because i know better like most of you do. but think you probably found this forum because you have come up against there crap. Now think of how many ppl don't find sites like this think of how many horror story's we have not heard.

So my solution is make it cost them money make it cheaper for them to do what you want then t is to ignore you. If you push a small £300 claim to court it cost them minimum £5000 no matter what its about if you get it so you turn up in court minimum 5k and as long as there is a valid reason ( not reckless ) they can not claim costs. The bar is set so so low when it comes to a valid reason that you will never have to pay costs.

If say 5000 ppl all target one bank and issued one claim for a valid reason ( we all have many ) the bank would feel it and would take notice as it is the only part of there costs they can not control by automation its costly and they can not just ignore the claims.

my rant is over and sorry but feel better for saying it lol

[ckplay]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

I need to add even if you loss it cost them £5000 and they can not claim costs even if you loss and it only cost you £25 pound to issue the claim.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

When the issue is mostly something simple that has a simple commonsense answer but its cheaper to have a computer system which automates most tasks ( am not against computers ) the problem is the ppl who use it are trained to think and act like its some form of magic and if it says it on the screen its right regardless of what it says.

Have to agree with you there; computers have replaced the joined up thinking that used to be the norm..... resulting in a robot mentality. People are not taught to think anymore; just to DO.

[mgfboy]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

I need to add even if you loss it cost them £5000 and they can not claim costs even if you loss and it only cost you £25 pound to issue the claim.

This all sounds great in theory, but remember before tell your friend to do this, it's not your financial life that could be screwed it theirs.

Just put in the compliant, it probably just a computer cock up that can be sorted, as people have said they can't reduce the limit below the balance and make sure he keeps paying otherwise they may well default them and they dont want that.

[ckplay]

Re: Barclaycard low limit to below balance

No as said i would never suggest it to some one else who did not understand the full implications.

Just think it would not be to hard to code up a system that automated the letters and the timing just enter your details and upload any responses and just send the next one.

Just putting it all in a chain letter one two thee just like they do could even integrate it to something like imail regardless of the response send the next letter in the chain.

To standardize the templates just pick a bank say for instance Barclay and libor fix.

Every one who has had any product from them that charged interest has a valid reason to ask for compensation bury them in requests for documents they don't want us to see. Then let them print of court claim forms jut add a signature and submit it pay the £25 fee.

The reason does not matter jut that there is some reason they would sit up and notice its an abuse of the system but little they could do to stop it.

Would be truly letting them know exactly how they make us feel