Silly Minimums

MyMoneyTime

Hi there

Two of our cc, MBNA and Halifax, both on 0% started what I call silly minimums a few months back.

MBNA for example, on a £8K debt, charge me a minimum payment of around £40 a month.

Now I know a proper minimum should be at least £160 but of course I am stuck now. The 0% runs out in June so if I transfer the balance my minimum will shoot up which I can't afford having spent the last two weeks on the bankruptcy board and won't know until Friday if we have to do that or not.

If I leave the debt on MBNA, the interest per month will be more than the payment.

Any experiences with this would be read with interest, ie how long do they do this for, do you get warning when they put it back up again?

Ta in advance....

exel1966

MyMoneyTime wrote: »

Now I know a proper minimum should be at least £160 but of course I am stuck now. ..

Stuck ? Why ? If you want to pay more, then pay more

MyMoneyTime

Yes, I could but its not the only cc or bill and my OH has lost his job.

In hindsight I would never have been taken in by this minimum but debt drags you down and I guess I wouldn't be on the BR board if I could afford more!:rolleyes:

I was just after any advice/experiences from other people with debt - ie do they suddenly put the low minimum up to a realistic one???

exel1966

MyMoneyTime wrote: »

Yes, I could but its not the only cc or bill and my OH has lost his job.

In hindsight I would never have been taken in by this minimum but debt drags you down and I guess I wouldn't be on the BR board if I could afford more!:rolleyes:

I was just after any advice/experiences from other people with debt - ie do they suddenly put the low minimum up to a realistic one???

BR board ? :rolleyes:

If you're after advice re debt then the Debt Free Wannabee board is the place to be.

You're not happy that the minimum is so low yet you can't afford to pay more. Surely if you can't afford more, it's a good job the minimums are low is it not ? Yes it will take longer to clear the debt, but isn't that better than not being able to meet a higher minimum and then being charged extra ?

The minimuns can be increased by the card companies at any time, the only stipulation is that they must give you 30 days notice in writing, which will most likely be in the form of a leaflet posted to you or via your statement if you receive paper statements.

MyMoneyTime

Right, ok thanks.

Not worried about the low payment, worried it will go up!

I will check out DFW another time - sorry if I was in the wrong place - lots of threads and boards on this site!

BenL

If you leave the debt at MBNA the min payment they ask for will shoot up as well. They won't leave it at £40.

Terms and cons read

Monthly minimum
payment:

If the balance shown on your statement is less than £25, it will be the total amount of the statement balance; or
if the balance shown on your statement is £25 or more, it will be whichever is the greater of £25; or the total of any Payment Protection Cover
charges, interest and default charges plus £5.