Natwest Credit card owing £7500

Elzee

Hi
I'm just after a bit of advice really. My OH has a Natwest c/card and the limit is £6100. Due to paying minimum payment and not managing the account properly the outstanding limit is now in the region of £7500. He pays £169 a month which is the minimum payment. £130 of that is interest so it's not doing much good!
I have now taken control of all of his debts (after I found out about all of them!) and am making good headway but won't be able to increase payments on the credit card til March when I have cleared another one of his £7000 debts!!!!!!!!
I plan to pay £570 per month instead of the minimum payment but was wondering if there was any point talking to the lender ie. Natwest to see if they'd come to some arrangement and maybe decrease the outstanding monies or at least stop adding interest/charges? HAs anyone been in this situation and been helped by the lender? He has been a customer with them for over 20 years.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks xxxx

CLAPTON

I'm afraid, in a word no.
why would they? their business is to make money by charging interest.

If he stopped paying and defaulted then they would probably come to an arrangement but this would trash his credit record for 6 years.

Is it possible to transfer the amount to a 0% BT card or a low life of balance card?

if he has several debts, then all other things being equal then it's best to pay the minimum amount on all debts except the one with the largest APR.. on that pay as much as possible. That way you clear the debts in the shortest time and paying the least interest.


and well done for reducing his debts like this.

Daisy_Duck

As the card is over its limit, are charges being added monthly for this?
If they are then it may be worth splitting the money you have to pay the debts off as opposed to putting as much as you can onto the other £7000 debt otherwise the charges will just keep on being added and you'll get where you want to go even slower.

Companies normally only agree to reduced payment/settlement figures when an account has lapsed seriously and has defaulted. This would have serious consequences for your OH with regard to obtaining any further credit for 6 years.

Good luck

chattychappy

Agree with what's been said already. Since you are "in control" of his finances, perhaps you can get a better deal in your own name and arrange a balance transfer. Such a suggestion is unfashionable in these circles because you would then be liable for the debt and the original debtor might not "learn their lesson".. but in this case it seems you are already paying off some of the debt so I think it's worth considering if you are aware of the pitfalls.

A "life of balance" type deal might be worth considering. OR even apply for two cards - one on 0% and one on balance for life. Put as much as you think you can pay back within a short time on the 0% card and the rest (if possible) on the "life of balance" card. There would almost certainly be a one-off hit of 3% for the transfer, but if your OH is on standard rates, he could be paying 2% or so a month already. The point is that you might be able to get better deals than him if your overall position is stronger.