Do you think I have a chance re; store cards

[youshouldnthavetoask]

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.

@coffeemoon how is asking for the interest back anything that I'm not entitled to? I'm not asking for the money back for the things I bought. Just the interest I paid.

I didn't say anything about what you are entitled to.

I said if your goal is to get compensation, go ahead and try and good luck to you.

@coffeemoon I didn't label this as altruistic. I said I do enough stuff for the good of others that I don't need to add this as well. This is an example of something where I don't feel I was treated well, as a consumer.

Personal responsibility???

I appreciate you pov OP but you would not be successful if you took such action. You were at adult with no vulnerabilities and they followed the regulations at the time.

I'd try to put it behind you and focus on making good decisions and be proud of what you have achieved.

I think you're getting a bit of a hard time, although I agree with a point. I know some people were doing a similar thing years ago with the likes of wonga and did get the interest refunded.

Fourteen years ago, store cards were something you were offered at every till point. The criteria for things like that were very different. Like others have pointed out, you never had to say yes when they were offered. I think that's what it comes down to.

You want compensation for your own greed and stupidity?
Really, it doesn't take a genius to know that if you borrow money, you have to pay it back, with interest. And that is you don't pay back the loan amount, the interest will increase. That is just common sense.
So if you realised within a few months that you were not able to pay back at least some of the balance, why did you say yes to increases in credit limits and get other cards?
You really do have some brass neck

You did say you wanted to raise awareness and help people - if that's not the case that's fine, but so we are on the same page, the main thing you want here is money, right?

In that case, I think personally that your chances are slim. It was so long ago and your evidence is shaky, so I would not bother if I were you.

Did you ever repay your mum? That must have been so difficult if your parents were poor.

Wasnt she angry that after clearing your store card debt you kept spending on store cards for years.?

Most students do this although perhaps not for 9 years.

Are you going to compensate your mum for repeatedly bailing out your adult arse financially?

If the terms under which you would have to repay (i.e. if you borrow more, you'll have to pay back more) weren't explained correctly to you at the time,then I guess you could claim you were missold.

Otherwise ... I'm overweight and it's damaging my health. Can I sue all the food providers who keep selling me food without checking that I'm keeping within my calorie limits?

When my children reached their 18th birthdays, at the end of the 90s they were bombarded with letters offering them credit cards and store cards. Luckily they were sensible, listened to advice and the letters were ignored. They never mentioned friends buying on credit either.
You say that your parents never borrowed, didn't they advise you to do the same?

Fortunately there is more regulation in place now.

So were all those who claimed back their PPI entitled? These were products sold to many who knew what they entailed and what they covered.

@Quinque my mum was a single mum. We had nothing. Can you imagine being offered all the lovely things on buy now, pay later?
I'm taking responsibility but I do feel that your personal situation and background can make you more susceptible to things.

My husband got credit cards and loans at 18. When they were maxed out they offered higher limits. Took him years to get out of debt and years to rebuild his credit rating. Some ppl aren't responsible enough at 18. These company's do take advantage of ppl encouraging more debt as that's how they make their money. Its worth a try don't know if you'll get anywhere.

How would you sue? Would you be using a no win, no fee solicitor? Representing yourself?
Your tale of store card debt is so common, everyone on your estate did it, most students did it.
If it was easy to get compensation years later, everyone would be having a go at this. Why not?

Id love a couple of grand in compensation if it was easy to access.

But that doesn’t mean you’re owed anything, which is all this is about.

PPI was different as (a) often people weren't told, it was just part of the cost of the loan and (b) it was sold to people who could have never claimed, e.g. self-employed people.

I do have sympathy but really, you don't have a case. I worked in financial services for 10 years so I think I know what I'm talking about.

Credit card companies don't have an obligation to look out for your financial best interests. Sorry.

Try it then op. You clearly think you're right, so go for it and let us know how you get on.

DH and I remember the days of the Topshop card. I didn't even have a job, I was a FT student at university and they gave me credit of up to £700 and KNEW I was unemployed. I would have been 19.

DH went to Burtons to buy a coat, was offered a store card which gave him 10% discount on the coat. He signed up. Again, age 19 with no income!

I'm so glad things have changed. We had to ask Santander for an overdraft to pay off our student overdraft.as they charged us PER DAY. It was eye-watering and snowballed veerrrry quickly.

Again, SO happy things have changed!

Your poor mum living on a council estate and taking on your debt! She needed compensation.

PPI was slyly added to financial products without expressly requesting it.
Sorry OP YABU.

We've started saving for DC and we chose an account which isn't accessible until they're 24. For this exact reason 😂
18-19 year olds are too young to manage money