Slightly desperate. mbna versus mint.

miky36

I have followed these boards for many months, all the time sinking further into debt. I have cried so often at some of the stories on here, and more than that at my own story.
I won't bore anyone with my story, it follows the same pattern as everyone elses really, but after looking through the messages one thing i notice is that MBNA are quiet cruel towards debtors.
My biggest debt problem is with them and i am now thinking (following all the excellent advice on here) of applying to payplan for an IVA.
My main question here is, would i be better transfering my balance to my mint card as they will hassle me less? sounds a pretty dumb question when written down but i really don't think i could cope with MBNA giving me grief (they were always so nice in the past too...let us extend your credit limit, let us help you with this and that..grr) :mad:
Also who is the best debt agency to go with?
I thank you in advance for any help, and thankyou more for this board which stopped me feeling like a complete failure.

Broken_hearted

Hugs, don't know what mint is like to deal with so can't help there sorry. From what I have heard Payplan seems to be the most flexable.

livinginhope

Hiya milky,not sure what to suggest for you as all facts and figures not present,but what I can say is that MBNA can be horrid,try posting a SOA and letting someone who knows have a look at it.
Not sure if you should jump in straightaway with an IVA,you may find it better to try a DMP or just cutting back if possible.
I don't think it a good idea to transfer balance onto the mint card if you are going to contact a third party for help,mint won't look favourably on it (I don't think),good luck with whatever you choose to do.

miky36

I suppose you right livinginhope, mint may not look favourably. not really thought of that. thanks
I may do an SOA at a later date, but i do consider myself pretty shrewd with money - though not so shrewd that i haven't hit problems....i have already scrutinised my incoming/outgoings, mostly with the help of these message boards.
Thanks brokenhearted, i will try payplan first.
Why do i feel slightly better already just from puttin my first post on and admitting i have a problem???

moggins

Because you've made the first step in your journey?

lynzpower

Hugs to you MIky

Just to say , the more I post, the better I feel I went from this :mad: in March to in April.

HAng around, post more and an SOA will help us find a little bit more for you I reckon xx

samthemanhull

Hi there.

I stopped paying my debts for a few months before signing upto Payplan for their Debt Management Plan. MBNA where by far the worst with nasty letters, but to be honest they were kind of just a load of hot air and actually never carried out any of their threats in their letters. They actually were the first company to accept my lower offer of payment via PayPal and freeze interest. My advice and also Payplans would be to totally ignore MBNA, if they ring inform them nicely you are dealing via Payplan (they will deny payplan have been touch on your behalf but they are lieing) and then end the call and ignore any letters. Payplan will advise you further if you signup to them as some letters they need copies off to deal with on your behalf.

Signing upto Payplan has been the single best thing I have done in my life, and I wish I had done it years ago. They are very helpful and they have explained to me what each letter actually means as they can be worded in such a way that you think they can carry out things that actually they cant without going via the County Court which really is a very last resort and they are most likely to pass the debt onto a debt collection agency who Payplan would then work with and offer a payment too, again Debt Collection Agencies are unlikely to take legal action if you make a reasonable offer off payment.

Anyway Im not trying to undermine the way you are feeling, I felt really quite will with it all when I first started out but non of my worst knightmares came true!

Anyway if you require any further info from me as someone who has been through it private message me.

Hope this helps,

Sam

Thriftylady

I'm not sure if this is any help with your question, but MBNA and Mint are both ultimately owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (although they are still two different companies, not sure what the technical term is, a subsidiary maybe?). Anyway, as far as I know MBNA as a company aims at the 'lower' end of the market, offering credit cards to those on lower incomes which is (according to it) a greater risk strategy.

Anyway, what I'm basically trying to say is that if push comes to shove, you might not notice a huge difference between the two companies if you are at the stage where you actually cannot repay what you owe. It may be that MBNA have less lenient guidelines in place for chasing up debts as they see their customers as more of a risk, hence the strongly worded letters from the start and unwillingness to compromise. However, in a situation where they feel they are unlikely to recover the debt, Mint would most likely behave in a similar way. RBS is one of the biggest banks in the world, and it didn't become that way without some harsh tactics along the way. Banks generally don't see customers as being unable to pay, but as being unwilling to pay, which is how they justify their position.

I wish you the best of luck in getting your problem sorted out.

miky36

Thats not something i'd thought of thrifty, thanks.
A thanks to all that have replied, when u feel so low its nice to know someones listening. I can't burden my friends or family with this, sometimes a stranger is easier.
Sam, if its ok with you i would like to contact you and ask a few questions.

Joe_Bloggs

AS far as I can tell MBNA were taken over by The Bank of America in Jan 2006. Source Wikipedea.
J_B.