Can Your Account Be Suspended for Persistent Debt?

Yes. A credit card can be suspended if you have been in persistent debt for 36 months and do not respond to your provider. The rules require providers to suspend the card if the customer declines to take action to repay the balance more quickly or does not make contact¹. Before that happens, you get 30 days to get in touch².

Persistent debt means you have paid more in interest, fees and charges than towards the amount you borrowed over the previous 18 months³. If that continues, your provider writes to you at 18 months asking you to increase your payments. At 36 months, if you have not responded, the account is suspended. Suspension means you cannot spend on the card or borrow any more money, but the debt does not disappear: you still owe at least your contractual minimum payment, and interest continues to build⁴.

The 30-day window is the part that matters most. Contacting your provider within it, even just to say you cannot afford more, changes what happens next. Providers are expected to show forbearance where you cannot repay more quickly, which can mean reducing, waiving or cancelling interest or charges⁵.

What counts as persistent debt on a credit card?

The definition comes from the Financial Conduct Authority. You are in persistent debt if, over 18 months, the amount you have paid in interest, fees and charges is bigger than the amount of borrowed money you have paid back⁷. Only making the minimum payments for over 18 months can put you in this position⁸.

The rules originally applied to credit cards only, but now cover store cards and catalogue accounts too¹. The same 18-month test applies across all of them. If you are making minimum payments to a credit card, store card or catalogue account, the persistent debt process applies to you⁹.

There is a lower limit. The rule does not apply where the balance on the credit card or retail revolving credit was below £200 at any point in the 18-month period¹⁰. So a small balance that briefly dipped under £200 does not count towards the 36-month clock.

The process runs in stages. At 18 months, your provider contacts you and asks you to take action to stop being in persistent debt by month 36³. The first letter explains that increasing your payments will mean you pay less back overall, suggests contacting the lender, and warns that the account could be suspended and your credit rating affected¹¹. At 36 months, the provider must set out a way to clear the debt, which should take within three to four years³.

Yes: a card can be suspended after 36 months in persistent debt

Your lender can suspend your card if you are in persistent debt for 36 months or more². At that point the provider will try to contact you to discuss your options and should try to help you find a way of paying the debt back more quickly. It may suspend your account only if there is a good reason¹².

Providers describe suspension as a last resort. They are more likely to do it if you ignore them or do not attempt to increase your payments². The rules require suspension where the customer declines to take action to repay the balance more quickly or does not make contact¹.

At 36 months, the options your provider should set out include an affordable payment plan to clear the debt quicker, or paying it off with a loan or another credit card. They may also consider pausing interest and charges, reducing your minimum payment, or suspending your account³. The last of those is the outcome if none of the others is agreed.

30 days to respond before your account is suspended

The 30-day window is standard across providers. If you do not respond, your account will be suspended¹. The same wording appears in provider guidance: if they do not hear from you within 30 days, they will suspend your account, which means you will not be able to spend on it⁴.

The window opens when the 36-month letter arrives. If you receive a letter because you have been in persistent debt for 36 months, you get 30 days to get in touch¹⁴. Contacting your provider does not commit you to a payment you cannot afford. It starts a conversation about what you can pay.

If you cannot afford to pay more, say so. Where the customer is unable to repay more quickly, the firm must show forbearance, for example by reducing, waiving or cancelling interest or charges⁵. Cards of customers shown forbearance, and those who do not respond, would be expected to be suspended⁵. That means forbearance alone does not guarantee the card stays open, but it does change the terms of what you owe.

What suspension means: you can no longer spend on the card

If your account is suspended, you cannot borrow any more money and the card will no longer work¹. For a credit or store card, that means no new purchases, no balance transfers and no cash withdrawals.

The debt itself is unaffected. You still need to pay at least your contractual minimum payment, and you will continue to pay more interest than you would on a cheaper form of borrowing⁴. Suspension stops the balance growing through new spending. It does not stop interest accruing on what is already owed.

Cancelling a recurring card payment does not necessarily end your contract with a business, and it remains your responsibility to pay any money owed under that contract¹⁵. So if a subscription or bill was being paid by the card, cancelling the payment does not cancel what you owe.

One thing suspension does not do is damage your credit report for this reason alone. There is nothing on your credit report about being in persistent debt, or that your card may have been suspended due to persistent debt, so it will not affect your credit score⁶. Being in persistent debt will not directly affect your credit score either¹⁴.

How card providers apply the rule: Nationwide, TSB and Chase

Providers follow the same 18-month definition and 36-month trigger, but the detail of what they do differs.

Nationwide uses a 39-month point rather than 36. Its guidance says it will stop your card if you are still in persistent debt at that stage⁹. The definition it uses is the standard one: over 18 months, paying more in interest, fees and charges than you are paying off the amount borrowed¹⁴.

TSB sets out a wider set of actions in its credit card terms. It may suspend your account either temporarily or permanently to prevent you from getting into further debt, increase your minimum payment, apply your payments so that your persistent debt balance is paid off before other transactions, or close your account if you do not contact it regarding your persistent debt when asked to do so¹². TSB defines the persistent debt balance as the total balance falling within the description of persistent debt under condition 20.20 of its terms, for a total of at least 36 months, plus interest charged at the same standard rate that applies to purchases¹¹.

Chase uses the same 18-month definition: you are in persistent debt if you have paid more in interest, fees and charges than towards the amount borrowed over the previous 18 months¹⁶. Its terms say the account may be cancelled or suspended if you have been in persistent debt for two 18-month periods in a row¹⁶, which is 36 months in total.

first direct states that if you do not take any action at the 36-month point, your credit card may be blocked¹⁷. Tesco Bank uses the standard definition: you are in persistent debt if you have taken out a credit card and paid more in interest, fees and charges than you have paid towards the balance over the past 18 months¹⁸. Jaja states that the rules require it to suspend the credit card if the customer declines to take action to repay the balance more quickly or does not make contact⁴.

Do I still have to make repayments after my card is suspended?

Yes. Suspension stops new spending, not the debt. You still need to pay at least your contractual minimum payment, and interest continues to build⁴. The balance does not go away because the card no longer works.

If you are struggling to pay, there are options. Providers are expected to show forbearance where you cannot repay more quickly, which can include reducing, waiving or cancelling interest or charges⁵. A payment plan to clear the debt over three to four years is the standard route at 36 months³.

Stopping new spending is the first practical step to clearing the debt, because the amount owed stops growing, making it quicker to repay¹⁹. If you are in financial difficulty more broadly, guidance recommends stopping using credit cards or adding to credit card debt²⁰.

If you cannot afford your repayments at all, free and impartial help is available. StepChange, National Debtline and Business Debtline all provide free debt advice, and the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at complaints about a card payment or direct debit that a provider has not resolved. The ombudsman's final response deadline for those complaints is 35 days²¹.

Can a suspended credit card be reactivated?

The rules require providers to suspend a card if the customer declines to take action to repay the balance more quickly or does not make contact⁴. Whether a suspended card can be reactivated depends on your provider and your circumstances. The practical route back is to contact your provider, discuss a repayment plan and show you are engaging.

If you cannot afford higher repayments, forbearance is the relevant protection. Where the customer is unable to repay more quickly, the firm must show forbearance, for example by reducing, waiving or cancelling interest or charges⁵. That can make a repayment plan affordable where a higher minimum payment would not be.

The Financial Conduct Authority has said it is reviewing persistent credit card debt rules to provide subprime borrowers in financial difficulty with a safe way out of persistent debt²². That review is ongoing, and the rules as they stand are the ones described here.

If you are unhappy with how your provider has handled your persistent debt, you can complain. The Financial Ombudsman Service can look at complaints about banking and payments, including card payments and direct debits, where the provider has not resolved things. For those complaints, the provider has to send you a response within 35 days²¹.