Persistent Debt

As part of the FCA rules on Persistent Debt we will be in touch if you have, over the past 18 months, paid more in interest, fees and charges on your account than towards paying back the amount you borrowed. Under the FCA rules this means your account is in something called “Persistent Debt”. We will monitor your account and will let you know when your account is in Persistent Debt.

18 months notification: If your account is identified as being in Persistent Debt, then we will contact you to explain your options and offer support if you need any extra help.

27 months notification: If you have not made sufficient payments to help reduce your Persistent Debt balance, we will get in touch again and explain what you need to do next.

36 months notification: If you're still in Persistent Debt at this stage, we will contact you with the option of a Persistent Debt Plan to repay your balance within a reasonable period of time.

If you choose to opt out of a Persistent Debt Plan we may need to suspend your credit account.

Although your credit account gives you flexibility on how to repay your balance, making consistently low payments compared to your balance may not be a cost effective way to borrow. Having long term debt also means that you're more at risk of running into financial difficulties in the future.

No, but having long term debt could mean that you’re more at risk of running into financial difficulties in the future.

No, but it could be costing you more than it needs to. We’re encouraging you to review what you pay to see if you can increase this or commit yourself to paying a fixed amount each month (just make sure its always over your minimum payment). If you’re not able to increase your payments or think it might be a struggle, get in touch and let us know and we can discuss your options with you. Contact details can be found at the bottom of this page.

You always have the option to pay the minimum amount, however we would recommend increasing this again as soon as you are able. This will help to reduce the amount of interest charged and clear your balance sooner.  Should your account remain in Persistent Debt for a period of 36 months, we will contact you with the options to repay your balance within a reasonable period of time.

If you choose the Take 3 payment option, it allows you to split the cost of your purchases over 3 months and avoid interest. Simply pay the Take 3 amount on your statement and you’ll pay no interest on qualifying purchases if you make your three Take 3 payments on time.

If you use Buy Now Pay Later, you can avoid all of the interest by paying the cash price before the end of the delayed payment period. This can be done in one full payment or multiple partial payments. Making partial payments without clearing the cash price in full will reduce the lump sum of compound interest charged at the end of the delayed payment period.

If you are offered a Persistent Debt plan, this is a way to help you pay your Persistent Debt balance within a reasonable period of time. Your Plan will be for a fixed number of monthly instalments and will form part of your monthly minimum payment. We will contact you with details of the plan if applicable.