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Original poster

Do you think I have a chance re; store cards

157 replies

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 06:15

I got my first store card when I was 18, at university and earning £6 per hour, working 12 hours a week.
Over the years, my bad impulse control, youth and low income meant that I wracked up so much interest. Littlewoods just kept giving me more and more credit. At one point my minimum payment was £500! My mum had to bail me out more than once.
Now I'm older and slowly becoming better with money (although impulse control is still poor) I feel slightly annoyed that these companies were able to lend me so much and that no one ever questioned my eligibility.
I've seen companies which offer to look at these store cards in terms of offering you credit limits you weren't eligible for but I wondered if anyone had any personal experience of getting compensation.
I am not saying that I wasn't too blame but to be fair I was just an 18 year old, living on my own in an unfurnished house. I had never been offered 1000 of free credit before. I feel they should have asked more questions as a lender.

OP posts:
ScentOfAMemory · 28/03/2023 06:19

You were eligible at the time, under their T&C.
I was the same for FWIW, Miss Selfridge, Littlewoods, various others. Also straight out of university.
You wouldn't be eligible now all things being equal as things have been tightened up and more checks are made as to repayment possibilities, earnings etc, as well as responsible lending guidelines.

DifficultBloodyWoman · 28/03/2023 06:22

I had credit cards and a store card at 18. I didn’t do stupid shit and spend unreasonably. Do I have a claim?

What would you have done if they refused you credit but gave it to me? Would you have had a claim then for some form of discrimination?

What if neither of us had had cards? When would we be old enough/responsible enough to become eligible?

_
OP, you are clutching at straws. The companies offered you credit which you took. You were not obliged to do so.

You did say in your post that you ‘are not saying that (you aren’t) to blame’.

If you really believe that, then act like it.

Villssev · 28/03/2023 06:25

No chance

You were an adult and they were acting within the financial regulations of the time.

How old are you now?

user1473878824 · 28/03/2023 06:25

i don’t think they check if you have furniture even now, op. I’m bad with money too, that’s not my credit card company’s fault.

Fluffodils · 28/03/2023 06:28

Villssev · 28/03/2023 06:25

No chance

You were an adult and they were acting within the financial regulations of the time.

How old are you now?

This.

I mean if you think it's worth a shot then go for it but if it's all paid off i dont think its worth the hassle.

GoodChat · 28/03/2023 06:43

It wasn't just a one off, OP. You did this repeatedly. You can't expect compensation for your bad decisions.

MelchiorsMistress · 28/03/2023 06:49

You weren’t 18 for all the years that you were building up. Honestly it sounds pathetic to be hoping to get compensated for choosing to get into debt. It sounds like you just have a very strong sense of entitlement that you need to try and change.

Your compensation is all the stuff you bought.

FredaFox · 28/03/2023 06:50

You are taking the mick, I did it, I got in debt
I learned from my mistake
Yes they shouldn't have given cards out do easily, they don't anymore
Why do you feel you should get compensation, you spent the money and had the goods

Toomuch2019 · 28/03/2023 06:53

Whilst I don't think that compensation should be a consideration here, there is an argument these organisations should be better regulated and forced to have stricter eligibility criteria.

I would suggest if this is a principles thing and you wanted to protect others you might spend some energy campaigning for better controls on this type of thing to help others in the future, rather than pushing for compensation

Villssev · 28/03/2023 06:54

The very fact that you are floundering around for someone to blame would indicate that you still very much have a spending problem and this is somewhat distorting your view of the situation

Original poster
youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 06:54

There's entitlement and then there's companies encouraging you to get into a bad financial situation. If you look at the templates on Martin Lewis or similar, people do claim based on companies encouraging financial instability.

OP posts:
Villssev · 28/03/2023 06:56

How old are you OP?!

because that is fairly important

banks can’t be pursued for working within the financial regulations of the time

Villssev · 28/03/2023 06:56

Go for it OP
Scratch that itch
but it will be a complete waste of your time 🤷‍♀️

Original poster
youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 06:58

Here's an example;
You should never have given me an account with such a large credit limit. When I applied in 2005, you should have checked my credit record and you would have seen I had recently missed payments to a credit card and had taken several payday loans.

You should not have increased my overdraft limit in about 2014. When you increased the limit, you should have seen that my debts to other lenders on my credit record had increased a lot.
I do not know the exact months of these credit limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me when the increases were and how much the limit went up on each occasion.

OP posts:
magicthree · 28/03/2023 06:58

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 06:54

There's entitlement and then there's companies encouraging you to get into a bad financial situation. If you look at the templates on Martin Lewis or similar, people do claim based on companies encouraging financial instability.

They didn't encourage you to get into a bad financial situation, you did that by yourself. I get it, I've struggled with card debt also, but I blame no-one but me.

user1473878824 · 28/03/2023 07:00

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 06:58

Here's an example;
You should never have given me an account with such a large credit limit. When I applied in 2005, you should have checked my credit record and you would have seen I had recently missed payments to a credit card and had taken several payday loans.

You should not have increased my overdraft limit in about 2014. When you increased the limit, you should have seen that my debts to other lenders on my credit record had increased a lot.
I do not know the exact months of these credit limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me when the increases were and how much the limit went up on each occasion.

You aren’t getting what everyone is saying are you?

GoodChat · 28/03/2023 07:00

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 06:58

Here's an example;
You should never have given me an account with such a large credit limit. When I applied in 2005, you should have checked my credit record and you would have seen I had recently missed payments to a credit card and had taken several payday loans.

You should not have increased my overdraft limit in about 2014. When you increased the limit, you should have seen that my debts to other lenders on my credit record had increased a lot.
I do not know the exact months of these credit limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me when the increases were and how much the limit went up on each occasion.

This happened over the course of nine years? You didn't learn from your mistakes. You've even send you're still impulsive. Stop expecting other people to take responsibility for your bad decisions.

Should a pub kick you out because you got into a fight there a decade ago so you clearly can't handle your alcohol?

Myneighbourskia · 28/03/2023 07:01

It was your decision to take the credit though, so... There's no one to blame but you.

Original poster
youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 07:01

Again, I am not blaming anyone for my debt. My debt is on me. But to offer an 18 year old credit increase after credit increase, when they stated on their initial application that they earned £500/600 a month, then to charge them for missing payments when the minimum payment went up to £500 a month. I would say that was irresponsible lending.

OP posts:
user1473878824 · 28/03/2023 07:02

But you didn’t HAVE to spend money that made your minimum repayment so large.

Villssev · 28/03/2023 07:03

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 07:01

Again, I am not blaming anyone for my debt. My debt is on me. But to offer an 18 year old credit increase after credit increase, when they stated on their initial application that they earned £500/600 a month, then to charge them for missing payments when the minimum payment went up to £500 a month. I would say that was irresponsible lending.

How odd

this is precisely what you are doing

GoodChat · 28/03/2023 07:03

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 07:01

Again, I am not blaming anyone for my debt. My debt is on me. But to offer an 18 year old credit increase after credit increase, when they stated on their initial application that they earned £500/600 a month, then to charge them for missing payments when the minimum payment went up to £500 a month. I would say that was irresponsible lending.

You're still earning more than the minimum payment at that point so you can still afford to pay.

coffeemoon · 28/03/2023 07:03

In terms of getting compensation, were you actually offered a credit limit you weren't eligible for? Can you prove this?

I agree with you that lenders do have some responsibility to vulnerable/ young people who may not have the ability to use credit responsibly.

But I think you would have a struggle claiming compensation for this. It was a long time ago and I'd be surprised if you have enough evidence - and that is if you actually were offered something you weren't eligible for. Chances are that as an employed adult, you did meet their eligibility criteria.

If you really care about this cause then a more effective way to make a difference would be to raise awareness of what happened to you through social media, contact some charities that help people get out of debt to tell your story, etc.

If it's that you just want some money/ compensation, unfortunately I think you're unlikely to get it.

magicthree · 28/03/2023 07:03

user1473878824 · 28/03/2023 07:02

But you didn’t HAVE to spend money that made your minimum repayment so large.

Just what I was about to type. You don't seem to get it OP - they might have offered you a card and a large limit, you didn't have to use it. Your choice, you deal with it.

Villssev · 28/03/2023 07:04

youshouldnthavetoask · 28/03/2023 07:01

Again, I am not blaming anyone for my debt. My debt is on me. But to offer an 18 year old credit increase after credit increase, when they stated on their initial application that they earned £500/600 a month, then to charge them for missing payments when the minimum payment went up to £500 a month. I would say that was irresponsible lending.

Yes
it was not good banking.

and so they hugely tightened financial regulations