please help me help my friend??

trudij

Hi you lot - I need some help....

mt friend has had a letter from her bank (Abbey) saying they are stopping her student overdraft at teh end of this month. She currently is 1300 into it (llimit is 1500) and has no idea how she is going to get it below 500 (which is what they have told her its going down to).

She has one credit card, with about 1200 of 4500 on.

My suggestion to her was to take out a 0% transfer card, use her current card to pay off her overdraft, then transfer the whole lot (or as much as she can) onto the 0% one... then she can lump as much as she can into the 0% card over the next year...

she has been looking at graduate loans,with the idea of getting 2500 to pay her overdraft,and giving back her parents a loan of 1000 they gave h,then paying it back over 3 years (its about 30 a month)

anyone got any better ideas???? She is worried that she may have to leave work if she cant get this sorted - but nobody wants her to go - plus that would mean she Definnately would have to get rid of her horse,and as hes pretty much the only thing she has for herself,thats a no og till shes desperate....

help me help my friend???? PLEASEEEEEE

bank_of_slate

Hi Trudij,

many banks are clamping down on this sort of thing at the moment due to the global economy!
Has she tried negotiating with them to come to an amicable arrangement?
I'd say firstly, make an appointment at the bank to discuss what can be done, if she has no joy, contact CAB for some advice.

Anyone else...........?
...Linda xx

GeorgeUK

If she can't negotiate, then it may be possible to do a 0% SBT. It may depend on her income though.

Virgin money are doing a good deal right now. The super balance transfer allows you to transfer not only to another credit card but to your current account. This way she would not need to pay the higher money transfer rate in her existing card.

trudij

you are stars - whats an SBT ??

I shall show her this a bit lateer on (off to work now) and hopefully she will get some help from it....

nementai

I'm in the same position.
I tried calling Abbey, only to be told I'd have to go in to a branch, so went in, only to be told I'd have to call.. :mad:

they guy I spoke to did say that I would be able to reapply for the credit, and seemend to think they MIGHT give it to me free, but would be more likely to give me the overdraf free to £500, and charged for the rest. The rate isn't bad though, think it's 9.9% so it's probably worth trying for.

Otherwise, I did look into alternative accounts, and I think that RBS and Lloyds offer a £1000 free overdraft for the 3rd year after graduation.

Unfortunately, all these options involve applying for credit, which may be an issue if she has a lot of debt. I've decided not to bother becuase I can just about cope with losing the £500.

Hope that helps!

GeorgeUK

SBT = super balance transfer.
Not a proper banking term though. Money transfer, but still only the transfer fee is applied. Usually if you take money (cash) out on a credit card you will be paying a higher rate of interest. With the SBT cards, no interest is applied so you can transfer to your current account.