I need some help.

casey65

Hi I am a newbie so I'm sure this question has been asked many times before, so please indulge me, as I need some help and advice.
I am in a bit of a mess finacially but my main concern is with one of my Credit Cards. I have £4,400 on an MBNA card, which until recently I have been managing to pay off the minimum amount each month which was £120, but now they have raised it to £150 a month, which is a bit steep. I have also found that my balance isn't going down each month but up and I haven't dared spend on the card. My minimum payment was only paying for the interest and the PPI. I have been in touch with the MBNA and they say that there is nothing they can do about the minimum amount but I have reduced the PPI cover so that is a little less.
I have tried to get another card to transfer to a cheaper rate but apparently my credit score isn't very good.
I am begining to feel very worried about where to go next, can anyone help me??

Staciep88

Hi there,

Just wanted to say welcome and that you are not alone! Someone will be along very soon to give you the best advice possible! All I can say is that my OH has debts on £4500 on 2 credit cards and like yourself, he has a bad credit rating which means he cannot take out a 0% card either. In the end I took out a 0% card in my name for him, and have managed to transfer £900 over to this new card in my name. Which has left 1 credit card clear and the other £300 less than before. I obviously dont know your circumstances and whether this would be possible, even a family member? But before considering this I would do a SOA and post it on here so that everyone can see where your money is going each month and where you can cut back. Hope that helped a little

latecomer

First thing to do is check your credit file and see whats on it. Check the sticky at the top of the board about credit reports for how to get a copy for free.

How about taking out a loan?

Whats the APR on the card, as if must be around 30% if the payments are only covering the interest?

CLAPTON

basically paying the minimum on almost any card means the debt will take years and years to pay off.

you need to find ways of increasing your monthly payment.
can you increase your income... say overtime, part time job etc
and look at your spending and find ways of reducing it

Try going over to the debt free wannabe board and read the stickies there and post up an SOA (i.e. details of incoem, and spending and debts ) and people there will help you find ways fo reducing spedning etc


also obtain copies of your credit files and find out exactly why your credit rating is poor .. maybe there is incorrect information on them.

DestroyingAngel_2

The MBNA website (www.mbna.co.uk) has a link to www.loans.co.uk, which you could check out and see if there's anything there that might help with your situation. You could consolidate all your outstanding loans, or take a payment holiday; find out what their APR is and what deals they're offering.

Also, have a consider as to whether you really need PPI. What's your job situation like, is it stable? If you're in a good, steady job and are in good health, you might want to cancel PPI for the time being.

Saucepot

I would say not only reconsider the PPI against your job situation, but against the actual cover aswell. A lot of PPI doesn't actually cover you. Read the details of what is covered in addition to what the last poster said.