Halifax Credit Card help please

maisy_daisy

Ok, up to now I have very much taken the "head in the sand" approach to my finances. I have now decided to take the plunge and have started opening my bills rather than hoping they just go away. I know, stupid .

Today I have received a Halifax credit card bill. I feel sick. The card has a limit of £1400. However at some point in the past, I have obviously exceeded this limit, as the balance is now £3500. The card has not been used for ages, so I can only assume that this balance is made up of charges and interest on the charges. There is also a monthly charge for payment protection insurance.

I currently pay the minimum payment by direct debit, so haven't missed any payments, however the payment is not covering the interest/payment protection charge so the balance is getting bigger - obviously this is not sustainable, and there is no way I can bring the balance down to below the limit.

What can I do? :eek:

binaryuniverse

Well firstly, have Halifax upped your limit to 3500? If they haven't then phone them up, explain your situation and see if they will do that for you. That will stop you incurring charges. Next up, while still on the phone, cancel the insurance. Lastly, do you know what your APR is? It's worth asking them if they'll reduce it so your payments service more of the actual debt rather than the interest.

After that is sorted. Do you have another card you could try transferring the balance to at a lower rate?

After you got all that done. Keep trying to chip away at the debt. Not sure how credit worthy you are but you could try for a 0% card to move over to.