Confused and need help please

johnny_english

Hi all, im in a predicament and am confused to which option i can take. I currently have an HSBC Flexiloan which i owe £3000 and a HSBC Credit card which i owe £1000. I applyed for a loan from Money back bank for £5000, which was advertised at Apr 7.8%, but when i was accepted it changed to Apr 11% which i found odd due to having a good credit rating when i did the check and have never missed a payment on any debt iv had and have no CCJs. I have this loan offer on hold and am wondering if i could transfer both the debts to a 0% credit card. There is so much advise out there and so many differant options im confused which route to take.
Any replys would be greatly appreciated

many thanks

johnny:o .

CLAPTON

what is the APR of the current loan
what is the monthly repayment
how many more months left to run

what is the APR of the hsbc CC
what is the monthly repayment

if you take the 5000 loan what will the monthly repayments be and over what period

how much can you repay in total each month?


best advice is to live within your means and avoid taking out loans at all as these reduce your standard of living because of all the interest you pay.

However, need to know the answers to the questions to say much more

johnny_english

what is the APR of the current loan (The flexiloan is 18%)
what is the monthly repayment (I pay £160 per month)
how many more months left to run (2 years? im not sure)

what is the APR of the hsbc CC (0% until november 2008)
what is the monthly repayment (I pay £a minumum of £50, more if i can afford it)

if you take the 5000 loan what will the monthly repayments be and over what period (A quote for £5500 over 4 years was quoted at £140 per month)

how much can you repay in total each month? (£200-£250 preferably £200)

Many thanks clapton.

pr33tz

How about speaking to HSBC to move onto their normal personal loan (typically 8.9%)? They have an offer where they pay you back 25% of the interest at the end of the term making it 6.9% overall.

Is you current account with HSBC?

JayZed

First of all, 18% is an utterly extortionate rate for a loan, and there are much better loan rates on the market. Have a look at Martin's loans article on this websiet. Barclaycard currently offers loans of £4K or more at an APR of 7.8% (which you could pay off over 2 years at £180 a month); for less than £4K, the moneyback bank loan that you've been offered at 11% may be the best option.

But we don't want to give you that... the option that you mention in your first post, putting all your debts onto a 0% credit card, is definitely the best option. Again, read Martin's article on best 0% deals. Keep on paying as much as you can off the credit card every month as if it were a loan, and remember two important things: (1) don't forget to apply for a new 0% card about 6 weeks before the current deal expires, and (2) don't use the 0% card to spend.

I'm not sure whether you can pay off your HSBC loan using a credit card, but if you can't, you can just get an Egg Money card and use it as a "mule" card, again as per Martin's article.

BUT VERY IMPORTANTLY check whether there's an early redemption fee on your HSBC loan. If there is, work out whether paying it off early is actually going to end up costing you more.

Hope that's helpful.

johnny_english

Thank You for your help jayzed, ill look into the articles you mentioned.

johnny_english

Can anybody verify if i have grasped this correctley.

1 Im going to apply for an Egg Money card.
2 Im going to apply for a new Credit Card to do a £5000 balance transfer to the Egg money card (is there a specific credit card i need to apply for?)
3 I am then free to transfer the £5000 on my Egg money card straight to my current account then to consoldate my debt.

Any response would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks again

Johnny:o

JayZed

johnny_english wrote: »

Can anybody verify if i have grasped this correctley.

1 Im going to apply for an Egg Money card.
2 Im going to apply for a new Credit Card to do a £5000 balance transfer to the Egg money card (is there a specific credit card i need to apply for?)
3 I am then free to transfer the £5000 on my Egg money card straight to my current account then to consoldate my debt.

Any response would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks again

Johnny:o

That's correct. Make sure you apply for the Egg Money Card, not the Egg Card (which is a normal credit card).

As for a specific credit card, I think that the best one on the market at the moment (in terms of length of 0% balance transfer offer) is Virgin at 15 months (use the link in Martin's article). This has a balance transfer fee of 2.8% (£140 if you transfer £5,000).

There are a couple (e.g. Abbey Zero) that have no balance transfer fee, but the 0% deal only lasts for 6 months, so you'd have to be organised and switch to a new card every 6 months. I'd recommend the Viergin option unless you're really super confident that you are organised and motivated enough to move your debt onto a new card every 6 months.

PS why £5,000? Your oustanding debts are £4,000. Unless you really need the extra grand, no point in paying the extra £28 balance transfer fee, or in paying off the extra debt (even if it is at 0%).

johnny_english

Thanks again jayzed i really do appreciate your advise, as for getting advice from my own bank (Laugh Out Loud) utter skam!.

johnny_english

So i applyed and recieved my egg money card to work as my "mule". Now the next step is to find a balance transfer C.C. Reading this website, i have decided to go for the Virgin C.C(0% apr for 15 months/2.98 handeling fee). My question is i have to pay a handeling fee of 2.98%,my balane tranfer would be £5000 so a handeling fee of £149. My question is do i have to pay this upfront or do they add this to the balance im borrowing on the C.C?. I have read the terms and conditions and it dosent state how i pay and when i pay this fee. Thanks again for any replys

Johnny:o

johnny_english

anybody???