My Virgin Balance Transfer ended up at 31%APR

july73

Anyone else had their APR doubled

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I don't want to worry you, but since you didn't qualify your 5.2% figure as an APR are you sure you haven't misunderstood or been misinformed?

For example, is the 5.2% a flat rate? ie the APR is roughly twice that figure...around 12-13% APR?

Or have you simply divided 26% APR by 5 (years) to get your 5.2% rate?

I'm no loan expert, but taking the current credit crunch, and your less than perfect credit history, into account, frankly I'm amazed you've managed to get a 5.2% APR loan over 5 years.

Don't mean to offend...just want you to go in with eyes wide open!

Not offended at all, In fact thank you for pointing that out. The lady who is dealing with our application told me it's 5.2%. It will now be another thing I will be double checking before signing anything. As you said yourself I sometimes find how they work it all out a little confusing. I'm not even sure what the difference is between APR and the interest rate Probably why we are in this mess.

Maybe this will make more sense:-

We are borrowing £10,000 over 5 years at £280 per month Total paid back will be £16,800 if we don't make any over payments. If we do then it will of course be less.

If you are any good at calculating the APR on that please do, I'd be very interested to see what it works out at.

The only way I'm looking at it is we will be debt free in 5yrs but not paying any more a month. Which at the moment I can't see us clearing these cards within 5yrs even if we pay £140 to each a month. If that makes sense.

Please if anyone thinks I'm making a big mistake hear then let me know. I would not be offended at all. I'm just not as money savvy as some:o . Also with refusals on 0% balance transfers and only offers being secured loans at around £250 per month over 15 yrs and based on our circumstances, I thought this was the best option for us ........for now. We are learning things like maybe once our credit scores improved we can look at hopefully a better deal again in the future, if there is one!! But for some there's probably better options.

Sorry I'm waffling on a bit:rolleyes:

NickX

july73 wrote: »

We are borrowing £10,000 over 5 years at £280 per month Total paid back will be £16,800 if we don't make any over payments. If we do then it will of course be less.

If you are any good at calculating the APR on that please do, I'd be very interested to see what it works out at.

I make this to be an APR of 10.93%

Not excessive but you should be able to get cheaper elsewhere.

YorkshireBoy

NickX wrote: »

I make this to be an APR of 10.93%

According to http://www.whatsthecost.com/loan.aspx it's around 23% APR !!!!! :eek:

I think 'july73' should start a new thread in order to get some more help. Not sure where the new thread should be though?...here on credit cards, loans, or the debt-free board?

july73

Anyone else had their APR doubled

NickX wrote: »

I make this to be an APR of 10.93%

Not excessive but you should be able to get cheaper elsewhere.

Thanks NickX for working out the answer to YorkshireBoy question and giving me the APR on this loan. Will see if I can get a better deal, but if all else fails, at least it's at a cheaper APR than I'm paying on my cards. Plus one had almost doubled it's APR:eek:

I was just worried that I'd fallen into the trap of ending up paying a higher APR on this loan. Thankfully I wont be:j

xeena

Yup, I too make it around 23% Pretty poor value, and bad of them to mislead you like that.

july73

Anyone else had their APR doubled

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

According to http://www.whatsthecost.com/loan.aspx it's around 23% APR !!!!! :eek:

I think 'july73' should start a new thread in order to get some more help. Not sure where the new thread should be though?...here on credit cards, loans, or the debt-free board?

OMG you are right. I will be seeking some more advice on this. I know one card has jumped up to 31% APR not sure of the other. But definitely need to be wary and have a search for a better deal. At least now we are all talking APR, so it helps me see the difference. When I was told 5.2% I now know that's not the APR. So now know to compare APR with APR. Saved the link so I can use and do some comparisons.

Many Thanks YorkshireBoy for this link and bringing up the subject in the first place. You may have just prevented me from making a costly mistake.

lisaspice

Hi Jono2375,
I'm in exactly the same boat. I owe 10K & was paying £185 per month. I was advised a couple of months ago that my low fixed rate was coming to an end. When I was over my limit twice (with £12 fee added on) because of so much interest I looked into it. I asked a customer service adviser what I needed to pay to keep my payment at £185 and was told £501, which will bring me below the threshold. This month my statement came and it was back over the limit again (I have not used the card for the last 2 months). I rang and asked why and someone else said that I should have paid £536. There ws yet again another £12 added on but when I explained that i'd taken advice last month and been told wrong info, they did credit it back(I just hoped that it's not classed as a default). This month I have had to pay £265 so that is nearly £800 in 2 months. I asked what percentage rate I was now paying and they told me 34%!!! I couldn't believe it. I complained at the daylight robbery and they put it down to 21%. I am still unhappy at the bad customer service. I am writing in to complain because they tell me my minimum payment is £185 but were then charging £257 interest on top so even if I don't use the card, the balance is getting much bigger each month even after i'd made a monthly payment. The FSA have a new initiative called Treating The Customer Fairly and lots of big named banks have been fined mollions for not giving the customer a ture picture or selling customers products that are not suitable for them. If you state the FSA i'm sure that they will come to some agreement!,
Cheers and good luck

Locke

MBNA up to their usual tricks, just move somewhere else.

july73

Anyone else had their APR doubled

Sorry Jono2375 I have managed to hog your thread somewhat. Hope you get the advice you need and many thanks to all who posted on here and helped me see the light.

Best of luck Jono2375

NickX

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

According to http://www.whatsthecost.com/loan.aspx it's around 23% APR !!!!! :eek:

Yep it is 23% or thereabouts.

Apologies for my miss-information last night, was getting late and I made a hash of the calculation.

Definitely not a good deal in today's market of low interest rates. Hope you manage to secure a better deal that meets your needs.