Comments

  1. John Sheldon says

    Hi I have received mail from vanquis today stating I have been refunded the amount of £10.37 for rop repayment. This makes very little sense to me as I have been paying a lot in rop for many years. I haven’t received any statements of how much rop I have paid to my refund. How do I get all this info? As this just doesn’t add up at all.

    • john sheldon says

      Hi I believe I got the card in 2013 when a member of vanquis stopped me in the street as they do. As far as I’m aware it was 39.9% and I have cleared the balance once during this time but it’s always been near the top end of balance which is £2500. Ive been paying over £20 a month in ROP for quite some time.

      To add to that I never received mail to say how much I had paid in ROP and the option to cancel it. I only found out about it when I saw these posts so only recently cancelled it.

      • Sara (Debt Camel) says

        if you have only cleared your balance once, £10.37 sounds very low.

        I suggest you go back to Vanquis at ROPRefundsTeam@email.vanquisbank.co.uk and ask how this has been calculated. At this point you may as well think whether you have a possible case for saying the ROP was mis-sold – read the “Should you complain and ask for a refund of the ROP itself?” section in the article above these comments.

      • Sara (Debt Camel) says

        Not having received the letter is a good point – add that on to your query to Vanquis.

        Also tell them you are making a Subject Access Request asking for a summary of what happened on your account every month, including the ROP charged that month, other purchases that month, any over-limit fees charged, minimum payment due and account balance, and also a copy of all letters that Vanquis have sent you.

        • John Sheldon says

          Thank you. I have asked them what you have mentioned. I don’t receive any letters from them if I’m honest. They send me text alerts or the odd mail about taking a loan with lower %. Other than that I receive nothing from them apart from the mail today regarding the refund.

  2. Nancy says

    Hi Sara

    Update on vanquis , I heard back from ombudsman and they seem to be happy with all vanquis have told them , they said if I qualify I could be elidgeable for a refund come end of August , but to be honest I’ve had it with them , as far as my account goes , I have paid this debt 5 times over , they are now phoning me every other day to ask if I can pay it off , ( it’s a pity they weren’t so keen to talk to me when I was paying ROP ) but there you go , I want to fight this further , I have never missed a payment to them and am now thinking of cancelling the direct debit and letting them chase me , they caused this debt , and as I say amounts I have paid have covered the debt 5 times over , so this is where I am just now and so unsure where to go from here .

  3. Ian R says

    It’s obvious theres been a change of strategy in working out the refunds-lots of accounts must have a lot in common-so why the big difference in refunds-also it seems people who actually complained seem to be getting more back so those who are waiting for automatic refunds judging by some of the latest comments-if this proves to be then we must ALL COMPLAIN TO VANQUIS-And to the FCA because they should be picking up details like these-sorry for moaning it just ain’t right ????????

  4. tracy hill says

    Hi sara,
    since the last post i put up i have had to contact the ombudsman as vanquis still has not closed my account despite me repeatedly asking them to and fees are still being added to my account as it has gone over the limit. not sure what else i can do but they are determined to keep adding fees and making my life difficult.

  5. Cat says

    I just received my SAR request. Full statements from 2011….2 weeks early ahead of the deadline

    • Eve says

      Hi Cat, that’s great news and hopefully you can get all your figures now. How long did it take for you to get your SAR? I requested mine on 11th June

      • Cat says

        Hi Eve. On the 21st June..I was surprised I received it so fast. Interesting to see my Apr increased from 29.8% to 39.98%. I don’t ever recall being made aware of this. My credit limit went from £500 to £2500 within a year and by 2012 I was over limit constantly. I also requested in my SAR proof when they told me about ROP fees and interest as they say they did in 2016 (my first email was in Nov 17) but they did not send me this proof. Apparently the 2016 date is when they first told us. But like a lot of people I only got notified in Nov 2017

        • Eve says

          Thanks very much for that information Cat, I’m starting to think Vanquis have a note next to my account saying “do not send anything correspondence to this address”. I’ll give them a phone tomorrow to make sure that my request was recorded on my account. I didn’t ever receive any letter or e-mail about the ROP fees and interest as I cancelled my ROP in 2015 and never heard anything about it again until I saw this article last year. They’ve also not got back to the FOS yet since the main Ombudsman’s decision about my case 2 weeks ago. Good luck with your case, I hope you get a successful result.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Your case is one of the odd ones where the Ombudsman has ordered a refund of the ROP fees and you will get the interest back directly from Vanquis – is that right?

      The refund of the ROP fees, did that stop in 2016?

  6. JB says

    According to their website FAQ’s they are compounding interest! Still no offer but I live in hope!!!

  7. Tony says

    Following a decision from an adjudicator I have been sent “evidence” that ROP fees were clearly itemised on each statement and a generic welcome letter to which they say a screenshot Vanquis sent them proves I was sent this in March 2009.
    My argument is, that 1, the ROP interest I thought was part of the card features itself and 2, I strongly disagree with receiving this “letter” as I simply would have challenged the “benefits” due to the employment benefits I had at the time (for the same reason I refused PPI from other lenders at the time).
    As soon as I was aware of the ROP benefits, in 2017, I cancelled this feature.
    Do you think I should take this argument to the ombudsman level?

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      I think this is a case worth pursuing. Reply to the adjudicator being very clear that you knew ROP was being added but you did not realise it was optional, you thought it came with the Vanquis card automatically. Deny ever receiving the generic welcome letter and point out that you had excellent employment benefits and never took out PPI because of this. And that you cancelled the ROP as soon as you became aware you could in 2017. Ask for your case to go to an Ombudsman.

      Also, phone Vanquis on 0330 099 3000 and say you want to make a Subject Access Request asking for copies of your personal information including:
      1) a summary of what happened on your card account every month, including the ROP charge that month, other purchases that month, any over-limit fees charged, minimum payment due and account balance. (Say you are happy to get a copy of all your statements if this is easier.)
      2) a copy of all letters that Vanquis have sent you.

      • Tony says

        Hi Sara,
        Many thanks, I have done exactly that, along with raising a seperate complaint for over-limit charges/SAR.
        I will update on each accordingly.

  8. Paul says

    Hello All
    I held a Vanquis Bank card from February 2006 until the end of last year and had ROP from February 2006 until January 2014. I complained towards the end of last year but was refused any refund on the 3/6 year rule.
    In January 2014 I received a booklet that was a “reminder of the features” of ROP from Vanquis on reading it I cancelled the plan and on the 5th February 2014 Vanquis wrote to me informing me I was opting out of ROP and if I’d opted out of the plan with 30 days of receiving the information on the plan “ANY PLAN CHARGES THAT YOU HAVE PAID SO FAR WILL BE REFUNDED TO YOUR ACCOUNT”.
    It was only checking my account papers last year when I paid off the account, which had been maxed to the hilt for the 11 years I had had the card, I noted that no such payment had been made.
    I’ve complained to the FOS as I feel despite the delay Vanquis should honour their letter and refund me. Seeing how it is all working out for many on this site, I’ve not much hope of any result. Does anyone else have a letter of promise of payment around 2014, have they complained?
    Good luck to all in the battle with Vanquis, I will be spreading the message with family and friends to stay well clear, I am only glad that I am no longer a customer of theirs. Thanks to Sara for all the advice and hard work.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      That’s interesting, I haven’t heard anyone else mention this letter. Yes, if that’s what it said you should expect a refund of the ROP charges!

      • Paul says

        Here is an update on my complaint to the FO Service………………………………………

        Today 27th July 2018 I received a letter from the Financial Ombudsman to inform me they would be investigating my complaint and have contacted Vanquis to obtain the information they have on my account. They inform me that it may well take up to twelve weeks to fully investigate my complaint.
        So like others, don’t just take what Vanquis have to tell you, the FOS must be inundated with complaints about Vanquis and the advice Sara at Debt Camel is giving out is some of the best around. I am sure Vanquis will stick to their guns and I will see nothing back but at least I’ve made them work for my money they refuse to return.
        I will update here when I hear anything from the FO or Vanquis.
        Good luck to everyone else who have placed complaints with Vanquis or the FOS.

  9. Lynette says

    I have sent an email of complaint to Vanquis in regards to me cancelling ROP last year and then this not actually being taken off the account
    untill i again cancelled it in February but, i have not had any acknowlgement about this complaint, is this normal?

    • Peter says

      I would chase it up , their own complaints procedure says they will send a formal acknowledgement of your complaint within five working days

  10. Peter says

    Sara,
    My wife has made a complaint with Vanquis at the start of May , they originally sent a response saying they felt it was not valid based on the 6+3 rule , we asked them to reconsider based on some extra information, does the 8 week period start again?

    They emailed (after some chasing up) to say the information had been added to the complaint review.

    So basically my question is should we wait or shall we send it to Ombudsman now as it’s more than 8 week since the original complaint?

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      The 8 weeks started at the point of her original complaint. I suggest sending it to the Ombudsman now.

      What was the extra information?

      Was she complaining that she didn’t know she had the ROP, that she knew she had it but thought it was compulsory, or that it wasn’t explained to her properly?

      • Peter says

        She was complaining because she felt she was pressured into it, the extra information was around that we felt she was not aware we feel as she suffers from PTSD and depression triggered from a very difficult birth and the increased stress/anxiety of both of our kids being disabled, at one point she could not even leave the house let alone focus on what was on her credit card statement’s said.

        We hoped not to bring those points up when we made the original complaint, as she finds talking about it increases her anxiety, but when they rejected it based on the fact she should of been aware due it being on her statements, she decided she wanted to send that extra information.
        I don’t know if she will be successful or not but it really seems they have taken advantage of her

  11. Cat says

    Just received an email saying my minimum payment is going up by £50 so its now about £190 a month.. I seriously cant afford that. Its so stressful

  12. Carey says

    Same here, Cat. I can’t just magic up an extra £50 a month. And it’s especially galling as I haven’t heard anything about my ROP interest refund.

    I put in a complaint about the ROP charges in the end via email on June 22nd as well, as I hadn’t realised it was optional till I got the letter in 2016. Not even had acknowledgement of my email.

    Still, better than Aqua, who have put my minimum payment up AND have sent me T&Cs that state they can recommend an extra payment amount on top and just take that whenever they want!

    • Cat says

      I have a complaint in with the ombudsman. I’ve just gone through all my statements and I’ve paid £2155 in ROP in total. With an Apr of 39.98%. I’m quite shocked looking back at my statements to see how badly over limit I am and being asked to pay £400 a month. This went on for years and ROP added to this. Persistent irresponsible unaffordable…. No one has a hope in hell with this cc.

      • Sara (Debt Camel) says

        Make sure the ombudsman is told that Vanquis will not be refunding over limit charges as part of its automatic refund, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/vanquis-over-limit-charges/. So it is up to each customer affected to ask for a refund of these if they have been caused by the ROP… which if you have paid a lot of ROP and rarely cleared your account balance to zero or a very low amount will typically be the case.

  13. Cat B says

    I had my case with the Ombudsman rejected on the 6+3 ruling. FOS ignored the fact that I never received a welcome pack, statements, letters or any details of ROP until an email in Nov 2017 and also that me and my brother set up our accounts at the same time (2010) from the same address and he was refunded all fees and interest. Apparently they have always sent me letters. The email I received in 2017 stated that ROP had cost me over £400 for that year. My card has always been maxed out at the limit of £3000.
    I then received an email today (not a letter) from Vanquis stating they will increase my minimum payment in August by £30. I rang and complained about this and asked about my refund as it seems unfair to increase my payments when the refund they now owe me should clear the debt. Vanquis stated my refund will be with me at the end of summer. Vanquis confirmed this would be at the end of August after my increased monthly payment. What a nightmare of a company.

  14. Village Idiot says

    I had let my card get seriously in arrears, but put it right just in time for the monthly payment. The card was blocked, the guy I spoke to after I paid it up to date pressed me to agree ro a continuous payment authority and said the card would be unblocked ‘on Friday’. This was 3 weeks ago. I’ve since made the next minimum payment. The card is still blocked and the result is there is now a few hundred pounds of avaiable credit that I can’t get. If our financial state was any less parlous I would treat this as the start of paying it off and being rid of them.

    But anyway, my treatment and the reports of increased monthly payments make me think: is there something going on whereby Vanquis are trying to get hold of some cash…..

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      The increased monthly payments are in response to the complicated “persistent credit card debt” rules announced by the regulator in February which come into effect in August. Other credit card companies charging high rates of interest may well follow suit. They are NOT an indication that Vanquis is short of cash!

      • Village Idiot says

        Hi Sara, I was being slightly facetious, though I thought I had heard that Provident had had to go looking for loans to get them through this sticky patch….

        But Vanquis are behaving very strangely with me, the account is still locked despite it being £450 below the limit. I’ve had arrears with Vanquis and others in the past, never had them shut up shop like this.

        I wonder if they are trying to effectively turn this into a repayment loan, have me pay them back and then drop me as a customer. I have a vague recolllection that I have some rights in a scenario like that?

        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          Until it’s clear what they are doing, there isn’t much point in speculating about what rights you have.

          But if you are desperate to spend the last couple of hundred pounds of credit limit on your Vanquis card, my strong suggestion is that you step back from all of this and talk to StepChange about a debt management plan. That should let your finances get on a stable footing and then hopefully any refunds, from the ROP or your other debts, will reduce your debts.

          • Village Idiot says

            Thanks Sara. Our finances are parlous in the short term (3-4 months) but not in the longer term. If we get through this short spell we will quickly become £4-500 a month better off. I think StepChange are fantastic and we have been with them previously but I don’t think it is what is needed for our situation this time around. We don’t have any defaults younger than 3 years old just now and I think going with StepChange would inevitably involve us getting some defaults registered.

  15. Cat says

    I have received all my statements. I’ve paid £2155 in ROP. My Apr 39.98%. I’m shocked at how bad my financial state is with vanquis. Looking at these statements I was over limit all the time and being asked to pay in excess of £400 at times. Persistent, irresponsible and unaffordable lending :(

  16. angela says

    Could any one tell me if they have submitted a complaint to the ombudsman via their on-line form and how long they took to acknowledge it ? I sent a complaint around May 3rd and haven’t heard anything yet. My complaint was about Vanquis not agreeing to the refund of the ROP charges , I know this has been miss-sold to me . They have sent me a disc with the “conversation” on it but I have tried everything to get it to play without success . I have also been sent a statement of ROP charged since opening account in Nov 2014 which amounts to just under £600 without any interest . My next monthly payment is £254 , £120 of which is overlimit amount which is due to the ROP and interest building up !!! I can’t wait to get rid of this card .

  17. Carey says

    On June 22nd I sent in my complaint about ROP charges to the customer relations email address, yet heard nothing back – I wasn’t expecting a decision, just an acknowledgement of my email. So yesterday I forwarded the email on to the ROP team, including my account number. They emailed me back at 7am this morning, asking for my date of birth – which I gave them – and I’ve just received an email back saying that they don’t recognise my email address as part of any Vanquis account and I am to call a number to verify my account.

    This is the email address where I get my monthly statements and any other correspondence from Vanquis, which I’ve had ever since opening an account with Vanquis, so I’m a bit hesitant to call the number in case it’s some sort of scam?!?! This is all very weird. I’d rather get everything done over email, as I then have a record of everything that’s been said.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      I am afraid if they are having trouble linking your emails to an account, the best way is to call them up and try to get it resolved. As soon as they have linked your email to your account (which honestly shouldn’t be hard as your account is open and you can offer to forward them your recent statement to prove it went to that email address) you can then ask for the rest of your complaint to be handled by email.

  18. Carey says

    Strangely, I just got a follow up email, apologising and saying that they can continue the complaint via email, with a written acknowledgement of my ROP complaint being sent to me soon. Bizarre!

    • Carey says

      Update: Had a letter back at the weekend, stating that they won’t uphold my full ROP complaint due to the 6+3 rule. They say in the letter back that I will be getting an interest refund, but they can’t tell me how much it will be, and it could arrive any time until the end of February 2019, but they’re aiming to get it done by the end of September. (by which time they will have worked out how to make the interest refunds even smaller, I’d imagine) – meanwhile my minimum payment goes up by another £50 a month.

      I’ve filled out the ombudsman’s online form and sent it, but I don’t hold out much hope. I’d imagine that the ombudsman will just agree with whatever Vanquis have said.

  19. Eve says

    Just a wee update on how things still don’t seem to be moving further forward for myself. I was expecting my SAR to be delivered today as I was told when I phoned Vanquis last week that the 30 day timescale was today and that I would receive them today. Yet again another deadline not fulfilled.

    As of today’s date still no e-mail/letter/text to inform me anything about the interest refund.

    It is now over 3 weeks since the main Ombudsman ruled on my case but there has been no update on it since. My case against Vanquis was submitted to the FOS on 3rd January and has went from Investigator to Adjudicator to Main Ombudsman to last week being told it is now with a Team Working on Vanquis Cases.

    • David London says

      So I emailed them on both the emails above.

      I was told initially all the people who were getting the interest had been emailed. I challenged this and said I definitely qualified, but not heard anything back. I then was told this:

      ‘I have spoke with the relevant department and not all customer are yet to be contacted. We have until February 2019 to contact all customer who are eligible for a refund but are hoping this will be completed by September this year.’

      So we just have to be patient to September. Whilst this is frustrating for us all, they must have one hell of a job on figuring out the amounts correctly.

      • Eve says

        Thanks David, that’s what I’ve been seeing on here from everyone that they’re getting told September if they ask, it just really irks me that even after 4 months they still haven’t issued one standard letter or text to inform all customers personally. I think it’s just as time goes on the more I get annoyed at the lack of communication.

    • Kara says

      Hi Eve. My SAR arrived a day or two after the deadline and was dated the actual day of the deadline, so they are sending the SARs out on the day by which they should be received. They’re just deliberately awkward!

      • Eve says

        Thanks very much Kara, here’s hoping I’ll get mine in a couple of days time. Fingers crossed.

  20. Natalie Barnes says

    I emailed Vanquis a week ago, asking for a full refund on ROP and interest. I received a letter today saying they had located the phone call from Aug 2013 and have admitted they didnt take all the boxes and could have done more. I will receive a refund of £866 in my next statement. Worth doing!

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Have they given a breakdown of how the £866 is calculated – ROP, Associated interest, 8% interest?

  21. Natalie Barnes says

    All they have put is:
    Repayment option plan fees and associated interest £743.90
    Charges – £24
    Notional interest 8% – £123.18
    Withheld tax amount -£24.64

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Can you ask them for a breakdown of the first line – how much was ROP and how much was associated interest?

      Notional interest – did you often clear your balance down to zero or quite low? Alos what is the interest rate on your card? and when did you open the account?

      • Natalie says

        I will contact them today.

        I had a £1,000 limit with them at 39% , i briefly paid the balance off in 2016 but soon got it back up to the limit and always paid off a minimal amount. Just checked my account and they refunded the £866 yesterday.

        • Cat says

          They used to breakdown the ROP and interest. But now they are not. I’m still awaiting mine.. I’ve paid £2155 in ROP :(

  22. Gaz says

    Hi
    Something not right with vanquis

    Credit card Barclays payment break plan refund took 1month total £1090.00

    Credit card citi payment break plan refund took
    3 weeks total £1012

    Credit card vanquis payment break plan refund took
    1 month total £500

    On vanquis they combined refund and interest together .while the other 2 put what I payed plus interest

    All 3 refunds were payment break plan fee and interest

    All 3 cards about same length of time open and credit limit and balance payments if any thing vanquis was the highest %

    All cards now closed as of 2014 claimed from 2004/6

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      I can’t comment on the Barclay and Citi refunds as am not familiar with them

      But are you saying you have made a complaint about mis-selling and Vanquis say they have refunded the ROP as well as the interest? But they haven’t given you a breakdown? When did you open the Vanquis account?

  23. Gaz says

    Dear xxxx
    YOUR COMPLAINT
    I refer to your recent communication regarding the repayment break plan

    OUR FINDINGS
    I have considered your request to have the charges for the repayment option plan to be refunded to you. I have outlined my findings below.

    Under the FCA complaint handling the rules, the FOS cannot consider complaints where:

    What you are complaining about happened more than 6 years ago.
    More than 3 years after you realised it should of realised.

    I can see that the repayment option plan was applied to your account during a call which took place xx April 2004

    Given this I have reviewed your account to check whether you had reasonable awareness of the plan, although I can see that the plan was itemised on each monthly statement I can not see evidence that you were sent a welcome pack after you opted into the repayment option plan. Without receiving this information

    Outcome

    For this reason explained above I am upholding your complaint and have refunded all repayment option plan fees, associated interest and charges applied to your account since XX April 2004

    Breakdown
    Repayment option plan fees and associated interest £389.10
    Notional interest at 8% £148
    Withheld tax amount £29

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      And you had the account until 2014? Unless you had a zero balance for most of that time, that doesn’t look right at all!

      I suggest you ask Vanquis to look at it again as the amounts look too small and ask them to provide you with the total amount you have paid in ROP fees. In addition to this, say you want to make a Subject Access Request and you would like either a copy of all your monthly statements OR a summary of each monthly statement including the balance, the ROP charged, the interest charged and any over-limit charges, also the interest rate on your card.

      • Stella says

        Hi Sara and everyone , just checked my vanquis online account tonight and shocked to see payment of 1044-50 paid in to my account . Can only be my refund . Not sure if I will get any further payment from them but wanted to let you all know as this may show that they are compounding interest again . I ran downstairs and cut up my card ! Also tomorrow I will be going to my local citizens advice bureau ( Maryhill ) with a donation by way of thanking Sara .

        • JB says

          Hi Stella, really pleased for you – does that clear your balance to zero? Maybe there will be a cheque in the post too?!! Did they send an email or anything to confirm what the payment is? I’m still waiting for mine – they sent another standard ‘we are in receipt of your complaint and we have 8 weeks to deal with it’ on 7th June? which gives them until 2nd August for the 8 weeks – hopefully that will be a refund too.

          • Stella says

            Hi JB, just spoke to vanquis on phone , total refund is to be 3030 pounds , so balance cleared and cheque for 2000 to follow . Really thought that I would either get nothing or very small amount , so please all of you stay strong and hopefully you’ll all be in my position soon.

        • jackie says

          Hi Stella, so pleased you have your refund, may I ask how long you had your account for and is this refund of ROP and interest.

          • Stella says

            Hi Jackie , I’ve had the account for 7 years in total , I’m not actually sure if it’s just interest or repayment option plan plus interest as I have had no letter or e-mail yet , although they previously rejected my claim for fees , as soon as I have any more info I will post it on here.

  24. Eve says

    Hi folks I today received my SAR and it took me a while to work out what charges were the ROP/Purchase interest charges as from June 2010-May 2011 it was detailed as Merchandise Interest and from June 2011-May 2015 there were 3 Billed Finance Charges and 1 Billed Deferred Finance Charge most months. I’ve now totalled it all up individually and my figures are:

    ROP fees : £1023.57
    ROP (purchase) interest : £330.61
    Overlimit fees : £444.00
    Default interest: £87.73

    Since cancelling the ROP in Nov 2015, I’ve only had 1 overlimit fee yet in the 5 and a half years of having the ROP I had 37 overlimit fees! I’ve already submitted a complaint about the overlimit fees and these figures in my opinion confirm that the ROP was a contributing factor. No doubt Vanquis will reject that complaint also.

  25. Bexcob says

    Hi Sara,

    My complaint was rejected because of the 6+3 ruling, which I took to the ombudsman, but on receiving my SAR, I can’t see anywhere on it that no 1 they sent me a welcome pack with the information and no 2 that there was ever a call to activate the ROP, would these reasons strengthen my case about mis-selling?

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Sorry I missed your reply.

      Yes I suggest you inform the Ombudsman that you have made a SAR to Vanquis and there is no mention in it of a Welcome pack , which you don’t recall receiving, nor of any phone call to activate the ROP.

      I also suggest you add the following:

      “I would like to bring to your attention the FCA’s recent consultation paper CP18/18 because, although that concerns PPI, it would seem to have a clear read-across to my ROP case.

      The paper concerns recurring non-disclosure (RND) of the existence of, or level of, commission on PPI. It determines that

      “RND is a kind of omission or omissions that can make a credit relationship unfair for the purposes of s140A CCA”

      And further that

      “Any complaint involving an act or omission that occurred before 6 April 2007 concerning a restricted credit agreement is not covered by our complaint handling rules where the firm concerned was not subject to the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction before 6 April 2007.10 However, any RND omission occurring on or after 6 April 2007 would bring the complaint within scope of our complaint-handling rules, even if the PPI was sold (and credit relationship entered into) before that date (provided the credit agreement is in scope of s140A CCA).”

      I think this also applies to my situation where the ROP was sold more than 6 years ago. It continued to be charged every month but it was never explained to me that this was an optional feature so this is “recurring non disclosure” and it suggests that the 6 year time limit should not apply for complaint. My statements from Vanquis never made it clear that ROP was optional and could be cancelled.”

      • Bex says

        Thanks for that Sara, I have forwarded that on to them, fingers crossed it gets me somewhere.

  26. Cat says

    I sent a SAR request off for all my statements from 2011 to date and proof of when and on what capacity they advised me of ROP and its actual cost and interest info (I only received an Email in Nov 17 which prompted me to complain, however they say it’s Nov 16 the first notified me) I got the statements 2 weeks ahead of the deadline but not the ROP info. Anyway today is deadline day and I’ve received a letter from Vanquis apologising and saying they are still trying to obtain this information? That seems so strange to me…. Should this just not be on their system…. Another waiting game. My complaint is now with the FO. I’ve paid over £2k in ROP

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Yes I would expect all that information to be on their system. It’s going to be interesting if they don’t have a record of what they sent you in 2016 – a lot of people have been saying they never received anything at that point.

      A waiting game as you say.

  27. African Queen says

    Update from Vanquis – I received this email today after chasing for an update.
    My account was from 2004 – 2013. I closed the account in 2013.

    “I am sorry that we have not been able to provide your refund as quick as we had expected. The process of refunding interest on ROP is very complex and is taking longer than we first anticipated. I understand this will be disappointing for you, but please rest assured that we are working as quickly as we can, and our number one priority is ensuring that you get the money you are owed.

    We have agreed with the FCA that all ROP Interest Refunds will have been repaid to customers by 27th February 2019. We expect to process most refunds by the end of September 2018.

    • Ross says

      Pretty much the standard reply everyone seems to be getting, which is a veiled admission of ‘We don’t really know what we’re doing, so please bear with us, whilst we scratch our heads in puzzlement’.
      When I queried mine, telling them that this didn’t relate to my current account with them, but to a closed account (which I did have ROP on), they sent me a response saying I was not due any refund on ROP, owing to my currently held account never having ROP attached to it. Well, durr, yes I have already told you that. When I further queried, about the old account, I was, basically, told ‘You’ll get it, when you get it’.
      At this rate, 27th February 2019 seems more like an aspiration than a promise.

  28. Gareth says

    Hi, so after having and paying for a granite credit card for years I have only just realised and cancelled my rop, but am curious to as were it is itemised on my annual statement, would it be listed on with purchases, and will I also be receiving a refund?

    • Eve says

      Hi Gareth

      I cancelled my ROP at the end of 2015 and up until then the ROP was itemised on the monthly statements but not on the annual statements. The annual statements up until then only showed “purchase transactions” and “interest on purchase transactions”. The ROP and ROP interest would have come under that. I’m not sure how the annual statements after that date were itemised but maybe someone else on here is able to help further. As far as I’m aware everyone is due a refund of the ROP interest only but if you think you were mis-sold the ROP and wanted to reclaim the ROP fees then you would need to send a complaint to Vanquis.

  29. Julian Williams says

    Hi there,

    I wonder if you could give me some advice please? Sorry if have put this in the wrong thread.

    I took out a Vanquis card back in 2003, and stopped paying the money I owed on the card and interest of the debt back 2010 when I got made redundant as i couldn’t afford it and let it get out of control. I did pay a large part of it off at the time, but couldn’t make the rest of the repayments as I really was struggling financially.. However, between 2003 and 2010, I was paying my regular payments and my account was kept in order. My account got passed to a debt collection agency who contact me 2 years ago and I made an arrangement with them as I want to clear my name of any bad debt and agree I owe this money, so I have been paying the balance of £1200 off. The final payments will be made at the end of September this year.

    I contacted Vanquis yesterday (18/7/2018 at around 9pm) using their “update my details” link on their website to see if I would be entitled to a refund of any interest for ROP. However, this morning, (19/07/2018, at 9.30am) they have sent me a text message saying that ROP has never been charged on my account. I was wondering do I just take their word for it or is there anything I can do confirm this? Should I ask for a SAR to double check or just accept what they say?

    Any advice you can give will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help.

    Julian.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      I haven’t heard of anyone being told they didn’t have ROP when they did, but I suppose it could happen. Did you think you did have ROP or have you no idea and were just feeling hopeful?

      On a separate matter, can I check that this debt isn’t showing on your credit record any more?

      • Julian says

        Hi Sara,

        Thank you for you reply. I was being hopeful really. I have a Tomlin order with the debt collection solicitors.

        I can’t remember having a ROP so was just checking to see.

  30. Gareth says

    Thanks for your help so far…..so having phoned Vanquis today I was informed that the rop had been applied to my account in 2013, having held the card for a number of years previous around 2006 I believe I fail to see how I would have agreed to this after so many years, I think they may have applied it as a payment holiday and written a letter along those lines, I certainly have no knowledge of a phone conversation agreeing to this, but then again my memory isn’t what it used to be. I have logged a complaint and they have the 56 days in which to resolve it but my question is should I send a sar in the meantime so I can see exactly when and how it was added just so what they tell me adds up to what has actually happened. Bit long winded….sorry. Cheers.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      yes definitely send a SAR to them. Say you want a copy of all your personal information from when you opened the account in 2003. You want everything – correspondence, records of telephone calls etc not just movements on your account.

  31. Casero says

    Ive just got my ROP Refound – £260. Card limit £3000 most of the time at limit and nerver been paid off.

  32. Ian R says

    Sara I think like lots of other people we all find it difficult to remember details of of letters and messages sent to us in the past-so suggest everybody keeps a folder with information relating to financial matters-re vanquis-then we’ll be in a position to argue the point should it occur-

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Yes that’s good advice for this complaint period – making a note of what was said in a phone call at the time is much easier.

      And if you want to know what you were sent earlier, phone Vanquis on 0330 099 3000 and say you want to make a Subject access request for a a copy of all your personal information, including monthly statements (or a summary of them) and all letters, emails and copy of phone calls.

      It will be interesting to see if in what you get back will be a copy of the letter Vanquis claim to have sent all ROP holders in late 2016/early 2017 which very few people say they received.

  33. Cat says

    I’ve still not had this info back from my SARs request. They asked for an additional 7 days as they are still tying to obtain this info. Not sure where they are obtaining it from?! Surely they had this info when they wrote to us saying refunds were paid up too Nov 16 as this is when they told me about it. Gonna call them tomorrow for an update as they have now had over the additional 7 days.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      So perhaps they never sent you this letter… these letters are “personalised” so the firm is obliged to retain a copy of them. If they didn’t, then they should refund the interest on the ROP that was charged after that mythical letter, until you did get one about a year later.

      • Cat says

        That is what I am thinking. They categorically told me, they can see that they told me in Nov 16 about ROP. But now they are ‘still trying’ to obtain this information and can’t provide it. I will post an update tomorrow from my call. I’ve got used to the fact I have to wait for the refund now but I am determined to make sure it’s correct and for the right period. I think everyone needs to do a SARS for this info, as we can’t take just what they say as fact. I’m happy I have got my statements as I can see I paid over £2.1k in the ROP fees alone, and I can also now see how unaffordable this was..for 2 years solid I was over my 3k limit and being asked to Pay £300-400 a month. Charges and ROP + interest being the sole factor.

  34. Hayley says

    Still waiting to hear back from complaint I made regarding the interest refund I got as I thought it wasn’t right and was too low, complained 12th June

    • Sam says

      Hi Hayley,

      I’m in the same boat, I’ve been on the phone to them quite a bit. They mentioned the person dealing with my complaint was on holiday and to call back later on in the week.
      My payout was low I think about £123 for the interest. When I spoke on Friday then asked for me to give them more time. When issuing a second complaint from the first one the response time should be two weeks. I submitted mine on 8 June.
      Fingers crossed they are dealing with it!!

    • Maria says

      I’m in the same boat also, I wrote to them on 7th June regarding my refund being too low then 2 weeks later to put in a SAR. Any time I contact them they tell me someone will be in touch soon…I have yet to hear anything other than the generic email!

  35. Brian Hunter says

    I phoned them yesterday and while the lady I spoke to was very pleasant she really didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. I got the standard company line that they were working all hours to resolve everyone’s problems but not to expect anything until the end of September.
    When I said that I was being asked to pay interest on a balance that obviously was not correct she just glossed over my comment and said that it would be corrected.
    She seemed to be very pleased with the fact that they had corrected 20,000 cases since February but to me that doesn’t seem like much in the way of progress when you have millions of customers.

  36. Kimberley Stewart says

    Spoke with them today.
    So they add up all the interest you have paid over the time you have had the card. Then they divide that by the amount of months you have held the card to get an average. Then they take 10% of that figure and that’s how they work it out! So mine is worked on an average of £49 a month so they say around 4 of that is interest charge for rop… however for a year and a half my monthly interest was around 130-160 a month…. cannot understand how they are calculating these refunds fairly!

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      That sounds very odd. Sorry a lot of questions….

      About the “calculation”:
      So were you given the figures for how this was worked out for you? Your average interest paid in any month was 49. So they take 10% of that and get £4 (well it should be £4.90, but let that pass for the minute). Then what do they do with this figure?

      About your account:
      When did you open the account? I assume it is still open. Have you cancelled the ROP? Have you ever cleared the balance down to zero or a very low amount? How many months was in this averaging calculation according to them?

      What refund have they offered you? Have you been told how much of this is interest and how much is 8% additional interest?

      Also were you told the date they sent you a letter in late 2016 or early 2017? If so, do you remember getting this letter? This has nothing to do with the main calculation being right or wrong, but it will affect the size of the refund.

      • Kimberley Stewart says

        They have offered me £158 had the account fron 2013 and recieved the letter in 2017. Balance on card was at £2500 and maxed out for majority until i paid off in full in 2017. I have asked for all that was discussed during phonecall to be sent out in writing along with all annual statements from when i opened account and full details on how they have reached their calculations! The woman i spoke to kept going on about averages and how based on £49 average interest amount the rop interest would be around £4 of that! When i questioned the fact that for around 18 months the minimum payment going out of my account was around £180 she said its a very difficult process to work out the exact amount of interest you would have paid on the rop… I am currently disputing the whole rop claim anyway as was sold it as part of card deal originally and it wasn’t until I received an email saying i was paying 59% interest on top of amount that i challenged it and told them to remove… and guess what…I still have rop on my card! The whole thing is corrupt and I think they are dishing out as little as possible in the hope that you will accept the offer. I certainly won’t be not for a product that I was missold. I work out their working out to be a period of 38 months but will know more when i get it all in writing… can tell it is going to be a long battle.

    • Eve says

      Hi Kimberley, I’ve just tried that calculation, as I have my SAR and all my totals for everything, and their “calculation” works out less than what my SAR says I have paid in purchase interest so it will be interesting to see what figure they try to give me as I have all my totals worked out apart from the 8% nominal which I’m guessing is just added on to the total purchase interest figure but I’m not sure how that works. I only know that my purchase interest is all for ROP as I only used my card for cash transactions.

      Have you requested your SAR? I honestly can’t believe what a mess one company can make of something. How did all the other companies manage to deal with PPI and plevin refunds yet vanquis can’t even get interest refunds correct? If they had detailed the ROP interest as such from the start then they wouldn’t be in this mess.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Vanquis have now told me that they are NOT averaging as part of the refund calculation. Apparently customer service staff are just quoting these averages to try to illustrate that the interest is lower than the ROP itself.

  37. steven boyle says

    Rop from 2012 until january this year. started 500 quid for 4 months then boom 3k limit. maxed out mostly, cleared twice. Just had refund of £140 !!! Have now slapped a SAR on them. How are they getting away with this ?

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      They are getting away with it because they haven’t yet given a detailed description of how they are doing the calculations, and no one has yet got past the 8 week point where it can go to the Ombudsman.

      In addition to your SAR request, I suggest you put in a complaint to ROPRefundsTeam@email.vanquisbank.co.uk with COMPLAINT as the title. Say you want a detailed explanation in writing as to how your refund has been calculated.

      Also if you think you have every paid over the limit fees, ask for a refund of those as well as they were caused by the ROP being treated as a purchase on your account.

      Also decide if you want to complain in addition that the ROP itself was mis-sold to you, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/vanquis-over-limit-charges/ which looks at the possible grounds some people have for doing this. You may not think any of them apply, but if one does, this is the time to ask for that.

      • Eve says

        Sara, my update on my situation is I phoned Vanquis on Monday to ask if they had considered my complaint about the overlimit charges and undisclosed commission that I sent on 14th June through resolver and then resent by e-mail to Vanquis on 16th July as they couldn’t find the first one. Again they couldn’t find a record of it and asked for another one. The lady read it then said that the non-disclosed commission only counted for PPI and that Vanquis wouldn’t look at my complaint about the overlimit fees as my case was still with the FOS and I had to contact them and speak to them about it.

        I then phoned the FOS to find out who now has my case file as it has went from invesitgator to adjudictor, then to a different investigator who rejected it, then to the Main Ombudsman who ruled for it to be looked at, and it is now currently sitting in a pile waiting for someone from the team who deal with Vanquis complaints to pick it up. She advised me to send my extra information by e-mail to the last person I spoke to and they would add it to my file.

        Everyone on the team is probably avoiding my file as it will be huge to go through with the amount of information I’ve sent them!

      • Stella says

        Hi Sara and everyone , turns out that the 3030 pounds refund I got was not just the refund of interest that we were all waiting for , got my letter and cheque yesterday . Despite refusing many times to refund my repayment option plan fees many times , it transpires that 2 days after contacting ombudsman ,vanquis overturned their previous ruling of refusing to refund me fees etcetera and decided to give me back all fees , interest , late payment fees and over limit fees . Vanquis had previously told me that ombudsman wouldn’t even look at my case as claims company had tried unsuccessfully to claim repayment option plan back for me and as I didn’t contest this back in 2015 I was out with the 6 months for appealing to ombudsman but early July I contacted them anyway as I felt I had nothing to lose and certainly wasn’t getting anywhere with vanquis , here I am 22 days later with the cheque now deposited in the bank . I wish everyone the best of luck .

  38. Eve says

    For anyone who has received their SAR they may find it hard to work out what was the purchase interest as before May 2011 it was detailed as Merchandise Interest but after May 2011 all the interest charges are just detailed as Billed Deferred Finance Charges. As I have old statements I was able to tell what amounts related to each charge. An example is :

    Billed Deferred Finance Charge : £0.04 (no idea what this was for even on statement)
    Billed Finance Charge : £2.73 (default charge interest on statement)
    Billed Finance Charge: £9.01 (purchase interest on statement)
    Billed Finance Charge: £29.88 (cash interest on statement)

    Hope this helps people get an idea of roughly what they have paid in purchase interest from the amounts on their own SAR’s as you will see your purchase interest increasing every month if you didn’t pay in full.

  39. Cat says

    A week of ringing up about my 7week old SARS and still none the wiser. They can’t provide proof they told me about ROP In Nov 16.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Is there anyone here who did get this ROP letter in late 2016? If there is, I would be interested to see a copy of it.

      • Carey says

        I got a letter and this email in November 2016. It was the first time I’d been informed of the true cost of ROP and the first time I was made aware that I could opt out

        Dear CAREY PATON

        Repayment Option Plan

        We are writing to remind you that you have previously opted in to Repayment Option Plan. Repayment Option Plan appears on your statement each month as a purchase transaction. In the last twelve months (or since you opted in to the Plan) you have been charged £xxxxx, plus any interest at your purchase rate of 39.94%. Based on your current balance of £xxxx and if you made only the minimum payments the cost for Repayment Option Plan including interest for the next 12 months would be £xxxx. The Product Guide that appears below sets out the 5 features and ‘useful things you should know’ about each feature, including illustrative pricing and how to opt out: for
        If you decide that Repayment Option Plan is no longer suitable for you, then you can opt out of the Plan at any time. Simply call us on 0330 099 3183* and we will remove the Plan from your account. This number is available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If our Customer Service team aren’t available, you can leave a message asking for the Plan to be removed. Alternatively you can click on this link and we will remove the plan from your account. We will then send you written confirmation that the Plan has been removed and you won’t be able to use any of the features from that point.

  40. Susie says

    I put in a complaint to the ombudsman in April. I have since then only received a letter confirming receipt of the complaint. I’ve just called for an update and they told me that Vanquis has made me an offer and that a letter will be in the post within the next 7-14days. I will await the letter. Has anyone else received this?
    I also called Vanquis back in May asking for details of all ROP payments made. They said they would pop it in the post. Nothing received as of yet!

    • Maria says

      Yes, I also got this. Then I got a letter from Vanquis with a breakdown and a cheque. Although I now have a new complaint in as my refund seemed very low!

  41. Andy says

    Sara,

    I’ve now recieved my SAR although I didn’t get the correspondence information just got a list of transactions. Is it too late for me to go back to them and ask for the extra information?

    My complaint was denied under the 6+3 rules so I complained to fos and I’m awaiting a response from them. Interestingly my wife also complained and hers was also rejected but the letter was worded differently by saying congratulations you are entitled to refund of rop interest them later in the letter saying complaint was Rejected , she has also applied for SAR at the same time and she hasn’t heard a thing yet.

    I’ve had Vanquis card for 13 years nearly always maxed out and at least 9 years around the £2500 limit so I was expecting a nice tidy sum in refund if compounded but I will have to wait and see as many people seem to be getting very low refunds at the moment

  42. JB says

    Hi Sara, have a look at Vanquis website they have put a calculation explanation/ description in their ROP FAQ’s.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      I have seen it, I can now see where they are going wrong in the calculations and I am writing a new article about this!

    • Eve says

      It’s a lot to read and I don’t fully understand it all just now but if you simply add all the ROP charges from the whole account, start to finish, in the first table then it totals £419.70. If purchase interest for “John’s” account was 40% APR then I work out that the purchase interest for that account would be £167.88 without even being compounded?? How they can work things out by the system they are showing just doesn’t seem to make sense at all.

  43. Andy says

    I’m sure Sara will come up with a good explanation for the way in which Vanquis are calculating the refund , however after reading the Vanquis link I’m left with a few questions

    1 how did they determine that the rop interest was paid back as the same rate as purchase interest as since we had no knowledge of the interest charged why would we have agreed to it being paid back at the same rate?
    2 the calculated interest seems to be listed as simple interest each month and not compounded for duration despite the fact it states it will pay back compounded interest
    3 they appear to have forgot that interest is charged in month 1 and paid in month 2 they’ve paid back same month fee was raised
    4 they seem to be making up figures which looks like it was done to confuse people even more, surely if the rop payment is a set 1.30 per £100 then the rate used for calculating should be the same 1.3% per month ??

    Even more confused now
    Andy

  44. Laura says

    I phoned vanquis yesterday, they told me that they are trying to pay existing customers by late summer but she said it looks like it could be Feb 19 as it was proving difficult to calculate everyone’s amounts.
    I really do give up with this lot that’s over 150 days and still they are clueless.

    • Eve says

      If they hadn’t disguised the ROP interest in amongst the purchase interest they wouldn’t be in as much trouble trying to sort it. Surely this should highlight to the FCA how wrong the whole ROP “con” was from the start. For the majority of customers there was no welcome pack, no mention of the additional interest, no disclosing of high commission, and never was it detailed on statements that the ROP was optional.

      They got off lightly with a reduced fine when they agreed to pay the interest refunds and they can’t even get that right either! Surely in this day and age there is a system that can calculate each months ROP interest from the ROP charge and then compound them all resulting in a final total for the interest refund.

      On another point I can’t believe they are still allowed to add large interest amounts onto current customers accounts despite the fact their balances should by now be lower. The interest should have been frozen on current accounts until this mess was sorted out. It’s a disgrace. Sorry for the rant but the fact that they now seem to quoting almost daily that it will be Feb 19 is getting me even more annoyed.

  45. Chris says

    I rang them today enquiring about my interest refund on my ROP! All they told me was that I was due a refund and it could take until Feb 2019!! They couldn’t tell me how much and when I would receive my money!! They denied my complaint and now they are telling me the date I requested my SAR is wrong on the email THEY SENT ME!!!!Honestly I can’t believe this company!

  46. Brian Hunter says

    Got to agree with Eve ( August 1st 10.16 ) Why are they being allowed to charge very high interest on balances which they know are wrong. I brought this up and it was shrugged off. When I phone they said quite proudly that they had done 20 k customers, at that rate it will take them till October 2020 to sort it out

  47. Susie says

    I spoke to the ombudsman yesterday for an update. She said she had a pile of offers to sending out from Vanquis. She couldn’t tell me what my total was but said I had the ‘gold offer’ of all ROP payments, interest and charges back. Sending letters out may take a couple of months! She received my offer at the beginning of July. I wait patiently…

  48. Gareth says

    So I have now received a letter from Vanquis stating that my rop was added in 2010 not in 2013 as they advised in a recent phone call, also that the last over limit text alert they sent was in 2013, I have been over my credit limit many many times since then…they are not upholding my complaint…what the next step?

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      From what you previously wrote, you have had the Vanquis card since 2006. And that you have previously told Vanquis you were in difficulty and had a payment holiday. But you do not remember being asked in 2013 (or 2010 presumably?) if you want to take ROP, I assume you don’t remember a sales call explaining its features to you or getting a Welcome Pack about the ROP.

      Not getting limit text alerts – that is a good reason to ask for a refund of the ROP payments in itself!

      You asked before if you should send Vanquis a SAR – have you had that back yet? If you haven’t, a good move at the moment would be to reply to Vanquis that you will be taking your complaint to the Ombudsman when you have had the SAR details which you requested on dd/mm/yy.

  49. Kelly says

    Hi, are the ROP payments listed on the statement? I can’t see it listed anywhere so I may not have even had it. I just have a purchase total, would it be listed separately and is it a matter of calling them and asking if I have ever paid for ROP? thanks

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      yes there should be a line every month showing what your ROP charge is. If it isn’t there, it is possible you had it earlier, but it’s pretty unlikely – you normally get the hard sell if you try to phone up and cancel it, so you would probably have remembered that.

  50. Sam says

    Hi Sara,

    I received a letter today regarding my second complaint of the interest being too low, the reply I received I really don’t understand!
    They have stated the following:
    The ROO was charged to your account during the period of Jan 2013 to Jan 2015. Interest was applied to your account from March 2013 until you repaid your outstanding balance in full in Akan 2015. Account interest due to the ROP charges was therefore refunded from the date the charge was applied until Jan 2015. The account interest applied to you two over limit charges which were applied in Jun and July 2014 was also calculated to Jan 2015.
    Following repayment of your account balance in full, notional interest at 8% simple was calculated on the refund amount of £611.02 from Jan 2015 until the refund was offered to you in May 2018. As explained in our resolution letter, income tax was deducted from the notional interest amount.

    My question to them was due to my account going from £400 limit to £2,500 in this time and I was always on my limit, this seemed to increase every 4-6 months! With some of the refund people were receding the interest was significantly higher than the charges and this now does not seem to be the case.
    Is it worth me phoning and asking them again, or just leave it and be happy that o received something back!!
    Thank you in advance!

    Sam

  51. Sam says

    Hi Sara,

    In my original letter from Vanquis they have refunded me the following:
    ROP – £452.92
    Associated Interest – £134.10
    Charges – £24
    Notional interest – £163.25
    Withheld Tax – £32.65

    I held my account from jan2013 till jan 2015 limit from £400 to £2,500 always maxed out, so you think this is reasonable or that the interest is too low.

    Thank you for your help.

    Sam

    • Maria says

      Hi Sam,

      My refund is almost exactly the same as yours only I had ROP on my account from August 2011 to July 2016. How long did it take for them to reply on your second complaint on the refund being too low? I complained weeks ago and they just keep telling me someone will be in touch!

      • Sam says

        Hi Maria,

        They actually took quite a while, my original second complaint went in on 8 June and I received a reply on 6 Aug.
        All they have done though is explain how they did this. I still think the interest part is very low!
        I’m just not very good at understanding these things that’s all.

      • Sara (Debt Camel) says

        You should have had a MUCH larger refund as you had the card for longer (unless you had much lower balances?) – it’s the interest compounding over the years that really increases the associated interest.

        • Maria McAvoy says

          My credit limit rose from £250 – £3,000 and I was always very close to my limit and at times going over. I am going to call them later to give them a push because I submitted my complaint and SAR request in June and I am yet to be contacted.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      They haven’t explained how they did the calculation, they have just given you a breakdown.

      I think the associated interest looks low but it depends how fast your balance rose over the period. What was the interest rate on your card? Have you asked for a summary of your monthly payments, showing how much ROP was charged each month and other items?

      The Notional interest, which should have been paid from the point you cleared your card, may well be right if the other figures are right.

      • Sam says

        Hi Sara,

        My card was always at the max only time there was any credit available was when they extended my limit, to which I would then stupidly use again! I believe my card is the typical 39% in which Vanquis offered!

  52. Sean says

    Hello, I’m looking for some advice please on what I can do next.
    After Vanquis rejected my complaint under the 6 + 3 rule and so refereed this to the FOS to review. The adjudicator has advised

    “Vanquis Bank Limited has contacted us to say it does not think we can look into your complaint – as they believe it was made outside the time limits set by the financial services regulator. In your case, this means they believe the complaint was made more than six years after the date of the event being complained about – and more than three years after you should reasonably been aware of the problem.” and also “Vanquis Bank Limited has stated that your statements would’ve alerted you to your cause to complain – the first of which was sent to you in March 2010”

    Th adjudicator has asked why I did not complain sooner?

    The only reason that I have is that I was not aware of the ROP and did not think it was optional. Because I did not receive any notification from Vanquis about ROP or had this explained to me by them I assumed that this was a compulsory and a mandatory card feature and was part of my credit agreement.

    Will this be OK to reply back to them?

    Many thanks
    Sean

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Try going back with this:

      “I was not aware that the ROP could be cancelled. It did NOT say this on my credit card statements from 2010. I thought it was a mandatory feature of my credit card. So I did not realise that I had a cause to complain.

      I would draw your attention to this recent FCA paper: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/consultation-papers/cp18-18-guidance-regular-premium-ppi-complaints-and-recurring-non-disclosure-commission. Although that covers PPI, it makes it clear that a failure to disclose an important fact during a sales process will amount to a “recurring non disclosure” for a credit card, so even if the original sale falls outside the set time for a complaint, the complaint should be considered if the firm continued to fail to disclose that fact. That would apply to my ROP, where it was never explained to me on the statements that I could cancel it.”

      If you have any old statements, they could be attached as evidence that they did not say the ROP could be cancelled.

      • Dawn Cumming says

        I have sent this off today to the ombudsman also, I too got this reply so will update you once I hear anything

        Thanks Dawn

  53. JB says

    I have had some contact with Vanquis recently and they now just keep stating that all refunds ‘should’ be done by Feb 2019 – not even mentioning end of summer anymore!!! Has anyone heard anything different?

    • Kara says

      I just called them. Was told that they are still hoping to get lots done by end of Summer which they consider to be Sep 30th, and that mine should be included in this (I have a zero balance but the account is still open). They also mentioned the Feb 2019 deadline but said that mine shouldn’t take that long.

  54. Susie says

    Just had all my data through from my account that I asked for over 2 months ago.
    Total ROP paid £1370!
    Account opened June 2014
    Something I have noticed. Apart from the ROP I have 3 charged every month.
    Billed finance charges
    Billed finance charges (again)
    Billed deferred finance charges.
    Anyone know what these are?
    Oh and the ombudsman emailed me and said there is an offer in the post! Nothing received yet.

    Oh, I also asked for a copy of my telephone conversation but they never sent that.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Can you ask Vanquis what those three charges are? Other people are also puzzled and they don’t seem to be explained anywhere.

      I wonder what the ombudsman will say….

      • Susie says

        I spoke to them and although a bit vague and kept telling me that their system was slow, pretty much said it’s how it’s worked out on the system and on my statement states one figure. The deferred charges are ones from the previous months spend. Every time I quizzed them they said that they couldn’t get the information due to the system being down. Seems a bit suspect to me.

    • Eve says

      Hi Susie

      I have old statements so I was able to work out what all the billed finance charges and billed deferred charges were. Here is an example of mine :-

      Billed Deferred Finance Charge : £0.04 (no idea what this was for even on statement)
      Billed Finance Charge : £2.73 (default charge interest on statement)
      Billed Finance Charge: £9.01 (purchase interest on statement)
      Billed Finance Charge: £29.88 (cash interest on statement)

      I’ve no idea what the Billed Deferred Finance charge is for but the lowest Billed Finance Charge seems to be for default charges, the middle one seems to be for purchase interest and the highest amount in my case seems to be for cash interest because I only used my card for cash transactions.

      Hope this helps you work yours out.

      • Susie says

        Thank you. Apparently the deferred part is for purchases after the statement was generated.

  55. Cat says

    I have had a Vanquis CC since July 2011 to date (£3K). My complaint was not upheld due to the 6/3 Year ruling & is currently with the FO
    After receiving the decision that my claim was not being upheld I called Vanquis and they looked into an element of my claim again.
    I received a partial ROP (only) payment back of £486, and was told that to save medalling with the interest refund they would leave this to be calculated separately as part of the separate FAC ruling. (Still not received)
    I called Vanquis to double check the period of the partial ROP I receive back & this is Nov 16 – Jan 18 (date I cancelled ROP)
    my question to Vanquis was, I would not receive the interest back for this period as part of the FAC ruling as they are only paying this up to Nov/Dec 16, & my repayment of ROP after this time frame. So it would have been completely overlooked
    The Lady I spoke understood and said she was going to calculate the interest of the ROP that I was refunded from Nov 16 – Jan 18 &
    After some thought I am now wondering when they calculate the interest for this period, will they refund it as compounded interest from when my balance was last £0. Or will they effectively just work out a calculation of interest for the period Nov 2016 – Jan 2018. I just really want to make sure I am receiving the right amount.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      it’s really hard to guess! Have you been told what the automatic refund will be? That will presumably have stopped at Dec16. At that point there will have been an accumulated ROP balance – you should be getting a refund for all the interest charged on that plus the further ROP charges.

      If they are using a version of their standard calculation, they will also be getting this wrong… see https://debtcamel.co.uk/vanquis-rop-3-refunds-wrong-complain/ for why. But if it’s worked out by hand for you it could be right.

  56. Susie says

    So this morning I have received a letter from the ombudsman. Vanquis have offered me a full refund on all ROP charges, as well as any interest on those charges. If applicable they will refund and Over limit charges. And any interest on those charges.
    In addition 8% simple interest per year if my account would of gone into positive credit.
    Doesn’t say how much. I paid £1370 in ROP. I have quite a few over limit charges resulted from that.
    Says it’s a very good offer and should accept. I do not need to do anything just wait and Vanquis will contact me within 4 weeks with a firm offer.

    • Kelly McCandless says

      Susie I was just wondering if you have received your breakdown from vanquis yet. I received same letter from ombudsman as you and vanquis would be in touch within 4 weeks. My concern was I have to accept through ombudsman within 2 weeks. I really don’t want to accept until I see there figures as there recent track record on calculations doesn’t bode well. I know what I paid in ROP I know what my interest was and I know what my over limit payments were. So I don’t understand why vanquis are not giving the ombudsman a figure. They can’t expect us to accept a blind offer.
      Kelly

      • Sara (Debt Camel) says

        Go back to the Ombudsman and say you are happy with the award BUT you are concerned that Vanquis may not calculate it correctly. Ask if you can accept now and come back and query later when you are given a figure.

        • angela says

          That is exactly what I will be doing .You cannot possibly agree to something which may not prove to be correct . Will let you know what refund I get . I have rough idea of what it may be so we shall wait and see .

        • Susie says

          Hi Sara,
          I spoke to Vanquis today. They said they sent me a letter detailing the refund 2 weeks ago. I’ve not received it. They are sending out another. I asked them to email me over the letter. They said they would but they haven’t. They stated that they paid back £1118 in ROP payments. I told them that it was incorrect. I have all my statements and it totals £1500. Total interest paid was £380 something. I await the letter with breakdown. They said if I wasn’t happy then to go back to the ombudsman, but they will agree with them.

      • Susie says

        I called both the ombudsman and Vanquis for a figure and neither would give me one. After two weeks you automatically accept. I told the ombudsman that I wanted a figure first but it seems they just want you to accept whatever and tell you it’s a very good offer and you will be silly not to accept. I received an automatic payment into my account but nothing through the post. I will call them today. Figures just don’t seem right. It’s looking as though I’ve not received any interest.

  57. Lucy says

    Sara I have received an offer from fos for a full refund of ROP, interest and any overlimit charges, however it is stated that 8% simple interest will be refunded relating to times there would have been positive credit on my account.
    I don’t really understand what this means also No mention of compounded interest

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Suppose you have cleared your account balance completely at some point. from there on there won’t be any interest being charged by Vanquis on the previous ROP, but you are still worse off because you have paid this, so from there on you get 8% simple interest on those amounts.

      The Ombudsman doesn’t need to specify compound interest, that is taken for granted.