Post bankruptcy and getting a credit card

Ixy · 6 April 2007 at 1:02PM

Background:

My husband and I owed over £50,000 and we couldn't afford the payments anymore. The problem, as for so many, wasn't that we didn't earn a good amount of money, if it wasn't for the debt we would have a good income. However the repayments were more than we could afford no matter how hard we tried. After a lot of soul-searching and broken hearts we, as CAB had advised us, went bankrupt in 2004.

We behaved very well and were released from the bankruptcy early - after only 6 months although the payments will go on for the full 3 years of course.

It turned out to be the best thing we could have done, gone was the illness caused by stress and worry. With the repayments gone we earned good money and could actually have a normal life.

At first we applied for an account with Nationwide, we got a cashcard only (can't use to pay in shops) but they promised that within 6 months if there were no problems we would be able to get a debit card. However they lied and somehow even though we were perfect customers with solid income every month into bank, paying everything on time and even saving money every month. So we switched to NatWest as they gave us a Solo card. They too promised our credit rating would go up and we would be able to get a debit card and credit card after a while. They lied too.

We NEVER ever ever will get in debt again. We have learned our lesson and if we can't save for something - we just don't buy it until we can.

We do NOT actually want to own a credit card but try to book a hotel without one, or a car for my work travel, or a flight online with money saving sites is impossible. We have the money to pay in cash but that is not an option online.

Over the years we have tried several online credit card applications but all have been rejected. We were desperate enough to apply for one that charged astronomical APR that is allegedly for people in debt/bad credit rating but they turned us down too.

Our credit rating show the bankruptcy having been finished, we are on the electoral roll, any application have been 6 month-1 year apart, we have never missed a payment, we have been in our jobs for years and at this address for 8 years so there isn't much more we can do to improve our rating I guess.

Please, please help us. How can we get a credit card?

wherediditallgo · 6 April 2007 at 1:10PM

Hi Ixy, & welcome to the forum.

Part of the problem I think is that, though your bankruptcy is finished, it still shows up on your credit file. I think it will be there for 6 years.

Have you tried getting one of the prepaid credit cards? If you do a Google search for prepaid credit cards, you might find something to suit. Basically, they work by you putting the money on the card in advance before you use it, so there's no chance of you getting in debt again. Some of them charge a fee for topping up the card, some don't, so you'll need to have a read & see what's the best one for you. I haven't got one yet, but I'm going to get one, for the same reasons you've given. From what you've said something like this may be what you need.

If any of our members have one, maybe they can recommend a good one.

uther_2 · 6 April 2007 at 1:36PM

For now I only have a Quidity card.This is a pre pay card,but as it is only a Maestro,not everywhere will accept it i think.You can get pre pay Mastercards (not sure about Visa) and in our situation (Br or discharged) these would seem to be the only option.

Ixy · 6 April 2007 at 1:57PM

We have thought of the pre-paid cards but the problem with that was:

it must beVisa or MasterCard to be usable
they don't (apparently) have the same protection as normal ccs
they don't build up your credit rating at all apparently

If you can't get credit, sadly the solution is apply for hideous 30%-ish rate credit cards offered by the likes of Monument, the Associates, Barclaycard and Capital One – who offer special ‘high-risk' cards alongside their normal ones.

We tried Capital One without success and Barclays wouldn't even give us a Solo card bank account so I guess that's out. Have anyone that is BR had any success with these?

Or is pre-paid the only way to go?

shameless-about-money · 6 April 2007 at 3:04PM

The Co-op give a Visa Electron card but a lot of places won't take them.

I got a Cashplus prepaid Mastercard which I have found very useful since I can use it the same as a credit card and all over the World.

You can forget about a normal credit card for at least six years.

The prepaid cards are fine and do provide you with unauthorised use cover etc

I only ever once tried to claim from Barclaycard on their fancy refund policy - and never got a bean - the TSO said to just give up since no-one gets anywhere with Barclaycard.

Cashplus Mastercard is brilliant and will cover you for everything you want to do.

You say you don't want debt again - a normal credit card IS debt as soon as you use it! With a prepaid card. if it is not on the card, you cannot spend it!

uther_2 · 6 April 2007 at 3:16PM

Unfortunately I think you can forget about building up your credit rating for at least 6 years after Br.

jobby_2 · 6 April 2007 at 10:04PM

We have a coop electron card and have had no problems using it - its not a credit card and if there is nothing in the account it can't be used - managed to get a 24hour pass from kids for anniversary recently and it was accepted for a deposit!

lucylocket39 · 7 April 2007 at 12:04AM

Hi, those mastercards sound like a good idea! Could i sign up for one now, a week after BR or do i have to wait a year? The card for my new account now is a maestro and like you say, they are not permitted everywhere, especially abroad! Mastercard is recognised more.

shameless-about-money · 7 April 2007 at 9:30AM

You can sign up for a Cashplus card now. There is no credit check since there is no credit involved.

For anyone not yet bankrupt -

They are not credit cards and are not a bank account and do not require you to declare them on your SoA.

https://www.mycashplus.co.uk

JGWT8M · 7 April 2007 at 9:46AM

both myself and the wife have a Maestro 360money pre-payment card.
I've yet to find anywhere online that doesn't accept Maestro, but what I have found is the card sometimes gets rejected in online forms (Worldpay is an example) and you have to select Solo card for the number to be accepted.

http://www.360money.com/

When I signed up it was £1.50 flat fee a month, but when my wife did they seem to have changed it to 3% of loaded amount + 99p per month.

Both Visa and Mastercard do pre-payment cards as well, but they are expensive, something like £5 per month + commission.

shameless-about-money · 7 April 2007 at 9:50AM

the Cashplus Mastercard is £4.95 per month regardless of the number of transactions.

Or you can switch to £1 per transaction if you wish, which can be altered - maybe to increase in October for your Christmas Shopping.

Remember, there are no interest charges!

Post bankruptcy and getting a credit card

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