Have you had an email or a letter from Vanquis saying it is refunding you some money? In late 2018 tens of thousands of people are getting these refunds.
Nice? Yes, but it may be too low…
Some people are being given tens of pounds when I think they should get hundreds. And people getting hundreds should be getting thousands!
There were no details of the refund in the email or letter sent to you, so there is no way for you to check it is accurate. I have seen many refunds across loans and credit cards and I think these ROP refunds look too small to be correct.
Vanquis has provided a detailed example on its website. I think there are two major problems with this example.
Vanquis don’t agree and they say that people who have queries should contact them. So it’s time to complain!
Contents
The background to these refunds
In February, the FCA told Vanquis to give refunds to a million customers who had the Repayment Option Product (ROP) for their credit cards. This is because you were charged interest on the ROP and Vanquis never explained this to you – so Vanquis should refund all the extra interest you paid.
For more details, read my article Vanquis ROP – a million customers will get refunds.
The first refunds started to be paid to customers with active Vanquis accounts in May and June. But they looked surprisingly low…
I had seen a lot of customers complain about ROP in 2017 so I knew what the refunds they had received. Those 2017 refunds also included the ROP itself – but that didn’t account for why the 2018 refunds are so much smaller.
The two problems with Vanquis’s detailed example
In August Vanquis finally published a detailed example in the FAQs. It’s here, under How is my Repayment Option Plan interest refund being calculated.
I see two major difficulties with this published example. It is possible there may be other problems as well.
1. Purchases should be repaid before ROP charges
It says:
Step 2: Once the cash balance is paid off, any remaining payment is shared between purchases and the Repayment Option Plan in proportion to their balance.
That is simply wrong.
The ROP was added to your account as though it was something you had bought with your credit card. You were then charged interest on the ROP at the normal rate on your Vanquis card.
But this extra interest was never explained to you, so the FCA says you should be refunded the interest – that is the same as saying no interest should have been charged.
The FCA’s rules (CONC 6.7.4) say that where your card balance is composed of transactions which carry different rates of interest, your monthly payment should be used to pay off the amounts with the highest interest rate first.
So your monthly payments should, in order:
- first be used to clear any cash withdrawals as they are charged at a higher rate of interest.
- then be used to repay what you bought with the card and the interest that has been added because of those – these are charged at the rate of interest of your card which may have been 39%, 49%, or even more.
- lastly be used to clear ROP and the interest that has been added because of this, because these should have been charged 0% interest.
If this is done, unless you usually repaid all or almost all of your balance every month, the amount of ROP in your balance will continue to get higher.
But in its calculation Vanquis isn’t doing this. Instead it is using some of your monthly payment to repay the ROP instead of using it all to pay off your purchases.
This may sound technical but it makes a huge difference to many people’s refunds. Compound interest at Vanquis’s high credit card interest rates adds up to a lot of money!
I think Vanquis should: rework all the calculations so that ROP (and the additional interest charged because of it) is paid off last.
2. The calculation stops too soon
The second problem is the point at which Vanquis stops the refund calculation.
Vanquis sent customers a letter or an email in late 2016/early 2017 detailing the cost of the ROP and the extra interest being charged. The FCA agreed that Vanquis didn’t have to give a refund for the extra interest charged after a customer received that email, on the grounds that the customer could have cancelled the ROP at that point.
So Vanquis says in its FAQ:
we have stopped the calculation 30 days after sending the email.
But this is unfair.
Suppose that £500 of your Vanquis balance was caused by the ROP charges. And suppose that you read this email, were horrified at the cost of the ROP, and phoned Vanquis up and cancelled the ROP.
This would have stopped your ROP problem getting any worse, but that £500 is still sitting in your balance and you are still being charged interest on it every month. Just cancelling the ROP doesn’t get rid of this accumulated ROP so you should get this ongoing interest refunded to you.
I don’t think what Vanquis is doing is in line with the FCA’s Final Notice, which – in my opinion – Vanquis has misinterpreted.
I think Vanquis should: carry on refunding all interest that relates to any ROP that was charged before the email. This should only end when the refund calculation is made. For ROP payments that were charged after the email, Vanquis doesn’t have to refund the extra interest added on these.
Vanquis don’t think there is any problem
I made these points to Vanquis. They replied:
We are confident that we are doing exactly what the FCA has required us to do in the way that they require us to do it and are complying with the letter and spirit of our regulatory obligations. We are unable to cease to follow the direction from, and agreement with, our regulator at your request. Our focus remains on completing the programme as quickly and as accurately as we can for the benefit of all of our customers. Additionally, as we have previously mentioned, the calculation for customer refunds has been verified by an independent third party to ensure that the calculation is accurate.
This is a simple denial. It doesn’t address my points about the fairness of the refund calculation at all.
How this affects your refund
If you normally repaid your balance in full, you will only get a very small or no refund. And these two calculation issues probably won’t have made a major difference to this.
But for everyone else:
- the first problem will have resulted in a refund that is much lower than it should have been;
- the second problem, ending the calculation too soon, will have affected you unless your Vanquis account was closed by late 2016/2017;
- and there is a third problem than Vanquis are not refunding overlimit charges, even though those would have been cause by the extra ROP interest – that’s not fair.
How to complain!
Look at the examples in here: Vanquis – are the refunds right? They show how some people are getting refunds which look very small compared to what would be expected.
Cancel the ROP
First, if you are still paying ROP, think about phoning Vanquis on 0330 099 3105 and cancelling it. It is very expensive and less use than PPI was…
You are being given a refund for the previous interest added, but from now on, you will still be charged all this extra interest and you won’t be able to get a refund for it!
Complain to Vanquis
Complain to Vanquis by sending an email to ROPRefundsTeam@email.vanquisbank.co.uk with COMPLAINT as the subject. You want to:
- ask them to look again at your calculation because you think it is wrong;
- ask them to refund any over-limit charges on your account; and
- tell them if you never received an email or letter in late 2016/early 2017 about the total cost of the ROP (some readers say they never had this).
At the same time, think if you have a case for saying that the ROP itself (not just extra interest, because you are going to be compensated for that) was not explained properly to you. If you think the ROP was mis-sold, then you can ask Vanquis to refund that as well.
Here is a template you can use for this email. Change it so it reflects what happened in your case.
[Add details so you can be identified: the number of your Vanquis card, your name, address, date of birth.]
I think my refund has been calculated incorrectly.
A) It says in the example on your FAQ page that you are sharing my monthly repayments between paying off purchases and paying off the ROP. This is not right – as no interest should have been charged on the ROP, the ROP should have been paid off last.
B) I understand you are saying that you sent me a letter or email in late 2016/early 2017 detailing how much I was paying for ROP.
choose one of the following three options:
EITHER
I cancelled my ROP when I got this email. But I think the refund calculation should continue after this email as I still had ROP payments and the interest charged on them accumulated in my statement balance, so you have continued to charge me interest on those.
OR
I do not think this letter was accurate. It quoted the cost for Repayment Option Plan including interest for the next 12 months but as this would have been done using your calculations, which give too low an amount for the interest, I think the letter was misleading. If I had realised the true cost, I would have cancelled the ROP. I think I should get compensation for the extra interest resulting from ROP charges after this date.
OR
I didn’t get this email or letter. So I should also get compensation for the extra interest resulting from ROP charges after this date.
C) Only if you had over limit charges:
I also want a refund of the over-limit charges that have been added to my account. If it wasn’t for the extra ROP interest, I do not think I would have exceeded the limit, so these fees should be refunded.
D) Only add this bit if you consider the ROP was mis-sold to you, giving the reason why you think this. It is better to give the reason why the ROP was mis-sold and not just say you didn’t know you had it, as it is shown on your statements. There are a couple of examples here but there could be many others depending on what was said in the sales call to you.
I am also complaining that the ROP was not correctly explained to me, because [ insert reason eg I thought it was automatically included with my card and I didn’t realise I could cancel it / I felt under pressure to accept it or I would not have been given any credit limit increases / the sales call didn’t explain that interest could be frozen on my account if I got into difficulties even I didn’t pay for ROP, if I had known this I would not have paid for the ROP.]
E) If you reject any part of this complaint, please treat this as a Subject Access Request and send me: a summary of each month’s statements showing the details needed for the ROP calculation, a copy of all the emails and letters you have sent me, and a recording of any telephone calls relating to the ROP on my account. I will need these details to send my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
If Vanquis rejects your complaint
Vanquis has eight weeks to respond to your complaint. If it is rejected, send it to the Financial Ombudsman — it their job to decide what is fair in situations like this. The Financial Ombudsman can order Vanquis to pay a larger refund if necessary.
It’s easy to do this using the Ombudsman’s online form which asks for all the details they need, such as how to contact you.
And why not add a comment to the bottom of this article? It really helps if people know that others are going through the same process.
Rich says
They may have an 8 week limit to respond but they are saying they have six months to action the claim for ROP
I have had an on going case since February and have been told it will be the end of August before it is sorted!
No amount of emailing or phoning them makes any difference to that
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you put in a complaint for the over limit charges OR to claim mis-selling this has to be handled within 8 weeks, it is not part of the automated ROP refund process.
I am aware of one person who put a complaint in two weeks ago about mis-selling who has already received a refund. NB I don’t think that will often happen but it shows that complaints are being handled separately.
Rob C says
Hi Sara, has anyone had any joy with the overlimit fees and charges due to ROP being mis sold? I complained about ROP and got refund of ROP and associated interest so am happy about that, sent off complaint about overlimit fees due to this about 4 weeks ago.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your refund of ROP and associated interest didn’t include the over limit charges? That is unusual, it normally does.
I only wrote this article a month ago, so none of these complaints have yet been replied to yet so far as I am aware.
Kirsty chapman says
I haven’t had an email and I’ve been with them for ages! I do pay the ROP, what criteria was it for people to receive the email?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Almost everyone who has paid ROP and whose account is still open will get a refund automatically. The exceptions are people who always cleared their balance every month, where no extra interest has been charged so there is none to be refunded.
Vanquis have about a million refunds to make. They are starting with people who still have an open account, but even these seem to have been going VERY slowly. One reader was told that they have made 20,000 so far so you can see there is a long way to go!
What should you do now? You could just wait for the refund to arrive and then complain.
But I suggest the first thing should be to cancel the ROP! It is incredibly expensive and not much use. If you get into financial difficulty Vanquis has to consider freezing the interest on your account anyway.
david highfield says
Has anyone received anything from this refund. All I have seen is bad comments and no set deadline dates. It looks like a lot of “fudging” to say the least
Gareth Moore says
In May, many people received a letter saying that Vanquis was sorry for the delay and was aiming to get all the refunds by the end of the summer. This was also on the website, but also saying that FCA gave them until feb 2019 to pay up. However, it looks like that the summer deadline won’t be achieved.
I called them on Friday and they said that my calculations have been done that that they have up until feb next year to do it. That summer deadline has been removed from the website too, so I think that many of us are in for a long wait.
Beverley says
Hi, I’ve never received any emails and have been with them for years. I recently paid off my outstanding balance in full and have zero balance. Still waiting for a refund. Be interesting to see what amount will refunded. Vanquis is quick to take your money and very reluctant to give it back and their interest rates are so high. I’ll close the account once they settle.
Chris says
What have the FCA said about the way they are refunding the interest?
Ian R says
I complained two weeks ago and received a letter today confirming it-it says if they can’t resolve it in four weeks they will inform me then after another four weeks I can go to fos-why don’t they get on with it and stop waffling with excuses-wish I we could sue them for gross mismanagement of our accounts – ❓❓
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sending these confirmation – 4 week still looking – 8 weeks can go to Ombudsman letters is regarded as good practice.
The 8 week time limit is set by the FCA not Vanquis. It applies to all financial complaints, including having an insurance claim rejected, or a bank not offering you a mortgage, or your pension being invested in something unsuitable.
You can sue Vanquis now if you want. Not for “gross mismanagement of your account”, but, I would guess (and you should really talk to a solicitor about this) for mid-selling the ROP leading to an credit relationship which is unfair under the Consumer Credit Act.
I don’t recommend this:
– you have to calculate how much redress you should get
– by not following Vanquis’s complaints procedure first before going to court, you may find that if you lose you have to pay Vanquis’s solicitors costs which could be huge
– if Vanquis defend the case (which I would expect) it will probably take many months to come to court. This is not a quick alternative!
– unfair relationship cases are incredibly rare. It is the sort of case that will have debt advisers and solicitors saying “ oh that looks interesting”. This is like have a hospital consultant say your medical problem is interesting – nice for them but not normally good news for you.
angela says
Good Morning Sara,
I am at my wits end trying to work out how Vanquis apply their charges each month. Everyday I am checking my husbands online credit card account with them to see if their has been any refund of the ROP interest . On the 3/8/18 he had a credit of £24 of his £3000 limit with no further payments due ( balance high due to all ROP and interest payments added on each month) . Then last night I checked again and lo and behold the statement read
05/08/18 – over limit fee £12.00
05/08/18- Purchase interest charge £127.25
05/08/18- Cash interest £0.22
05/08/18- Billed Finance charge – £0.79
please pay £112.00 now . Monthly payment due by Aug 28th £342.30
I paid £120 straight away and have emailed them to say they should at least refund the £12 over limit fee as it is not even the 5th of Aug yet ! I have also asked for update on the refund of interest as his balance will never go down at this rate . Any help to try and understand this billing will be much appreciated . ( again )
Angela
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Angela, sorry I missed your comment.
05/08/18 – over limit fee £12.00 – had he gone over the limit during the month? or the previous month? this may be charged a month in arrears? as you can tell, I am guessing here
05/08/18- Purchase interest charge £127.25 – this is the interest charged all his purchases, which includes the accumulated ROP charges, and the previous interest on all these.
05/08/18- Cash interest £0.22 – he must have taken out some cash on the card? this gets paid off first 9as the interest is higher) and it looks as though he has nearly cleared it so next month I wouldn’t expect any
05/08/18- Billed Finance charge – £0.79 – this one is a mystery. Another reader has been puzzled by this as well. Could you ask Vanquis what it is?
claire says
I had a refund of £34.00 a few weeks ago,i’ve had my card 4 years and have always paid the minimum payment. I used the template letter last friday to complain and received an email saying they would get back to me within 5 days so i am just waiting now.
Chris says
Hey,
Just received this email from ombudsman- do you think I am due a full refund of my ROP payments??
“. This is just a quick update. We have received an offer for your complaint, which includes a refund of any over-limit charges caused by your ROP. I’m in the middle of trying to get it sent out to you. But this might take a few weeks.”
Any ideas?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who knows, it’s not very clear, is it! You could ask the Ombudsman?
Do you have details of all your payments from a subject access request?
Chris says
Just waiting for it – the 30 working days is up on Friday but the woman from vanquis is disputing the date I requested it even though I have email from them.
Would you recommend I email the financial ombudsman back or just wait for the letter?
Ljc says
Hi Sara
I had a Vanquis card over 6 years ago and the outstanding debt has been passed to a debt collection agency . How do I know if I had rop on it as I can’t remember that far back and don’t have any statements etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The only way will be to ask Vanquis.
Ljc says
Ok will do thanks
Julie says
Has anyone with a closed account heard from them regarding the refunds.
I received a text saying it looks like I was due one. However have had nothing at all since??
Eve says
Hi Julie
I’ve got an open account and still had nothing via text, letter or e-mail about the refunds yet. If you phone and ask them they just say they are now aiming for September but that they have until February 2018 to refund everyone. :(
JB says
Hi Julie, I have an active account and had nothing meaningful. I have sent them three emails in the last couple of weeks with no reply – not even the standard ‘thanks we have got your email’ If you phone you just get fobbed off with the standard September speech. It will happen but unfortunately at their pace! It’s funny I am sure the FCA ruling set the Feb 2019 deadline to conclude the refund program – it seems that Vanquis are using it as a start and end date for the majority of them. Apparently they have only refunded in the region of 20K people so far and there are 1.2 million of us! Hold tight it will be sorted out :-)
African Queen says
Hello Julie,
I have a closed account – closed in 2013. I had heard nothing until I sent an email asking for an update in mid July. I have posted their response below. I guess we just have to be patient. If I get any further updates, I will post it here.
Good luck x
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.
angela says
Thank you for replying Sara I know you are very busy reading and responding to all the posts on here . I have emailed Vanquis to ask what the billed finance charge was for but as yet they haven’t responded. They have however added a £ 0.23 credit interest payment on to his account on 8th Aug , hope this isn’t his refund !!! The account goes over limit when interest charges are added . this has only happened over last couple of months as we are just making minimum payments , may need to look at increasing this as much as we can to avoid this until we get the refund to hopefully bring his account right back down again.
robert says
Is there an email address for Vanquis to send template letters to (I assume I would send the usual template letter?) please.
Regards
Rob.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If this is about ROP, the email and the template letter are in the article above these comments.
Tracy says
I had an account from 2011 until November 2017. I started with a £250 which rose to £3000. A family member paid it off a couple of times each time I ran it up again to its limit where I was only paying minimum payment, eventually the family members paid it off and I closed my account. Does this mean I will only receive a small interest refund? Also is it too late for me to ask for ROP payments to be refunded as I thought I wouldn’t be entitled to credit increases at the time. But I think if I complain now it will come back as too late? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your account was often cleared, then you may not get a large refund.
If you are saying that you thought from the sales call you had with Vanquis that you would not be approved for a credit limit increase if you didn’t take the ROP, then that would be grounds for saying the ROP was mis-sold and you should get a refund of the ROP itself, not just the extra interest. I suggest you put in a complaint now and come back here if Vanquis do reject it as being out of time.
Littlewoman says
I have just paid £1500.00 off my card and the balance is £2500.00 yet my monthly payment is now £197.00 and on the balance of £4000.00 it was £175.00, when I called and asked they said that they have raised the minimum monthly payment so that customers pay off their balance quicker and dont pay as much interest, I said that is up to the individual to pay more, I said you have only raised this to cover the losses from the large pay out due to the ROP, she didn’t respond. I have made a complaint to the financial ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Vanquis have increased their monthly payments a lot, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/vanquis-rop-refund-delays/. But they are doing this in response to the regulator’s new rules about persistent credit card debt, not because the ROP refunds are causing them losses. Increasing the minimum payments will reduce the interest you pay and so reduce Vanquis’s profits.
Have you had ROP? Do you still have it?
Gaynor says
hi Sara , could you try to explain my annual statement please :/ i never used the card at all throughout this final statement for 2017-2018 so the only purchases were ROP
purchase transactions 403.34
balance transfers 0.0
cash and cheque transactions 0.0
total 403.34
total interest
interest charged on purchase transactions 1481.10
interest on balance transfer 0
interest on cash/cheque trans 0
total 1481.10
does this mean that for 2017-2018 the interest on the ROP was 1481.10 ????????
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. You will have had a balance at the start of this year – some of this balance will be ROP fees, the rest will be things that you previously bought with the card.
So the interest that is charged each month will partly be on the ROP and partly on the other purchases – you can’t tell from that statement how much is ROP related.
If you read the article above, one of the problems with the way Vanquis is doing its refund calculation is that is isn’t keeping a fair record of how much of your balance is ROP related. It should be using your monthly payment to clear the purchases first, to minimise the interest you have to pay. But instead it is using some of each months payments to reduce the accumulated ROP charges, which will reduce the refund you get.
J says
Hi
Has anyone had any joy with New Day ltd?
Thanks
Yvonne says
I have had a email back from my complaint with Vanquis to advise that I should have known that I had a ROP by looking at my monthly statements. I didn’t even see this as only ever looked at what minimum payment I had to make. Do you think it’s worth sending to FCA?
Also queries irresponsible lending. They advised that they looked at my non mortgage commitments each time and felt this was affordable. Should they not have taken my mortgage commitments into account also? After my debt and mortgage, I was left with around £300, which then had to buy food, utilise and childcare. I was always at my limit and over often too – relying on what ever was left each month to make up my income. They increased my limit from £500 to £3500, even though they acknowledge that my ‘non mortgage’ commitments went up also. Do you think it’s worth referring to FCA over this?
They advised that I would hear back by September re: ROP interest charges.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you open your Vanquis account?
Yvonne says
Account open in 2012.
Andrew says
I recently complained to Vanquis that the true cost of the ROP was deliberately concealed which prevented me from making an informed decision as to whether to add it to my account or not. I received an acknowledgement of my complaint and a letter telling me it was not upheld, both dated the same day! I followed up with a Subject Access Request and received reams of statements, but no sign of the audio recording or transcript of the “ROP” phone call I had specifically asked for in my SAR letter. I have absolutely no confidence in the way Vanquis seems to conduct itself and have now put my complaint in the hands of the Ombudsman. I can wholeheartedly say I will be glad to see the back of Vanquis!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did you open your account?
Andrew says
I opened my account in early February 2013.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then there will be no problem with the 6 year rule and Vanquis should still have your sales call recording. I suggest you go back to Vanquis and remind them you have asked for a copy of the call recording and they haven’t sent it.
NB if you are complaining that the extra interest charged was not explained, you are not going to win this case – the automatic refund ordered by the FCA should be refunding you the additional interest cost so that is the compensation you would get for that.
But you could be saying that other parts were not properly explained to you in the sales call – eg the fact that the ROP was optional, or that if you are in financial trouble Vanquis would have to consider freezing interest even if you didn’t pay for the ROP, or something else…
Andrew says
Thanks for the pointers Sarah.
Alice says
Sara in your experience what is happening with clients who have DROs that include either open ( when they apply for the DRO) or defaulted vanquis accounts with ROP charges?
My hope would be that as the debts in moratorium are on hold but accounts defaulted , Vanquis will have to refund them something. Or are they just off setting the refund against the balance owed no matter what state the account is in? It’s not much help for those who have large balances and are in a DRO as it’s 99.9% likely going to get written off anyway. Any strategy to avoid losing the refund? Default asap? I’m guessing if the accounts are open it automatically goes to reduce the balance Have you some experience of it to advise us advisers?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The FCA’s Final notice states that people with a Vanquis account included in a DRO are excluded from the refund.
gillian says
I put in a complaint to vanquish in jan for refund of ROP they refused I sent it to the ombudsman the ombudsman asked me if I would not mind waiting as vanquish was going to refund all intrest charged on ROP and this was my main complaint I was very surprised to get a letter today from the ombudsman saying vanquish have now said they will give me a full refund of all ROP CHARGERS AND ANY INTREST THE CHARGERS ACCURED they will also refund any over limit chargers that were applied as a result of ROP chargers and intrest they say they have not worked out how much this is yet but vanquish will be in touch with me in the next four weeks to tell me how much and how they have worked it out I have had ROP since 2006 and always been at my credit limit of 1500 on my last statement in 2017 my ROP chargers were 325 pound just for that year so it should be a good refund thank you again sara
Paula says
Hi,
I have complained to Vanquis also for the ROP charges and they did not uphold my complaint.
I sent it the the ombudsman and have received today the exact same letter as you have offering a full refund of all ROP charges & 8% interest and any over limit charges. They haven’t yet calculated the figure but vanquis will be I touch within 4 weeks for the calculation.
Thanks so much for all your help Sara x
angela says
Hi Paula, I also have just had same letter with same wording from Financial Ombudsman this morning !! Delighted as Vanquis initially rejected to refund the ROP charges and were also only refunding the interest up until they sent me letter in Dec 2016 but I only received the letter outlining charges etc in Dec 2017 so I hope refund will include everything up until then . The letter does say ALL ROP charges as well as interest on them so that should mean right up until at least Dec 2017 although due to family bereavement I didn’t cancel until March 2017.
I stumbled across this site while googling the Vanquis ROP and have since then reclaimed over £10,000 in payday loan refunds, catalogue PPI and RBS PPI ( which we had no idea we had!! ) I still have a few more claims on the go and waiting to hear back from FO . An amazing site , thank you Sara ! as mentioned before I will make a donation to local citizens advice bureau once all refunds have been received . I will update on Vanquis refund as soon as I find out what that is . Fingers crossed its a decent one !!
Eve says
Hi Gillian, Paula and Angela that’s great news that you’ve all been offered full refunds, I’m really pleased for you all. I don’t think any of us would have know to pursue this without Sara’s amazing site. I see that Gillian’s account was a time-barred one, I hope you don’t mind me asking Paula and Angela but were both your cases time-barred complaints? My case has been with the FOS for nearly eight months now and was initially refused by Vanquis as being time-barred.
Angela says
No Eve , account opened Nov 2014 . I received a statement of all transactions on account and added up just under £500 of ROP charges. Every month there are 3 other deductions. Two lots of billed finance charges and one deferred finance charge . Goodness knows how they have been worked out ?!once the refund is through I will be working to clear this card and closing account with Vanquis.
Eve says
Thanks very much Angela, I was just wondering if their was a pattern yet to the full refunds. I have three lots of billed finance charges on my SAR as well as the deferred finance charge. My billed finance charges from lowest to highest amounts are for default charges, purchase interest and cash interest, I was only able to work this out due to having old statements. I hope your refund helps you clear your account as quickly as possible and well done again, it’s always great to hear of successful outcomes with this.
Kelly McCandless says
My sister and i have gone through the whole process, cancelled ROP In Jan complained to vanquis, mine was not upheld, my sister’s completely ignored. both cards maxed at £3200 & £3500. We then waited for automatic refunds (see post above June 26) . Sisters refund was £108. Sent SAR requests for both and asked for complete breakdown of calculations. Escalated both complaints to ombudsman. Yesterday my sister received letter from ombudsman to say vanquis are willing to make an offer. They will give FULL refund of ALL ROP as well as interest on this charges. They will also refund any over limit charges and interest on those in addition 8% simple interest. He says As yet vanquis have not done any specific calculations so at this stage there is no figure to refund. Ombudsman says he thinks offer is fair. She doesnt need to do anything they will be in touch within 4 weeks with breakdown and howmuch they think she is owed. She has to let ombudsman know within 2 WEEKS if she is accepting. This is the worry. With vanquis recent track record on calculations i am worried she accepts offer then vanquis come back with a ridiculous figure. Do you think ombudsman can get them to send figures before she accepts or are they playing games and only going to send figures once she accepts. As there are now three seperate threads for this company and their incompetence you can see the dilemma. I have calculated her ROP paymentsTO £936.48 from SAR. Her interest was 39.94% + 8%
Kelly
Kara says
Apologies if I’m saying stuff that others have already said. I called Vanquis today to enquire about the different entries on the list of transactions they sent as part of my SAR. My main concern is the BILLED FINANCE CHARGE which features 2 or 3 times each month. The advisor liaised with the ROP refund team & a supervisor to answer my questions. She said when there are 3 BILLED FINANCE CHARGE entries the first relates to default/missed or late payment fees and thus kind of makes sense as the amounts are generally low. The second entry relates to purchase transactions and the third to cash transactions. I asked which category the ROP interest formed part of and she said none – that was within the ROP entry. I said that the ROP entry was surely just the cost of the actual plan relating to each month’s balance but she insisted that it included the compounded interest from previous months. I can’t see how this is true as the amounts on my ROP entries seem to correlate to 1.29% of my balance.
Is this something that others have been told? I’m tempted to follow it up with an e-mail, but may wait until my refund drops. The advisor didn’t sound very sure about what she was saying so I’m not surprised by the way things are going.
Eve says
Kara, that’s definitely not true what they are telling you. They are correct with the billed finance charges being for default interest, purchase interest and cash interest. But the purchase interest charge is for purchases AND also ROP interest. I can prove that is the case as I only used my card for cash transactions and I had purchase interest charges every month that I had the ROP on my card. I was able to match my SAR exactly with the old statements I have at home hence why I can confirm what they have told you is false.
If anyone has only used their card for cash transaction then every purchase interest charge will be like mine and be solely for the ROP interest.
I hope this helps.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
” I asked which category the ROP interest formed part of and she said none – that was within the ROP entry. I said that the ROP entry was surely just the cost of the actual plan relating to each month’s balance but she insisted that it included the compounded interest from previous months. I can’t see how this is true as the amounts on my ROP entries seem to correlate to 1.29% of my balance.”
You are right – she was talking nonsense.
Kara says
I emailed them about it and they’ve asked if they can call me. Watch this space!
Kara says
Vanquis called me yesterday and confirmed that the advisor got it wrong. I asked how they were separating the ROP interest from the purchase interest in order to calculate refund amounts and was told that none of the people doing the calculations are customer-facing and therefore we can’t speak to them, and the ROP refund team that we can speak to don’t have the knowledge of how it’s done – wait for the letter etc.
She also said they have a backlog at the minute (what a surprise) so whilst they’re hoping to get refunds out to exciting customers by end of Sep, they can’t promise.
I’m surprised this hasn’t made it onto a consumer affairs/money programme yet.
David London says
I’d be happy with end of September. I do appreciate what a massive job it must be, and important they get it right.
Lets just hope they can make it work.
African Queen says
Hello,
I received the response below from Vanquis this week when I asked about problems with refunds. I held my account from 2004 – 2013.
Fingers crossed that those of us with closed acounts will start to hear soon x
“In some cases, the refund amounts will be low, sometimes no more than a few pence. We are refunding the amount of interest you incurred on the ROP charge and the refund is influenced by how you have managed your account. We have highlighted above the factors that may lead to a lower refund amount. If you had the ROP for a short time and did not use your card much or paid the balance in full then you may have only been charged a small amount of interest on the ROP and therefore you will receive a small refund.
The underlying methodology for the refund calculation has been agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority. It is really important to us that we refund you the right amount, so we asked an independent company to validate the calculation before we started issuing refunds to our customers”
Mumps says
Woohoo just got a refund from vanquis only owed £250 on my card got that paid off and another £680 to be sent in a cheque. Just waiting for all my other claims now ????
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this an ROP refund? Or an affordability complaint!
Ian R says
Well six months has passed not a thing has arrived-van have surpassed themselves in not how to handle a financial crisis-good job they don’t run the treasury as we’d be in the proverbial you know what-I AWARD THEM THE LEAD SPOON MONEY TROPHY FOR NON SERVICES- ❌
Dave says
Hi, I am new to all this as I’ve only (by chance) come across this ROP changes today by reading an article with Martin Lewis.
I could do with some help please. I opened a Vanquis account in 2013, I have looked at my statements today (something which I never do, and I don’t think I have ever done) I’ve noticed these ROP charges and I am mortified.
I understand this claim about ROP interest on your account, but I want the full payments for ROP back and all interest it has put on my account over the years.
I didn’t know a thing about this on my account, I didn’t sign up to it and I was never told about it. This was mis-sold to me as I never have used it and I never will!
I am reading small claims have been “rewarded”. I have been paying close to £30pm for ROP. I want it all back. Surely this cannot be as difficult as I am reading above?
I noticed my minimum payments have shot up which made me look into why, and then I’ve come across this.
So please can you give me some advice how I go about this. Thank you, Much appreciated
David says
All the information is here and on/around this site: https://debtcamel.co.uk/vanquis-refunds-168m-for-rop/
Gareth says
So after sending off a Sar with enclosed postal order all I have back is a breakdown of statements, no written or verbal contracts, no copies of letters sent or any communication by telephone, kindly sent me back a postal order for a tenner as well…I thought Vanquis were legally obliged to send this information when requested….did I do something wrong?
Ta.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
SARS have been free after GDPR come in in May.
What exactly did you ask for? And when did you open your account?
Gareth says
Opened account in 2010, in my letter I asked for all copies of contracts, Rop ect, telephone conversations. Hi had a digittalylly signed contract of opening the account online but nothing else on anything.
JB says
I have received an email after asking for an update and it simply says that the calculations are very complex and whilst we hoped we would sort them by the end of September you will receive your refund if applicable by 27th Feb 2019 because the FCA said we could!!! lol They are the biggest bunch of crooks!!!
Lucy says
Today I received an offer, roughly £600 and same for interest with notional interest around £400, I had my card from 2007 until 2013 with ROP stopping in Feb2012, I had a balance of £2000 which was paid in June 2010 with late payment and interest applied straight after. At this time I had paid almost £400 in ROP. The ROP refund is less than what I had paid with interest being charged at 47.890 at one point. I thought my refund would have been considerably larger.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lucy – can I ask some questions so I understand?
This is in response to the ombudsman@s award of a full refund: ROP, interest and overlimit charges?
Your refund has been broken down into parts – could say what each of them is?
“I had a balance of £2000 which was paid in June 2010 with late payment and interest applied straight after” does this mean your balance was cleared down to zero in 2010?
“The ROP refund is less than what I had paid” are you saying the offered refund includes an amount for ROP which is less than you paid?
Lucy says
Yes the ROP refund is slightly less..sorry i should’ve said the ROP was £350 at that time then I ran up a £3000 balance and the ROP in that was £250 I cancelled in feb 2012 but didn’t clear the card until September 2013..I don’t think I had any over limit charges but did had some late payments.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m still confused – I will email you!
Antony Footitt says
THIS WEEKS RESPONSE…
I am sorry that you have not received your refund yet. The process of refunding interest on ROP is very complex and is taking longer than we first anticipated. This is because we have focused on making sure the refunds are 100% accurate and externally verified before starting the refund process for all our customers. We have agreed with the FCA that all ROP Interest Refunds will have been paid to customers by 27th February 2019. We aim for the majority of refunds to be paid well before then but I regret that I am not in a position to give a specific date.
Thank you for your continued patience.
gillian says
hi sara after receiving letter from ombudsman on the 15th of august to say that vanquish have agreed to repay all rop chargers and intrest todayi received letter from vanquish saying I will be refunded 3300.97 it says repayment option plan fees 1002.39 associated intrest 1385.96 charges 528.00 notional intrest 480.77 tax withheld 96.15 this is after vanquish refused when I complained to them in January saying the 6 years time limit applied and it was shown on my statement so I would have been aware of it I opened my card in 2009 and cancelled the rop payments in November 2017 thanks to reading on here about it so anyone thinking you will not win your case because vanquish say it is over the 6 year time please just forward it on to the ombudsman to see what they say my limit on this card was 500 for the first 3 years raising to 1500 later I am so pleased about this as I was really complaing about not knowing that it was charging me intrest every month on rop that I did not pay my balance off and would have been happy to get that back but to get all rop payments as well is a bonus thank you again sara you have really changed my life for the better it is the first time in ten years I no longer worry about money and have savings as well ps as I have not used payday loans for 18 months now my credit score is now looking a lot better
angela says
Fantastic Gillian !! I received letter in August same time as you , hopefully I will hear good news soon too. Will keep you posted.
Eve says
Hi Gillian, that’s fantastic news! Well done on your success in reclaiming all charges. Do you mind if I ask how long your case was with the FOS? Mine has been with the FOS for 8 months and I’m still trying to fight the 6 and 3 year ruling as they gave the same reasons to myself as they did to you.
Eve says
Oh sorry, ignore that question. I just realised you said you complained to Vanquis in January so the FOS would’ve been a couple of months later.
gillian says
hi eve I sent it to the ombudsman in feb of this year the ombudsman asked me if I would be happy to wait a while because they had ruled that vanquish had to pay back all intrest charged on rop to everyone and this was my main complaint so if I was happy with that refund they would not take it any further so I was very surprised when I received the letter in august from ombudsman to say vanquish had been in touch with them and said they would repay all rop as well as I had not heard anything from ombudsman or vanquish since feb I had not even sent anything to the ombudsmen except the first form I filled in online to say I wanted to complain I only included my name and vanquish account number and the fact that vanquish had said the 6 year rule applies I sent nothing else so good outcome hope yours the same
Eve says
Thank you so much for the info on how your case went Gillian, that really is helpful and congratulations again on your successful outcome. The way in which Vanquis are rejecting and upholding complaints just doesn’t have any pattern to it at all but it’s always great to hear people being refunded. Maybe I shouldn’t have sent so much paperwork to the FOS as they probably look at my file and think “ooh I’m not going near that!” ha ha
Cat says
This is fab. The ombudsman ruled my complaint out as it was over 6 years and rop was on statements. Did you have any exceptional circumstances? Sorry I’m just really confused why the FO are persuing some claims over 6 years, when they categorically told me they couldn’t persue mine due to 6 year 3 year ruling. It’s so frustrating. I paid over £2150 in ROP and still have a balance of £3k. Any info you could provide would be helpful.
Cat says
Sarah, please can you shed some light. My Complaint was not upheld due to 6 yr 3 yr rule. FO categorically said they can’t persue due to 6 yr rule and it was in my statements. I’ve accepted this, but as much as I am very happy for all those winning complaint, I really don’t understand why the FO are taking 6yr claims on…. When I got the response I got. I’m deeply frustrated, u want to feel the FO decision is consistent but the above scenario proves it’s not. :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I understand your frustration. The Ombudsman service treats each complaint as an individual one and doesn’t regard itself as being bound to reach the same decisions as one on a previous similar case. This happened at the start of payday loan refunds – for 6 months there was a period where it was random if the Ombudsman would agree to refund loans that were over 6 years old. Then there got to be too many complaints and the ombudsman decided to reach a general decision on this.
Cat says
Thanks Sarah. Ive been in such severe financial difficulty with this card and just now feel let down. There was a 2 year period where I was asked to pay between £350-£450 a month and every month had charges added. I just want to relief from it all 😢
angela says
Finally , a refund paid into account with letter received detailing breakdown as follows-
ROP – £548.31
Associated interest – £464.28
Charges – £60.00
Notional Interest – £10.11
withheld tax amount – £2.02
Total refund £1080.68
ROP figure is correct according to SAR but I don’t understand how interest is worked out but at least it has reduced the balance on card and I am now going to pay off the whole lot and save at least £200 a month in payments. Good luck to everyone else on refunds . Initially was told that the ROP wouldn’t be refunded so went to ombudsman to complain . Glad I did !!
Susan says
I’m still waiting for my breakdown but my total ROP according to Vanquis is £1100 but interest was only £280. Seems wrong, unless they told me the incorrect figures over the phone.
Village Idiot says
Did you pay the card down in full from time to time?
My ROP was £570 or so and the associated interest only £270 or so. But compared to, say, Angela’s above, I got more notional interest, showing that I did pay the card down, because you get the notional interest for when your balance was zero and, by rights, they owed you money.
JB says
Hi All, has anyone had a refund yet who hasn’t had a complaint registered with the ombudsman?
JB says
I see they have changed their website to say that they expect to refund everyone by Feb 2019 now – the part about the end of the summer has been removed!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good spot :(
JB says
I just find this incredible!!! Last year I complained to BOS about PPI on two old loans from 1994 & 1996 and within 6 weeks had a cheque for £3K!!! How are Vanquis getting away with treating customers this way?!
Angie says
Took card out in March 2007. I requested a SAR on 28th June 2018. Received all statements around the 20th August 2018. Notes on letter state that they apparently can prove reasonable awareness more than 3 years ago that i was sent a welcome pack. A welcome pack for what?? On statements it doesn’t charge me for ROP from September 2012. So that must be when I cancelled it. So how can they send me a welcome pack 3 years ago?. I took the card out online , never spoke to anybody about The ROP Assumed it was compulsory as I did with PPI on other cards. I have looked back over statements and nearly every month I paid ROP I went over on my limit. My initial complaint i put into vanquis was 28th June 2018. And what does Dsrr mean? Does anybody know? As it is written on my customer notes on letter. Many thanks
Brian Hunter says
Got to agree with JB. I brought the PPI situation up in one of my many phone calls with Vanquis and the response is that the situation is more complex than PPI. It’s about time this company was forced to pay out and not allowed to constantly make excuses and extend deadlines.
I have a friend who knows that his refund should pay off his card and is having suicidal thoughts regarding this.
JB says
This company has displayed a total lack of compassion or empathy for great swathes of it’s customers which is in itself quite shocking. This is a sub-prime credit card product which is meant to improve your credit rating if used correctly supplied by a non-mainstream lender who is supposed to be more understanding and sympathetic towards it’s customers. Instead they have spent months making sure we were all aware that our minimum payments would be going up!!! – no such delay with this!!! Now we look like we will all have to wait until next Feb for any kind of resolution – absolutely disgraceful!!! This is our money that they are withholding and no matter how great the task this is not a small organisation and they have had 7 months so far. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have a very dear friend who worked for part of this business but resigned due to these sorts of utterly appalling staff/ customer treatment & mis-management. We all continue to wait essentially powerless and this company knows it! Only my opinion.
Cat says
I called Vanquis for an update today on the refund. Just got told there are loads of claims to deal with and expect the refund by Feb 19. I stated I have paid over £2k in ROP and the customer service representative said expect a refund of interest roughly the same amount as what you have paid in ROP?! How can they advise this??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think their customer services people sometimes just make things up!
Cat says
I’m definitely not taking that as gospel
Jane says
E mail received today following my husband asking if ROP interest had been calculated correctly
We are refunding the interest that has accrued as a result of The Repayment Option Plan being a product on the account. In total £146.68 was charged for ROP product fees so therefore we have refunded £40.43 of purchase interest.
laura says
OK so it looks like they are going to leave the payouts until February 19 , that’s over 1 million people all receiving there money back on the same day and every payment will be correct To the nearest penny, NOT A CHANCE. I actually can’t wait to see what their next move is going to be,and all this time they have had to even send out some correspondence regarding paybacks and nothing not even an apology that they stole my money by mistake ( they knew what they were doing was wrong and thought they would get away with it, and mabey still will) I have payed back everything I owe them and have left my account open until I receive my OWN money back. I feel the fca are turning a blind eye to this , in my own opinion I belive they have been prolonging payment because , provident financial share price is at an all time low and they hoped it would have climbed back by now thus keeping shareholders happy but the opposite has happened hence payouts in February 19 will the share price have risen ? Who cares it’s payback.
Brain says
Back in March I put in a claim for ROP with Vanquis, but it was turned down because of the 6 year and 3-year ruling, then I was told I was still eligible for a refund of the interest and that would be sorted before September. So I phoned yesterday to be told it would be February now that the refund time will be, is that the case where they have given an extension in the timeframe?
JB says
It really wouldn’t surprise me if they cease trading as Vanquis and re-brand it just in time to delay our payments yet further next Feb!!! FCA are either blind or just ignoring this utter debacle!!!
Paul says
JB Your spot on, delay delay delay, despite writing and texting me with “end of summer” payments for all, its now February 2019! Have a complaint logged with the FO but Vanquis are in such a mess that my SAR request only gave very basic information and did not back up their reasons for not upholding my complaint at the start of this year. There is a long term plan and it wouldn’t surprise me if they go the same way as Wonga. I am just glad I don’t owe them a penny and by forums like Sara’s we can warn others to stay clear of Vanquis.
Good luck to all those who are trying to get back what they are owed.
Tony says
Hi Paul,
My “SAR” was the same, no copies of statements or letters sent out, no dates etc just a list of balances.
Are you contesting the ROP charges? Or affordability?
I am contesting both but the FOS won’t even touch it as they said I should have been aware from the information on my statements/letter sent out (which I have not seen a copy of) and over 6 years old.
I honestly feel like trying to fight it myself.
Cheers
Eve says
Hi Tony, I don’t know if this information will help you or not but one of the reason’s Vanquis rejected my timebar case was because they said the ROP was outlined as optional on my statements, therefore I should have been aware from the start. (My main complaint had been that I didn’t know what the charge was for or that is was optional)
I still have in my possession old statements which show that the ROP charge was on statements but it was never ever outlined as optional nor were there any details of what it actually was. This was one of 2 things I proved Vanquis had lied about. My case is still with the FOS and had been for nearly 9 months.
I’m guessing every customer’s would’ve been the same.
I’ve also got the same horrible feeling as the others that Vanquis may go down the same route as Wonga due to the length of time it is taking to even refund current customers. They seem to be dragging their feet and I find it hard to believe they will accomplish the whole refund order within just 5 months now although I pray they prove me wrong!
Cat says
What happened with wonga?
Eve says
Wonga has gone into administration Cat.
Paul says
Tony
I am seeking full refund for payments between 2006 and 2014, Vanquis of course used the 6/3 year rule and the fact it was itemised on statements. The FOS are looking into my case as I received a leaflet on ROP in January 2014, read it cancelled it and received a letter in February 2014 informing me that as I opted out of the plan within 30 days of receiving the information all plan charges would be refunded. It never was and it wasn’t until I cleared the card at the end of last year and went through all the paper work I found they had never paid anything back. I have sent a copy of the letter with my complaint to the FOS as surprise surprise Vanquis have no record of sending it.
Good to hear from Sara informing us Vanquis are part of a bigger organisation and regulated, lets hope the regulators have some power to kick their backsides.
Again good luck to all those fighting to get back what is already theirs.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Vanquis record keeping seems to be rather poor at times!
Cat says
Would they be allowed to not pay people what they owe them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes but people will only get a percentage of their refund, depending on how much money there is to distribute.
BUT there is no sign of Vanquis having solvency problems. It is technically a bank – it is regulated by the PRA as well as the FCA. And it is part of the Provident group, which is a very large company, makes Wonga look small.
Tom says
Hi all,
Through I would share my good news, after initially rejecting my complaint, the FOS upheld my complaint and Vanquis agreed to refund all charges and overlimit charges. I had a tiny £100 limit, so was never going to be huge but that was never the point. My breakdown was:
Repayment Option Plan fees – £56.41
Associated interest – £37.56
Charges – £60.00
Notional Interest at 8%*- £8.30
Withheld Tax Amount – £1.66
Keep pushing with the FOS, I got my overlimit fees back, which was important to me!
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Sara. Received my breakdown from vanquis the other day. Repayment option plan fees £654.61 associated interest £407.64.
ROP fees are spot but i am not sure what the interest includes or how it was calculated. I am also not sure if i should have 8% on that too. Ombudsman letter said all fees plus interest plus over limit charges plus 8%. I didn’t have over limit charges but thought interest should be a bit more. Should I query with vanquis or ombudsman?
Thanks
Kelly
Kelly McCandless says
Oh I should have said on the day letter arrived money was paid to account. This is a fantastic result considering they rejected my complaint in March then gave me £38 automatic refund. So to now have £1062.26 paid back is fantastic and it’s all thanks to you and your site Sara. I just want to make sure the interest is correct and if not I will go after them again. Don’t give up guys. Sara’s advice has been invaluable to me. If I had not stumbled across the site I would probably still be paying ROP and be in a financial mess.
Thanks again
Kelly
Angie says
Received my SAR and there are comments on the front regarding phone calls they made to me. Nothing stating that i agreed to ROP . They cannot say I spoke to them as I took the card out in 2007 online. I cancelled in 2012 as never really looked at statement just paid the minimum amount. But noticed I was paying something which began with ROP so rang them then and asked them what it was and if i needed it and they told me what it was for and then I cancelled it. Went over my limit 24 times whilst I was paying ROP. Only gone over twice since cancelling it. I’m Still not sure what I’m looking at when I look at billed deferred charges. As they have a little amount then a larger amount. On Sar sent to me it also says complaint logged on 28th July. When she actually complained by email at the end of June 2018. Just have to wait now and see what happens in the next few weeks. Then I will send another email to see what’s happening.
Ian R says
Had a letter this morn rejecting my claim for ROP charges refund so rang FOS to register a complaint against vanquis- a lovely lady took my details and was very helpful-keep trying its the only way forward with the misers at vanquis 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I checked the Ombudsman statistics that came out this week for Vanquis, and the Ombudsman is upholding 68% of Vanquis complaints. That’s incredibly high, the average for banking and consumer credit is only 34%. So although the Ombudsman service may seem slow, it’s well worth making these complaints!
Paula says
Hey All,
So following on my from post last month below :
“”I have complained to Vanquis also for the ROP charges and they did not uphold my complaint.
I sent it the the ombudsman and have received today the exact same letter as you have offering a full refund of all ROP charges & 8% interest and any over limit charges. They haven’t yet calculated the figure but vanquis will be I touch within 4 weeks for the calculation.””
Yesterday I received a cheque for £672.
I had my vanquis account since 2014 with a credit limit of £500. I didn’t expect as much as I got so I am very happy.
For anyone unsure whether to complain, I complained to vanquis on 30th June this year & they replied on 12th July & didn’t uphold my complaint as they said I agreed to ROP on my account.
I sent this to the Ombusdman on 15th July and received my response on 14th August confirming that vanquis are offering a full refund of all charges plus 8%.
So from initial complaint to receiving my cheque has been 2 and a half months.
Thank you so much for all of your help x
African Queen says
Hello,
May I ask if anyone with closed accounts have started receiving any responses?
I am still waiting to hear. My account was from 2004-2013
Thank you and good luck to everyone x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t remember seeing any yet.
African Queen says
Thank you Sara. I remain patient and hopefulxx
Gareth Moore says
Hi Everyone.
I’ve had Vanquis since 2007 but I think I cancelled the ROP back in 2014. At the time, I tried to complain over the phone with them but they refused accepting it as their ROP was totally different from PPI. thats when i cancelled the ROP.
card started with £250 all the way to around £2000 in 2014 and it was always maxed out.
Now, after seeing quite a few cases of total ROP refunds, did any of you did a affordability claim, or used the PPI template?
is it worth going directly to the Ombudsman, or go to Vanquis first?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t go directly to the Ombudsman, you have to go to Vanquis first.
PPI templates are irrelevant to ROP, they will not help you.
You will be getting a refund of the interest you incurred because of the ROP – this should be by February next year.
The total ROP refunds you are seeing are when someone complained that the ROP was mis-sold. They are not affordability complaints.
When you complained in 2014, were you told you had the right to take your complaint to the Ombudsman?
Gareth Moore says
Hi, Thanks for clarifying everything.
To be honest, I can’t remember what they said about taking my complaint to the Ombudsman as it was ll done over the phone.
I’l wait for the outcome of the ROP interest refund.
Paul says
Hi Sara,
I got in touch with your website a few months back about refunding my ROP with Vanquis and just wanted to tell you I have received some good news after making a complaint – Vanquis have agreed to refund me around £3000, so a very pleasing result! Many thanks for the excellent advice from your website. Kind regards, Paul
gillian says
after paying off my vanquish card with payday loan refunds at the beginning of the year I have had a balance of 1500 for about the last 4 to 5 years and only paying min payments every month and often going over limit I reclaimed over 3000 pound this month with the rop refund and chargers I got a email from vanquish this morning to say due to how well I have been using my account they would like to increase my limit to 2500 pound how do they work out I have been using my account well I do not know
JILL WRAY says
Hi I have received an e-mail today from Vanquis saying I am due £640.63, which is a refund of interest. However I have paid over £4000 in ROP payments. My balance has been over £3000 for several years! does this sound correct. There is no breakdown in the email it just says . You are entitled to a refund of interest relating to ROP from when you were first charged it. I am sure this payment seems very low. Is it worth a complaint to them saying I will go to the ombudsman?
Many Thanks
jILL
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Jill – that may well be too small!
The article above explains what I think Vanquis is doing wrong and which has a template you can use to complain.
When you are doing this, also think if you can complain that Vanquis never clearly explained the ROP to you. Don’t say that you didn’t know you were paying it, as it did show on your monthly statements. But you may not have been aware that it was an optional feature you could cancel – if this wasn’t clearly explained to you in the sales call you can get a refund of the ROP as well as the extra interest.
JILL WRAY says
Many Thanks for that. I have rung them and said I want a breakdown of how they arrived at the refund amount and also a transcript of the phone call as ROP was not explained clearly. I will keep you all updated on this.
Jiil
david highfield says
Promised to get a refund but never received any correspondance snce June. Stated it would be settled by end of Summer . Which summer?
Elaine jane banks says
I believe they have 56 days but not sure if that excludes weekends.
david highfield says
Yes that sounds good but June,JulyAugust September is well past 56 days not counting weekends
Elaine jane banks says
I’d email them I did reminding them that we were xxdays and they emailed back to say it had been assigned to someone and had letter yesterday one week before deadline but it doesn’t say how much I can expect back I’ve a feeling it will be alot less than I’m hoping for.
david highfield says
Could you give me the e-mail address
Elaine jane banks says
David Lichfield
customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk
This is where I send my queries .
Anthony Georghiou says
That offer seems too low.
I Agree with Sarah the ROP was misold to most of us claim that back too, I was sold it as £1.29 a month,
nothing more was said in conversation.
When I stumbled across this site I didn’t even know what ROP was, I was looking at interest Rates.
Then I noticed Vanquis and their Stance to Most People.
Tell them you are Poor, living on the bread line and basically in financial
need of assistance. (They have a duty of care to help, even though it is your money + interest you are asking for)
Normally being Polite and Courteous is my may but these people take that as
a way of delaying your payments, I contacted their CEO and got my claim dealt
with within a month.
Keep fighting these people, for your money.
Elaine says
Received letter today saying that I had rop for 5 years and they cannot uphold my complaint but will refund interest +8% but can’t say what that is at the moment . What is the point of deadlines if they aren’t going to honour them . Does anyone know timescale from receiving letter to getting payment
Ian R says
Well its now 7 months and no sign of interest refund from vanquis-perhaps their waiting for next months card payments to come in-like you say its a big company with large amounts of cash and i saw there advert on the tv pushing the card again on saturday-also provident have issued new shares so there’s even more money in the coffers
African Queen says
Email I received from Vanquis this morning after I asked for an update. Looks like a waiting game…
Thank you for your email.
I can confirm we have an agreement with the Financial Conduct Authority to complete all refunds by end of February 2019. We had attempted to refund all by the end of this month however it has taken longer than expected.
Please note this a refund for the interest incurred by the Repayment Option Plan and is not a refund of fees or charges. Your original complaint remains not upheld and the consideration of the sale of the product was determined as sold correctly.
We will be in contact as soon as possible with confirmation of your refund. Please be assured you don’t need to anything further.
Emma Sharp says
I don’t hold out much hope in receiving a refund any time soon for my claim ! I closed my account about 4 years ago.
The wait continues.
Hello Emma, Thank you for your email. We have checked our records and we can see that you may have been charged interest for the Repayment Option Plan. You don’t need to do anything further, if a refund is due this will usually be processed by the end of the September and will go towards any outstanding debt on your Credit Card. Any additional refund amount will be provided in the form of a cheque. Kind regards Bethan Repayment Option Plan Team
Ksthleen says
Hi kathleen I requested a sar I don’t know what I am looking at only thing I was paying only min payments but all their charges I don’t know what they were for very confusing what will I do with this sar