Your own Bank.. How realistic????

Locana

Hi,

I have a bad credit score, but for the last few years I have kept up with all payments, direct debits, not gone overdrawn etc... However I do have a couple of credit cards and one loan that are quite high in interest, and would like to take out a loan so that I do not have to pay this kind of interest. How realistic is it that I can go to my bank, and ask for a loan??? Has anyone with a bad credit score done this and did it work?? I'm with the Woolwich and have been for over 3 years....

Many thanks in advance.....

Lo

AMILLIONDOLLARS

I think the general advice on this Board is not to take out a consolidation loan, as you may more in the long run. Have a look at Debt Free Wannabe as the ideal of snowballing has been mentioned several times. This is when you target the highest APR CCard First, throw all surplus funds at paying it off. When the card is paid off move onto the next highest APR Card and use the surplus cash to pay this off . I am sure someone will come along in a sec and explain this concept much better than me.

Good luck

homer_j_3

I agree with the above post that it is not the general advice given re consolidation, however, I believe that if you can 100% be certain that should you get a loan, you will cancel all your other credit/debt facilities then I believe that this can be OK.

If you go to your bank, they should take consideration your history with them and if they can see that you have successfully maintained payments in excess of what the loan will be replacing then you should stand a pretty good chance.

If you can post a list of your debts with the following info:

Current Balance
Interest Rate
Term Remaining
Monthly Payment

and then if you have already approached the bank and got details of the loan that they are prepared to offer, I am sure we can see if it is worth doing.

The important bit re the loan is to ensure you can overpay as I would expect that the sensible thing to do if you can maintain your current payment amount would be to put the money you are saving towards the loan as an overpayment.

There is absolute no point in doing this if you are going to run debts back up on your other facilities.

Hope this helps

Tondella

Locana, it's not just the case that your own bank will know that you have recently been a good customer, this sort of info will be on your credit record too, therefore you might be able to shop around and get a better deal elsewhere. come over to the debt free board, there's loads of great advice going on there, you can post a bit more about your personal circumstances and get tailored advice to your situation. There are alot more options than just getting out a new loan. Best wishes!