asking a credit card to freeze interest

My hubby and I have credit card debts which have spiralled out of control. We are not in arrears but are at the stage of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and only making minimum repayments. Has anyone had any success writing to a credit card company to ask that interest is frozen and nominal repayments are accepted, without doing an IVA or similar?

Any success or pitfalls would be appreciated.
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Comments

  • nicnacnoo
    nicnacnoo Posts: 408 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    i rang last week to ask Lloydtsb if i could do just that, I said i was making payments in time but was worrying i might struggle soon, the woman told me that the only thing to do was miss a couple of payments then it would be handed over to the collectors before i could ask for interest to be freezed. This wasnt an option for me because i didnt want to get a bad credit report for missing payments so ive opted to just carry on with the payments for now.
  • twinkley_2
    twinkley_2 Posts: 10 Forumite
    nicnacnoo wrote: »
    i rang last week to ask Lloydtsb if i could do just that, I said i was making payments in time but was worrying i might struggle soon, the woman told me that the only thing to do was miss a couple of payments then it would be handed over to the collectors before i could ask for interest to be freezed. This wasnt an option for me because i didnt want to get a bad credit report for missing payments so ive opted to just carry on with the payments for now.


    Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by collectors? Internal to the credit card company - i.e. their collection department, or external as in debt collectors?
  • nicnacnoo
    nicnacnoo Posts: 408 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    she didnt actually say but i took it as internal. She offered me debt help, and im thinking, (no im ok cos ive got MSE...lol)
  • Shoe_Gal
    Shoe_Gal Posts: 7,235 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    twinkley wrote: »
    Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by collectors? Internal to the credit card company - i.e. their collection department, or external as in debt collectors?

    Just so you know, Lloyds are known to be one of the hardest banks to deal with - there are a few stories on here :mad:

    You may get a more sympathetic hearing elsewhere, I found M&S Money very helpful
    Sometimes it's hard to walk in a single woman's shoes - that's why we need really special ones!
    Total debt @ Oct 2008: £29,226.42 Credit Card- £[STRIKE]7493.56[/STRIKE] - £7243.56
    Weightloss : 0/34lbs
  • twinkley_2
    twinkley_2 Posts: 10 Forumite
    Thanks nicnacnoo - anyone else?
  • twinkley_2
    twinkley_2 Posts: 10 Forumite
    Shoe_Gal wrote: »
    Just so you know, Lloyds are known to be one of the hardest banks to deal with - there are a few stories on here :mad:

    You may get a more sympathetic hearing elsewhere, I found M&S Money very helpful

    Tell me more...how were they helpful? Did they freeze the interest?
  • Numpty_Monkey
    Numpty_Monkey Posts: 14,196 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Glad you found the new thread button:D

    Credit card companies are very hit and miss,
    you can talk to one person and get a helpfull person or get you get a a***hole
    I've been there and had both :rolleyes: sometimes in the same day:confused:

    Card companies don't have to freeze intrest, and often they won't unless you can show you are struggling to repaying or getting advise from a debt charity, and that can take time

    Post your SOA on here, we'll see what and where you ca make a cut backs, pay things in the right order, use this link
    http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

    Don't worry youare with friends :T:A
    PROUD TO BE DEALING WITH MY DEBT NERD #869
    Numpty,Not sure why but I'm crying :o . Of all the peeps on this board you're the kindest & most supportive of all & I'm :mad: & :( for you all at the same time . Wish I was there to give you a big :grouphug: & emergency hobnobs
    xx
    DFD 5/1/16
  • thanks numpty monkey. still getting used to how this forum works. Inbetween working all day and looking after the kids in the evening, we shall sit down and list it all this week. ... fitting it all in sometimes is impossible,:o
  • westiedog
    westiedog Posts: 196 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    I was in your position everything was up to date but was robbing Peter to pay Paul as well. I sent all companies a letter (unsigned) and explained the reason why I was in such difficulties and sent a reduced payment to each. Most just accepted this but a couple asked for SOA and the Halifax would not even talk to me the insisted I dealt with Payplan which I did and they have been a godsend. :A

    Im about 8 months down the line and everything seems ok at the minute the only nightmare being Santander who insisted they hadnt received anything from Payplan - I had to resend it all my self. They finally agreed to a reduced payment and to freeze the interest then 2 days later transferred debt to an outside collections agent. When I spoke to a lady from collections agent she said dont worry that they would accept the reduced payment and they would definately not charge interest. :T

    Hope you do realise as well if you pay less than the agreed amount etc etc it will go on your credit file. I dont really care about this as I never ever ever ever want credit ever again :mad:. Good luck xx
    :A
  • Thanks Westiedog. Your experience is useful to hear. It sounds to me like you feel better about things.....do you have any regrets at all? How were Payplan?
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