Interest rate increased for no reason

[DStanley]

Hi All,

Got home today to find a letter from Halifax saying that they've noticed some changes on my credit history and as a result have increased my interest rate by 5% p.a.

I'm looking at my credit report now on Experian using their free trial and there is only one "negative factor", that being "You have no successfully settled non-mail order accounts".

I've not missed any payments on my credit card with Halifax in over 15 months (and even then it was because I paid a a couple of days too soon so it didn't count in the right period) and this is the only debt I have, besides a mobile phone contract and paying my car insurance monthly. I've never missed a single payment on either of these. In recent months my total debt has actually fallen after clearing a reasonable overdraft on a joint account.

Any one have any insight into to why Halifax are increasing my interest rate and is there any way I can fight the increase and keep the use of my credit card?

It only makes a difference each month of £0.42 but I object to it all the same - I've done nothing wrong but they are increasing it regardless!

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Interest rate increased for no reason

That's banks for you! In my case, MBNA increased the rate to a whopping 36% in 2009, at the time the BoE lowered the rates down to zero to stimulate the economy. There was no mention of adverse credit, just the usual "T&C change" and I'd been paying it by DD without a single missed or late payment for 15 years... :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: I pointed that out to them but their response was that that's what they charge, unless I wanted to stop using the card, in which case I'd be charged a very modest and charitable 25%! :rant: A few months later I stopped paying as I was out of work at the time (thanks to the lovely banks!) and I haven't paid since.

In most cases, the only way to pay less interest is to stop using the card, although a friend of mine claims to have been able to negotiate a lower rate, but that varies from bank to bank. They do what they want because they can! :rant: :rant: :rant:

An alternative would be to transfer your balance to a card with a lower rate of, if your recent credit history is good, you may want to look at a personal loan (rates tend to be considerably lower than most credit cards) and pay off your balance with that, said friend of mine also got one recently at 7% I think it was.

Some may disagree with this course of action because it can lead to more debt, but it all depends on how you handle it, if you max out your card again soon then it may be a recipe for disaster (I did, hence my presence on debt forums :grin.