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.
Craig Smith says
Hi All,
Completely out of the blue i have today received a cheque from Vanquis for £147.41.
I closed down my account around 2016, and have moved house twice since then, so how they have tracked me down I do not know!
I have no idea if the amount is correct or not, guess I have got nothing to lose by writing to them and asking..
Great site, keep up the good work.
Cat says
How high was your balance and how long did you have the account open for? Great news on your refund
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well £147 may well not be great news…
Dave g says
Just checked on line and got a ROP interest refund of £2010.66 , this has put me In credit of £350 so happy !!!!
I had ROP in 2005-2010 and from 2012-2016
I did get a refund in 2017 of £4100 for the 2012 – 2016 time but was denied the 2005 time due to How long ago it was, my interest rate was 69% and had a starting balance £400’rising to £3000 in the end ,I paid minimum amount each month, for some reason though last time I got refunded my account was put to £0 and the remainder of the £4100 was sent by chi but this time I am left in credit????
When I get breakdown I will post amounts on here ,thanks Sara for your hard work good luck everyone still waiting
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done. But what a shame your Vanquis balance went up from being clear last year to £1700 or so. Any chance of you closing the card now? You will get the £350 credit back then.
Dave g says
Had a death in family so needed to use some on paying for part of funeral, yes I have asked them to send me a cheque and close my account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry to hear that, I hope my comment wasn’t insensitive.
Dave g says
No it wasn’t
Dave g says
Hello again
For the time I had the first lot of ROP I did have a lot of charges for over the credit limit and late charges , do u think I would have got these charges back as with the extra interest charges these may have put me over the credit limit , do I have a case for getting these refunded
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should have received those charges (and the extra interest) back. If you ask for a breakdown of how it was calculated you should be able to check.
Cat says
Sara….so if you have a 0 balance they don’t send a cheque, they ours credit on your account?.or am.i getting it wrong. I’m in a position to pay my card off now just not sure what to do, in terms or what this means when I get my refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should always pay the balance off as soon as possible to minimise interest. If they credit a zero account, you can then say you want to close the account and get a cheque back.
Joanne Cameron says
Hi there,
Just got my figures from Vanquis and wondered if this looked right?
Total ROP payment were £1333.78
2012-2018
59.9% interest
Vanquis have offered
£4381.00 for ROP plus interest
60.00 fees
£172.00 8% interest
And they are deducting the £400 from that that they already paid out to me as interest on the ROP earlier on in the year.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t say the figures are right, but there isn’t anything to suggest they are wrong. A good result I suspect.
Tam Osborne says
Hi Sara
I had rop from aug 2007-July 2013, got letter saying interest charged will be refunded but nothing else as they’ve pulled the 6+3 rule, complained to fos but this was rejected as they felt Vanquis were correct, I feel there’s too many inconsistencies from fos re: decisions. Any idea how much I should get back?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, impossible to guess.
Tam Osborne says
Only been waiting since feb this year for payment, might get it for Xmas ha ha. If I feel it’s too low can I reject & go back to fos?
GM says
I’m on the same boat. Had ROP from ‘07 to 12 and they rejected it. It’s been at the FOS for a month now, but I’m not too hopeful. How long did it take for a decision since you first sent the compliant to te FOS?
Tam Osborne says
The fos were very quick, about 2 weeks, which I found strange compared to some of the timescales indicated on here, perhaps they were too quick in my case?
GM says
Yes, they were very quick in your case. however, when I sent the complaint, I made a small “essay” disputing their time barring and explained why i didn’t complained earlier. In some cases, Vanquis accepted the complaints within a couple of weeks without going to the FOS and in other occasions they made an offer when the case was on their first stages of the FOS. Go figure!
Have you ow pushed your case to got to the Ombudsman?
Tam Osborne says
Fos upheld Vanquis decision to only pay rop interest & not the rop itself or associated interest. Don’t know if I can resend if not happy with what I get from Vanquis re: interest refund.
Angie says
I looked on my account this morning and was refunded £780. And I had ROP exactly the same time as yourself. This is just the interest. But I have had no correspondence from them about it. The breakdown etc. Regards
Andrea Park says
Hi I’ve just looked back and realised I had a refund of £46.54 on my July statement however they continued to take ROP payments until I cancelled it in October when I found Debt Camel. I had been paying ROP since 2014 when I opened my account. Will I be able to complain about the low amount. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s hard to say what the refund should be but that sounds low unless you cleared the balance sometimes? read the article above and think about complaining.
Nat Garvey says
Hi there Sara, I have just logged in to my Vanquis account and I have received a refund for £754; the transaction says, “ROP INTEREST REFUND.” I currently have 2 complaints with the FOS about ROP and affordability. The charges for ROP (not the interest) were over £1100 during the last 6 years, so I will be requesting a breakdown of how they came to this figure.
Thanks
Richard Pearson says
I complained to the Ombudsman who took nearly 3 months to respond and their response just requested further information, including a copy of my credit file to prove what I said was true about the effect of the default. As far as I can see Vanquis have not been approched for their version of things. If Vanquis drag their heels, this could go on much longer. My view is that they are not able to cope with the volume of work they have. My case worker only seems to work two days a week. They have a complaints process and ultimately you must complain to your MP. This whole process may cause some to just give up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Vanquis will have been asked for their case file. Has your case been allocated to an adjudicator? If it has, then Vanquis have supplied their case file.
However long it takes, this is money you never expected to get back!
J says
Hi Sara – I complained to the FO regarding irresponsible lending, ROP, interest on ROP and excessive over-limit charges (over £1000). Decision within 2 weeks rejecting all on time-scale except the ROP interest already ‘being dealt with’. This seems to be standard?
However, email from Vanquis a week later refunding a whopping £1437 in ROP interest. This is great but no statutory interest as the account never reached a credit balance. Is this correct, it seems a little odd? The best balance would be zero on a credit card or am I missing something here?
So my question is whether I should dispute this or accept the figure applied to the outstanding balance. I am happy to do so if I am not entitled to statutory interest. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
J
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your balance was never zero, you were always charged interest at the high card interest rate. Statutory interest is only paid as compensation for periods where no other interest was being refunded.
J says
Understood – thanks for the superfast response Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
But if you had lots of over limit fees, then it is still a good idea to complain and ask for them to be refunded, now it has been established that more than. Thousand pounds of your balance was due to the ROP interest!
J says
Will do – thank you Sara!
Bev says
Hi,
I just received the message below. I always had a high balance on the vanquis card and had it since about 2009 so when I complained about ROP they used the 6 +3 rule. TBH i was expecting more from a regund as I had a high balance that was never paid off and I sometimes went over. Is thete anything I can do?
Bev says
We could have done a better job explaining the way interest was charged in relation to your ROP.
You are entitled to a refund of £765.34
You don’t need to do anything – We have agreed with the FCA to make refunds by reducing outstanding balances where possible. Therefore, we have credited your account with £765.34. This will be shown on your statement dated 19/12/2018 as ‘ROP Interest Refund’.
You no longer have ROP on your account and are not being charged for it.
We are writing to you about the recent investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) into ROP. We agree with the FCA’s conclusion that we were not clear, during the call where you opted-in to the product, that charges for the Plan attracted interest at your purchase interest rate. We could have done more to ensure you understood the interest charges on ROP, for which we apologise.
You are entitled to a refund of interest relating to ROP from when you were first charged for ROP up until 22/12/2016. This is 30 days after our letter of 21/11/2016, which provided details of the Plan including how interest applies. You are also entitled to 8% simple interest for any period your account would otherwise have been in credit. We have agreed this and the method of calculating the refund with the FCA (under its statutory powers).
A breakdown of the amount being refunded is below.
Interest on ROP Charges £737.50
Simple Interest at 8% £34.79
Withheld Tax** £-6.95
Total Refund Amount £765.34
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you remember getting the letter that refers to in December 2016?
You can definitely complain about not getting refunded the over-limit fees.
Bev says
I don’t remember getting one at all.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, so use the template letter above, Go for A), B) and C). And D) if you think that applies to you.
In section B go for the “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.” option.
Angie says
What is the 8% interest as they paid me 36pence. They did give me a refund of £780. But I’m a little mystified as I’ve seen larger amounts for the 8%. I’ve only always paid the minimum payment. So could anybody tell me if this would be right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% only applies if you cleared your balance down as then you weren’t charged interest at your card rate so the 8% is compensation. While you had a balance you have been refunded the interest at the card rate which is much more than 8%.
BUT does your refund email/letter refer to you being sent a letter or email about ROP in late 2016?did you get that? Do you still have ROP?
Angie says
Thanks for your reply. No, never received letter in 2016. I paid ROP from 2007-2013. Balance was never zero. Credit limit ranged from 250-2500 at that time. I cancelled the ROP thought it was something I had to have. I then read up about it and then cancelled it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, then it seems likely that they haven’t correctly accounted for how much interest you paid AFTER you stopped the ROP if you still have a balance on the card.
I suggest you ask them for an explanation of how the amount was calculated. As Vanquis are so slow at responding to queries, it’s best to make this a formal complaint from the start – if they send you the figures and they look ok you can just halt the complaint, but at least this gets it kicked off.
“I want to make a complaint about the ROP-related refund that I have received. I think my refund has been calculated incorrectly.
I would like you to supply details of how the refund was calculated in my case. I cancelled the ROP in 2013. Can you say at that time what my balance was, how much of that balance was attributable to the ROP and how much was attributable to the additional interest on the ROP which you are refunding? And can you say at what date you stopped the refund calculation?
If you cannot give me these figures, 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.”
Angie says
I also had 28 over limit charges as I have looked at my statement a which I requested from vanquis throughout the time I had ROP. Do I jist except the refund or complain again about the over limit charges.
Regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes! Add a sentence to what I just replied saying “I also want a refund of my over limit charges – and interest charged on these – as if I had not had the extra ROP interest charged, I would never have been over my limit.”
Gemma says
Hi Sara, can you tell me the difference between billed finance charges and billed deferred finance charges? I have received all my info I requested from Vanquis this morning and I’m a little confused by it all!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Other people have asked that … could you go back and ask Vanquis?
Gemma says
Billed deferred finance charge is interest on transactions that have been deferred from the previous account cycle. It is interest that is now due from previous transactions that were in an interest free period, as we only produce 1 statement a month, the interest is added to the next statement as ‘billed deferred finance charge’.
This is the response I got so two lots of interest being added a month no wonder my payments were never touching my balance :(
Matt says
I’ve just received my refund letter for ROP and it’s £293 but Vanquis have defaulted my account. They say they have an agreement with the FCA to pass this refund on to the debt collection agency – this company is ‘Robinson Way’. They will not pay me by cheque.
If I was wrongly charged this amount then surely it should be my choice as to how I receive this amount? How would you approach this when complaining to them?
My limit with them was £1500 and due to financial difficulties, my balance stands at roughly £2000. However I’ve had the ROP since at least 2013 and the amount they quote seems very low.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you can’t ask for the money to come to you – this is a like a PPI claim, the money will be used to pay any outstanding debt.
That is a lot over your limit – did you get charged over limit fees? Did Vanquis carry on charging you interest when you had told them you were in difficulty?
tracy says
I’ve just had a standard ROP refund letter stating I am entitled to a refund of £231.78.
I opened my Vanquis account in 2014 where my credit limit went from £500 to £3500, I’ve spent most of the time at the higher/maxed level of this account. It defaulted 2017. I have found a ROP letter (Jan 2017) which stated that I had been charge £201.02 for the previous 12 months and I would likely be charge £566.88 for the next 12 months if I only made the minimum payments- which I did. This account is still being paid off so this refund has not really helped as I still have £2K to whittle down.
I have looked at the complaint template and will be requesting that the recalculate and consider the overlimit charges.
Good Luck everyone.
Eve says
Still no refund here yet and that’s now another month’s interest just been added to my account making it 10 months of overcharged interest added to my account. This company really are a disgrace!
Cat says
I called Vanquis for an update. They said they are doing a 1000 refunds a week. Only 13 weeks left until the deadline. Are there more than 13000 customers still waiting? I’ve managed to pay my card off thankfully and closed my account. Just waiting patiently for refund now
GM says
So, judging by their calculation, they have done 36000?… what a load of BS.
I’m fed up of waiting to, and I paid off the card today with a 0% balance transfer offer i got from another card. once it’s credited to the account, then i’ll close it and they’ll kiss goodbye to interest on £2k.
Cat says
They practically begged me to not close my account. Offered me an interest drop from 40% to 29% and premium account. Plus they would credit my account £25 to stay. My question is if they can offer me a 10% interest drop….should I b paying the higher rate in the first place??? Fuming
GM says
No way! They were screwing me for interest all the time and when i was having difficulty with late payments and minimum payments, they “rewarded” me by increasing the interest rate!
Cat says
Yep, they weren’t letting me go quietly! 😮
GM says
Well, I called today to close the account and they didn’t really persuaded me to stay in. I explained the reasons (rop delay and complaint rejection, plus the high interest rate) and they asked me what they could offer in order for me to stay in… I said, “I don’t know, unless you make me an offer I can’t refuse, then I might consider it”. Well, they said ok, we’ll send you a closing letter in the next few days.
11 years as a customer, they weren’t really bothered. Anyway, goodbye Vanquis and extortionate interest rates.
However, I’m keeping Aqua, the interest is high (34.9%) but they usually send me good balance and money transfer offers regularly and had great customer service. thats where I had moved the balance from Vanquis
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good move, GM!
Ross says
If they’re refunding only 1000 people per week and, from what I can recall, 1.2 million customers are affected, it will take them 1200 weeks (or 23 years) to refund everyone?!? You really couldn’t make it up!
GM says
Even if they were refunding all the 1.2 million customers until Feb 2019, they would need to do more than 3200 refunds a day, including weekends and bank holidays. I don’t see that happening
Paul says
Hi guys
Are vanquis sending out cheques or crediting accounts? Also do they send an email or posted letter to tell you the amount? They confirmed by letter a few months ago I was due a refund but nothing through yet and I moved country a couple of months ago with post still going to my old address.
Thanks
Gary Armstrong says
Just received a letter from Vanquis saying they will not be refunding my RPO they state that I fall out the 6+3 ruling so I am not entitled to a refund also says I can go to the financial ombudsman but because of the 6+3 ruling they are unlikely to take up my case I’m sick and tired of Vanquis I’m in debt up to my eyeballs struggling to pay them and now this and of course still awaiting my redress payment that they are supposed to be sending out since February can anyone help
Carey says
Gary I was in the exact same boat – I’d had ROP from when I activated my card in April 2010 until I got the letter about ROP interest in late 2016. I complained (thanks to Sara and this site) and Vanquis gave the old 6+3 excuse to me in October, saying that the Ombudsman will probably agree with them. I felt I had a decent complaint and I had nothing to lose, so I wrote to the FOS. I expected them to side with Vanquis, but they took on my case and told me that they were asking Vanquis for my files. I then got a letter a couple of weeks ago telling me that Vanquis had changed their mind and decided to refund all ROP charges within the next four weeks. I’ve had to agree without knowing how much it’ll be, but my theory is that it’s better than nothing. It’s worth giving it a go.
GM says
How long it took for the FOS, from the point you sent the complaint to the moment you got a response from the adjudicator with Vanquis proposal?
Carey says
I sent the complaint online to the FOS on July 14th. They told me they were taking on the case about a month after that and sent me a letter to tell me they were assigning me an adjudicator in due course. I didn’t expect to hear any more for quite a while, then got the letter telling me that Vanquis were paying up on November 23rd.
Gary Armstrong says
Vanquis have stated the 6+3 ruling in saying I am entitled not to a full rpo pay out also says the financial ombudsman are unlikely to take my case on because or the ruling as well still haven’t received my redress payment and I’m struggling with payment on this card any advice as I am at the end of my patience with these clowns
David says
I had this response. Went through the FOS, it took 6 months and they sided with Vanquis so I wouldn’t be hopeful.
Should still get the interest charges back though.
JB says
Only my opinion – I would be interested to know what will actually happen to this organisation on the 28th Feb 2019 – probably nothing other than another fine which will be significantly smaller than the amount of money that they still owe their long suffering customers!!! The FCA will continue to turn a blind eye and do nothing to punish them outside of the fine and Vanquis know this – known as ‘Bean Counting’ in many circles – deal with the penalties rather than paying to correct the problem!!! I, myself, work for a business that adopts the same philosophy. Plus the longer they drag their heals the more interest than are making from us all.
I, like many others, have received nothing to date – account from 2007-present with ROP – always maxed out – started at 250 up to 2500 – already time barred on the 6+3 rule so just waiting for the interest refund. I created my own calculation model but I bet I receive far less, if anything, than I ‘m actually entitled to. The wait goes on!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are you still paying ROP? Cancel it immediately!
JB says
No – cancelled ROP in Feb 18
Eve says
I’ve just logged into my account and have now received my interest refund – £281.59! I know this is less than what I am due as I have my SAR and know what I paid in purchase interest and I think I should also have 8% interest on top of the amount due to paying my account in full a few times. Am I able to question this before I receive my letter giving the breakdown Sara or should I wait? Thanks in advance for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would wait the few days until you have the facts.
Eve says
Thanks very much Sara, I will do.
Heather says
I received my ROP interest refund last night, a grand total of £111.23. I opened my account in 2012 with a £200 limit which built up to £3000. I have always paid the minimum payment and frequently drew cash on the card. My interest rate is 59.9%. I know this figure is too low and will complain. I am so disappointed and frustrated. I have cancelled my ROP and have a complaint currently with the FOS regarding the ROP. I feel very strongly that they have taken advantage of people in difficult financial circumstances and even though they have been asked to correct some of the wrong have taken so long to do it and not done it correctly.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From what you have said that figure sounds WAY too low. Let us know how your complaint about it to Vanquis goes.
Ross says
Well, I have just returned home from work to find a letter (from Provident) on the door mat. I thought ‘could this be the elusive refund’. As I, temptingly, tore open the envelope, I was bestowed with an offer to borrow £1000 at 535.3%. They’ve more chance of me sticking red hot needles in my eyes! Provident/Vanquis are the company that just keeps on giving :)
Simon says
I’ve logged onto my account today and found a refund applied yesterday of £576.78.
I’m shocked that it’s this low. I’ve had ROP for years (since 2013 I think) and pretty much bouncing off my credit limit. I’ve waited this long for a refund but still think this is low for the fact I’ve had ROP for over 5 years I think. Worth complaining ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes that sounds low. And if you ever had over limit charges they were almost certainly caused by the ROP.
Your refund details (when you get the letter or email) will say you received a letter in late 16 early 17. The refund of interest is stopped at that point because they say you could have cancelled ROP then. But many people say they never got this letter…
It’s. Worth waiting until you have those details and then sending in the complaint letter in the article above.
Also I hope you have cancelled the ROP?
Simon says
Yes the ROP was cancelled although wish I had done this sooner. Yes I’ll wait for the breakdown of charges from them and then submit the complaint. I didnt know what to expect but think £576 is low with compound interest etc….
Keewee says
Hi,
I received a refund of £150 yesterday. I hadn’t realised I actually had the ROP to be honest.
However, the balance of my card has pretty much been £1350 for the last 6 or so years. I have had the card since maybe 2010/2011?
Not really sure how much I should have expected but this seems quite low compared to others?
Any ideas?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You still have the ROP? First thing is to cancel it!
I think that amount sounds VERY low if your balance has been around that level for many years and never cleared down to zero. Wait until you get an email or letter explaining the refund. That will refer to you having been sent a letter about ROP in late 2016 probably – so they stop the refunds then. If you never received this letter, go for “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.” in your complaint.
Keewee says
Ah perhaps this is where I am misunderstanding – I did clear the balance off at several points but very quickly exhasted it again. The balance can’t have been zero for more than a month at a time. I’d imagine between 2012-2015 it wouldn’t have been cleared off at all.
I’ve got no idea if i have it or not?
Looking on current statements I have only purchase interest and cash interest so i’m assuming I must have cancelled it at some point.
Thanks
Leila says
Hi can someone please help me in August of this year I got a county court judgement for the solicitor who took over from Robinson way for my vanquis bank last time I used this card was 2014/2015 I was in credit by £120 so I had a £500 credit limit and £120 of my own money from them not every paying my full minimum payment anyways my account was blocked and I couldn’t use it not that I needed to anyways I’ve now got a debt of £507 with no bank statement due to being blocked online because it was closed I have emails about changes to ROP i am now trying to prove that I have not used the card or ran the account up to the £507 can anyone help with who I can talk to or what I can do please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you know you were being taken to court for a CCJ in August?
This sounds unusual and it isn’t clear what has happened. Do you know when you opened the account?
Have you recently had emails about ROP – if so, what do they say?
Leila says
No it had already happened I’ve directly spoke to the bailiff who was lovely at our local court and he agreed he wouldn’t be knocking on my door anytime soon but the solicitors are refusing to share any information about statements or anything with myself the account was supposedly closed in 2016 via Cabot my account was unavailable from 2014 cos I couldn’t remember log in details and cos I was using the card anymore I didn’t need to access it last contact of email about any statements is from vanquis themselves in aug 2014 saying minimum payment was £0.00
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok you need to look urgently at getting this CCJ “set aside”. – that is cancelled. The court case will then normally restart and you can defend it.
Talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about how to do this set aside. If you delay too long trying to sort out the mess and work what happened, it can be harder to get the “set aside” in court as that should be done as soon as possible.
I suggest you also phone Vanquis on 0330 099 3000 and say you want to make a Subject Access Request asking for copies of all your statements after say 2012 – that should be enough to see what happened clearly in 2013 and 2014.
And also send Cabot a Subject Access Request by emailing them at SAR@cabotcm.com and say you would like to request copies of all your personal information from them. Don’t put any limits on this.
But it may take 30 days to get the SAR details. You need to look at getting the CCJ set aside before then, you can’t afford to wait.
Leila says
Thank you so much Sara I’ve spoke to vanquis today and they said they couldn’t see anything on system has account was closed and that they would contact someone higher up who deal with that I can’t remember the actually name she said I will defo get on to debtline Monday morning I appreciate your help thank you so much
Sadie says
Hi Sara,
I have just checked my Vanquis account and I have recived a refund of £27.89 and it’s a ROP interest refund. I’ve had my account since February 2014 and even though it was only a low limit, it was up to the limit for the entire of the time that I had ROP – cancelled earlier this year. Does this sound correct to you? I raised a compaint about the ROP being mis-sold before the FCA made their decision on Vanquis ROP and the response was that they were not upholding the complaint but that I would recieve a refund. This was, maybe, in January. Is it worth complaing again?
Thanks,
S.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds low, but it will depend how low your limit was and what your interest rate was. Did you ever have any over limit charges? they will not have been refunded but should be if you complain.
The explanation letter / email you get should say that that you received a letter in late 2016 telling you what ROP had cost you in the previous year – this is their excuse for stopping the refund at that point. But if you never received this letter, complain and say this, and argue for the refund to be paid up until you cancelled the ROP.
Sadie says
Thanks Sara. The email does indeed have a 2016 letter date so I am going to complain. I feel I have nothing to lose. I am also going to attempt the missold route again because I believe it was missold. The only reason I haven’t gone back to them about their refusal to uphold my original complaint is because I was waiting for this (pitiful) outcome.
David says
Received mine today. About £700.
Not what I was hoping for, but better than nothing. Now need to work on paying Vanquis off and closing the account.
Cat says
When did you open the account? Cat
David Woods says
Oh like 2011 I think.
Anyone else thinks it’s funny they are issuing these around Christmas, when people are most likely to use their cards again!
clint says
apparently i am getting a refund of £285
i opened the account in 2007 and paid it off in 2016
i had built up to a £2500 credit limit and a lot of the time i had a high balance and was often just paying the minimum amount
i find it hard to believe that this amount can be correct
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds VERY low. Send the complaint in the above article…
Lynette says
I had my account for over 10 years and just recieved a refund for £278 – during this time i paid the account off a couple of times but was soon back up to the limit – Also very early on into having the account i had a number of over the limit charges. I did complain to Vanquis earlier in the year – who rejected my complaint due to the 6 / 3 ruling. I am unsure what to do now? I haven’t had a break down of the refund, but it is very low and there is definely no over the limit charges been refunded ( i did ask whether these would be refnded in my intial complaint but that was just ignored) I’m just wondered what advice you would give now – who do i take this up with? Thanks
Tara says
In my letter it says that vanquis have agreed with FCA that over limit charges won’t be paid as they charged a late fee before any ROP was charged.
Eve says
That’s me received an e-mail with my breakdown. I know the interest refund is lower than what I calculated on my SAR and the simple interest is only £4.03!!! I paid over £1000 in ROP charges so even 40% of that without being compounded is more than i’ve been refunded.
Amount
Interest on ROP Charges
£278.36
Simple Interest at 8%
£4.03
Withheld Tax**
-£0.80
Total Refund Amount
£281.59
I cancelled my ROP 3 years ago so surely the simple interest should be a lot higher as I wasn’t charged any more interest on the ROP after that date?
According to my SAR and old statements I’ve calculated even this wrong refund means that 24 out of my 37 overlimit charges while I had ROP should be refunded.
I’ve now used the template above to send my complaint about the redress and overlimit charges.
Tara says
In my letter it says that vanquis have agreed with FCA that over limit charges won’t be paid as they charged a late fee before any ROP was charged.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is the reason for there not being an automatic refund of over limit charges. But any individual can argue that th size of their ROP refund shows that their balance was too large because of the ROP and therefore in your case it was the reason for you going over your limit.
Eve says
I was told this also Tara but my argument for example is that :-
say after just a year and a half I had paid £100 interest on the ROP and I went overlimit by £50 …… had the ROP Interest not been added to my account over that time then I would actually have been £50 underlimit so therefore I shouldn’t have been charged the £12 overlimit fee.
Going by my SAR, the first 13 overlimit fees are not due to the ROP Interest being added (they are actually due to the ROP itself but I’ve lost that case!) but the 24 overlimit fees after that were charged when the amount I went overlimit was less than what I had paid in ROP Interest. That is what my argument is. Had I not been charged the interest then I would not have received those 24 overlimit fees.
I think they have 56 days again to respond to this new complaint so could be a while before I get an answer again
Tara says
So after seeing on here 9 weeks ago that there was a case about ROP and vanquis admitting it had breached some of its terms and conditions. I applied for a SAR and used the template letter on here as I had not heard from vanquis direct about it. No email etc. Today I received a letter in the post saying that in normal circumstances because I had ROP over 6 years ago from 2010 to 2013 they don’t normally uphold. They listened to all telephone calls of when I took ROP out and cancelled and thought that it had been explained fairly to me but because I tried to opt out in 2012 but they kept me in with 3 months of 1p per £100 but they agree it wasn’t satisfactory when discussing the plan. They have refunded me £683.12 ROP fees and associated interest.
£60 charges and £77.19 ROP interest 8% charges. So £820 altogether. They sent me
Statement to for 2010 to present. I think it was very fair.
GM says
I don’t understand their double standards…
Pete Horgan says
I have today received my interest refund from Vanquis and I’m gobsmacked….a total of £22.07….
I have a Vanquis card that has been at the upper limit of nearly £4k for over a year, having gradually risen from £500 when I opened the account in March 2015. Not sure how long I had ROP for or when I cancelled it, but this seems a derisory amount considering! Thoughts?
Cat says
These latest refunds can’t be right! I do wonder why the people who are calculating these refunds are not actually thinking that themselves! We are all waiting so patiently for our refunds, that to got an incorrect one….and submit yet another complaint to wait another 2 months is simply not good enough. I’ve been waiting since January!! I’ve paid over £2100 in rop at a rate of 39.9%. when I called to close my account they offered me an interest reduction of 10% so why on earth was I paying closer to 40% all these years!!! Robbing people blind.
Cathy says
I received a refund of £27.00 today ROP from 2004 to 2010 on a £3000 balance on my card for all those years. No explanation of calculation! They must be buying time and waiting to see whether people complain! This cannot be correct when some above received £2000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How low can they go?
Cat says
What a mockery
Dave g says
Hello Cathy
I was one of those people who got over £2000 for my refund so yours will be definitely wrong, my balance was top of my limit at £3000, I had it from 2005-2010 , still got my card , they put me in credit after clearing my balance and the day after took my credit out and put it down as a chq issued, that was 24th November but still waiting for chi and breakdown of refund,so hopefully u will get it sorted
Paula says
I have checked my account this morning and I have got 1718.60 had account around 10 years and cancelled rop about 5 years ago not had a breakdown yet
JB says
I have checked my account and have received £670 – way below what I was expecting. No breakdown as yet but will be sending a complaint in once it arrives. Opened my account in Oct 2007 with ROP and my account is still active without ROP since Feb 2018 – started at 250 up to 2500 so I think this is way below what it should be – was expecting around £2k. Absolute cowboys!!! I suspect that they are deliberately posting low refunds to see who will complain!!!
Pete says
So my wife has just had her ROP interest refund and what a joke it is , a grand sum of £320.94
I know it should be much more than this , her card was maxed out at £500 from 2008-2014 , then 2014 to oct 2015 at 2.5k before I got involved in her finances and explained to cancel the ROP as it was costing a fortune and was basically worthless to her.
Sadly she suffered from PTSD , Depression and Post-natal depression since 2007 which caused her not to realise how much she was paying on things and made it easy for them to convince her that she had to have the ROP.
Her complaint about the whole thing is already with the FOS but I am not holding out much hope that they will look into it because Vanquis are claiming 6+3 rule and timebarring the main complaint, despite causing her a whole lot of stress by asking for proof of her medical condition etc , just to still claim the 6+3 rule still.
For the third time now I have requested all of her data from Vanquis through a SAR, the last 2 times they have ignored it which I have already raised with the FOS as part of her complaint.
My question for Sara is once I have all the information from the SAR , do I need to make a new complaint about the amount of the ROP interest payment or should I wait for the FOS complaint about the whole thing to pan out and see what happens?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There isn’t a clear answer to this. But as your FOS complaint is presumably just sitting there at the moment, I suggest putting in a new complaint about the level of the ROP refund … there seems to be some chance this will result in Vanquis deciding to settle your original complaint!
Pete says
Thanks for the response Sara , I will make that complaint and see what happens and of course update here when I get any more news about it
Cat says
There seems to be a lot of refunds this week….. Still waiting patiently 🙄
Tam says
Maybe they’re turning into Santa Claus 😂, been waiting since feb and it seems it’ll be next feb before this incompetent bunch get their act together. Every other ppi claim I’ve made have been settled within a couple of months.
GM says
Grinch more like it :)
Simon Chilcott says
Hi just got a CHQ in the post £103.31 complete and utter joke had my account from 2010 had a 3k limit and was normally near max limit and making min payments most months settled and closed account 2014 original complaint was time barred so waited patiently for this small amount which is pathetic
Rop. 84.80
8″int 23.13
Tax. 4.62
Total 103.31
Merry Christmas everyone
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Simon – doesn’t sound right, does it… did you ever clear down your account to zero or close to it?
can I check – the line which says ROP 84.40 – presumably that actually said something more complicated such as “interest charged on ROP”?
Simon says
Hi Sara
Yes it does say interest charges on rop,
Balance was always above £2000,
And only cleared the balance once and that was when I closed the account in 2014 by 0% balance transfer to another card thank god.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case I think the amount sounds too low. I suggest you put in a complaint using the template letter above except in place of the (B) section I suggest you put
“I do not think the 8% interest added on is correct either. Can you explain to me the dates between which you applied this 8% interest.
Simon says
Hi Sara
So when I closed the account in July 2014 I assume this would be the start of 8% simple interest until present day.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is what I would expect. But that would be about 35% extra and the 8% figure you have been quoted is about 27%. Of course that is a small difference, but it’s odd…
Antony says
If I receive a Cheque but my complaint is with the FCA, What’s best to do. £350 total, which is too low in my opinion. Should I bank it, or wait.
Dave says
All, I have a complaint with the FCA since Feb 18 and awaiting an outcome. My account was closed back in 2012, the account to was opened in 2006 and I have received a refund today of the interest for £210, £80 of which was 8% interest. Disappointed that the FCA still haven’t ruled but vanquis took 5 months to send my file.
If I cash the cheque will this affect the FCA complaint at all
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From 2006 to 2012, did you sometimes clear down your balance or was it always high? If it was always high, then that cheque sounds too low for the extra interest you paid…
Leila says
Hi Sara I managed to get the SAR and it’s all interest rates on there billed charges ROP payments and then interest ROP is this now in my favour of saying it’s there fault? Thanks for ur help
Tony says
Hi,
I have just received my refund for a card opened in 2009 with a £500 limit, which quickly increased to £2500, cleared once in 2012 by means of a balance transfer, then maxed out again immediately and ROP only cancelled in Sept 2017.
The grand total is………….£39.07!
Interest on ROP charges – £27.39
Simple interest at 8% – £14.59
Withheld tax – -£2.91
Total refund amount – £39.07
I have a SAR, should I be looking at anything before knocking back this “offer”?
Thanks
Dave g says
After getting my refund of £2010 at end of November leaving me in credit of £373, I have finally got my cheque and he breakdown
Interest £1930.77
8 %. 99.86
Withheld tax £19.97
Total Refund £2010.66
They just told me this does not include any over limit charges so I will be putting a claim in for those as for about 2 years whilst I had the ROP I was going over the limit every month
Tim says
Just received my cheque for £447.82. This breaks down as £349.86 Rop interest charges, 122.45 simple 8% interest minus witheld tax of 24.49.
I opened my account in 2013 with £500 limit then built it to £3k always nearly maxing out but never going over. Average APR was 39.9% if I recall correctly. Paid of balance and closed account toward end of 2016.
Not sure if my compensation is correct, I guess I need to decide what to do over the weekend
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask for for a copy of the calculation they did for you. Some other people are just starting to get these.
Antony says
The Financial Ombudsman called me today, they haven’t made a decision yet, but wanted to confirm a few things…
The ROP was added October 2011.
Vanquis have confirmed, in writing, that an email about ROP being added to my account, bounced back and wasn’t delivered, but Confirmed a ‘welcome call’ took place, lasting 363 seconds, on the day the ROP was added, and more than likely this would have been sold to me then.
I became aware of the product when the FCA announced the decision for ROP, which is within last 3 years, at which point I requested a SAR for my closed account. (Vanquis still haven’t provided)
Vanquis have admitted in writing, that the product was added to cover Forbearance, so my credit history wasn’t affected if I missed a payment etc, but my argument is this should have been my choice to make, not theirs.
Vanquis do not agree with my complaint.
Having Confirmed all that, a decision hasn’t been made yet.
I emailed Vanquis earlier, to ask for a calculation for the £350 ROP interest refund cheque I received yesterday and to see about overlimit charges …this is what I got back…
“I will arrange for the over limit charges to be refunded. If not processed today, this will be done early next week.
I will need to request a copy of the calculation from the team that process these. It usually takes a few days. I will forward to you once I have it.”
Thoughts?
Antony says
I emailed asking for the calculation and I’ve just received it.
Eve says
Well I’ve just received a letter today with the breakdown of how the ROP interest refund calculation is worked out and can confirm it’s definitely wrong in the way they have calculated mine.
The colums are in this order:-
Purchase Interest
ROP Interest as a proportion of purchase interest
Interest on ROP
For example my second month says :-
Purchase interest : £0.66
Proportion of Purchase Interest : 34.68%
Interest on ROP : £0.23
This happens all the way through with hugely varying proportions. I know my all purchase interest proportions should 100% ROP interest as I only used my card for cash transactions and this can be confirmed against my SAR details.
I will now be contacting them for a further explanation but can’t believe they are getting away with this!! To some people this will be a huge difference in what they should receive for their refunds. I’ll update when I hear more back
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that reasoning is exactly right – it will be interesting what reply you get.
Eve says
Sara, I’m not long off the phone to them and explained the above to the lady on the phone. She first said the higher rate interest gets paid first and then the lower but I explained that I didn’t buy anything on my card for the first 4 years and 5 months! She had to go and check my account and then came back and said “but you had ID Protection” on your account which is also a purchase transaction! Well that’s now the first I’ve learnt that the ID Protection which they added when I activated my card (and I never knew any details about it) was also a purchase transaction and was getting compounded purchase interest added every month. I told her that I had already complained about the ID Protection being missold and that they timebarred me but even then they never disclosed that it was a purchase transaction which also incurred interest. She then asked if I wanted to lodge a complaint about that which I have now done and they will get back to me regarding the ROP interest refund calculation. I’ll update once I hear any progress on that and the overlimit charges complaint (which I was sent a CAT number for via text yesterday).
Jenna says
I have been waiting patiently for them to reply. Received a letter in the Summer, saying sorry for the delay, but they would have dealt with most of the claims by September. Then received a text saying they hope to deal with all claims by Feb 2019. Anyone else still waiting?
Cat says
Still waiting for mine. Feel so disappointed for People getting these ridiculous low refunds 😥
Gaynor says
hi Sara, checked my account and refund for ROP interest went in on 11/12 for £702 had the account from 2010 cancelled ROP jan 18 never cleared balance always paid minimum with a £3000 limit with lots of overlimit charges due to the ROP taking me over :/ will wait for breakdown before complaining for more !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask for the details of how your refund is was calculated. Some people are now getting these when they ask for them.
Eve says
I’ve just gone through all my breakdown from Vanquis, my SAR and my old statements.
On the Summarised Statement Information” it has different columns and this is how each one seems to be getting calculated :-
“Purchase” Column :- Overlimit charges
Late Payment charges
ID Protection
E-vanquis
Any purchases you made
“Purchase Interest” Column :- Purchase Interest
Billed Deferred Finance Charges
“ROP” column :- ROP payments
They seem to be then using the monthly totals to calculate what percentage of the Purchase Interest was for the “Purchases” and what was for the “ROP”
Another thing confuses me as I thought the “Default Charge Interest” on my statements was the interest charged on the Overlimit fees but going by these calculations they are charging “Purchase Interest” on the overlimit fees as well?? Are they allowed to charge 2 lots of interest on these fees Sara?
On the back of my statements it say that a Default Charge is late payment and overlimit fees.
Gary Armstrong says
Hooray after months and months of complaining I finally had an email from Vanquis last night stating they will credit my account on the 18th of December the sum of £1477.72 for the interest refund, I had to complain non stop and in the end I kept emailing the CEO of provident every day and then last night I finally got the refund I had rpo for 3 years and my limit was between £500 and a£1000 always maxed out as I said I cancelled the rpo after 3 years so god knows how they came up with that fighte not that I am complaining!!!
tracy says
what the CEOs email address? ive had a vanquis account which stsrted at £500 and went to £3500, always maxed out. ive been refunded £250? after waiting fir so long, this is so disappointing.
Gary Armstrong says
The email address is Malcolm.lemay@providentfinancial.com keep emailing him also when emailing Vanquis cc him in as well in the end it done the trick for me good luck and let us know how you get on
Jade says
Hello everyone
This is regarding Vanquis ROP.
Just to update you I originally was given a refund of 45 pound, my credit limit was 150 pound for years and then my credit limit was increased to 550 pound beginning of the year.
Like most of you I received the refund out of the blue, 45 pound was a nice suprise but I decided to enquire into how they worked it out. I used the templates on here (thank you Sara)
And yesterday I received a letter saying they calculated wrong and now I received a refund over 400 pound!!!
Please please no matter what refund you received send them the template letter because you can get more!
They did it within the 8 weeks of my complaint.
Thanks again Sara for this forum
Jade
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s an improvement!
I hope you have now cancelled the ROP.
Rhi says
Well I’ve received my refund…. a whopping 8 pound and 66p!!
I just can’t decide what to spend it all on!
Letter of complaint has been sent off, I’ll not hold my breath.
GM says
Well, I got a surprise this morning.
There was a £2.1k credit on my vanquis account, named as ROP interest refund.
Funnily enough, I cleared the account a week ago with a balance transfer to a 0% card.
Called vanquis to cancel and complain about the handling of their case, but had to pay a small interest fee due to balance time differences.
In october, I complained to them about the misold ROP charges between 2007 and 2012. More than £1k in that period, but they time barred it. Sent FOS 4 weeks ago, and it looks like Vanquis has backtracked!
What is weird, is that I called them on Thursday about the ROP an de they said it was being calculated but, no date for the refund. Also, because the case was with the FOS, they couldn’t give updates.
I guess that cancelling the account and nagging them worked a treat!
Now, I have Myjar, PDUK and QQ with the FOS.
After years of misery and hardship that affected me in all aspects of life, I’m glad it’s all coming together now.
Thank you for all your help Sarah, really appreciate it!
GM says
Due to the refund, the account is now in credit, so I hope they raise the cheque soon!
Cat says
Excellent result. How much ROP have you paid in total?
GM says
I’ve paid over £1200 during that period, but after looking at other paperwork, my interest rate went from 49.9% to 59.9% , which did go down to 49.9% in 2014 and 39.9% in 2016.
In 2007 the ROP charges were insignificant but between 2010 and 2012 were averaging £30 a month.
I’ve now finished the calculations using the SAR paperwork I got sent a while ago and their figures are not too far off mine.
During that period, I’ve paid nearly £400 of over limit charges, so these weren’t definitely included.
I simply don’t understand how some people got peanuts!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I simply don’t understand how some people got peanuts!” I agree. Some of the numbers reported seem to have come out of a random small number generator.
BH says
Got a refund today £57.49 !!!!!!!!!!!!
Had this card for almost 15 years, credit limit £4000 and balance was always about £3500. This refund can’t be right, they are having a laugh but I am certainly not laughing
Jo says
Hi Sara
I received my cheque for ROP refund this weekend- £515.06. I have complained as I feel it should have been more as I held my card for 6 years until I closed it in June 2015. I never had a clear account and for the last 3 years my balance was always around £3000. What I need to know is do I bank the cheque which I have received or do I wait for them to make a final decision?
BH says
Template letter now gone off to Vanquis complaining about my paltry refund of £57.49 and requesting SAR
Let’s see how long it takes to get a reply