Transfer Career Develpment Loan to Egg card?

jenksy_2

Hi there, this is my first post so please bear with me if this has been asked a million times before! I've searched the forum and have found lots of questions on this topic but very few answers. so here's mine:

I have a CDL with Barclays of £5100 with repayments beginning at the end of October. I have been advised to transfer this to an interest free for 9 months Egg card, but have a few queries regarding this.

Getting in contact with Barclays is a nightmare, do you get charged from transferring the debt early/in one lump sum/at all?

Do i need to be employed to get an Egg card? My other debts include a typical student loan debt from undergraduate course of around £10,000 plus my £2000 Current Account overdraft. Am i likely to be accepted for a credit card on this premise?

Are there any other means of paying of this debt?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Jenksy

linniestorm

I've got an Egg Card which I believe (if I remember correctly) I got when I was a student. It had a £500 credit limit! So you might struggle, unless you call them to ask for a special arrangement, I'm assuming you'll be in work fairly shortly?

You'll have to check your Barclays CDL Terms and Conditions for any early redemption charges (they should be on the website?) or do you have online banking, could you send them an electronic message?

And are you prepared to become a bit of a card tart? You'll have a 9 months deal, but you'll have to be prepared (and be in a position) to shift it round when this ends, or you'll be paying 15%+ in interest on it!

What's the current interest on your CDL, can't be that much can it? Are you going to be in a position (i.e. employed and earning a decent amount) to shift it either to another card deal or a loan.

Usually, the loan offers as a student/graduate are some of the most flexible and not terrible in the rate department for people lacking a solid credit history, I'd think carefully before moving! Best of luck!

jenksy_2

I'm a postgrad finishing off my dissertation which is due mid september. So at the moment i'm desperately looking for part-time work (quite unsuccessfully) and have applied to certain positions for full-time career work from October. I'm not very confident in getting a job i want tho!

The interest rate for the CDL is 12.9% from the end of October. Thats pretty high isn't it? Obviously not compared to credit cards tho. Getting info from Barclays about CDL is like blood out of a stone, its a separate business that only deals in telephone enquiries and as my mobile is being repaired/replaced at the moment i'm stumped a bit!

I am definitely prepared to become a card tart. Thats the intention, get a card which i cannot transfer loan debt onto and then after the interest period is up shift it to a typical 0% balance transfer card.

There is no interest on the loan at all at the moment. They work by being interest free over the lifetime of your course (plus an extra month). If I could transfer it to a card, which would presumably charge a 2% fee at the beginning (only £200) of the deal, i should then be full time employed and able to pay the minimum payments each month (roughly £150?).

jenksy_2

So if i intend to tart.. when should I apply? Apply to early and i'll miss the window to pay it off, apply too late and i'll start earning interest with Barclays.

Please help, i'm starting to panick about how i'm going to pay off this debt as I don't even have part-time work at the moment. There must be some CDL experiences out there!

linniestorm

Hmm, no experience with CDL's unfortunately, but I'd say definitely apply when you're in work. It looks much better and you're more likely to get a credit limit closer to what you need. Alternatively you could try applying now and build up a perfect usage record, i.e spending some cash on it and paying in full each month, which might make them more agreeable to extending a low credit limit when the time comes.

Hopefully someone else will have a bit more experience with this and can offer some more advice!

jenksy_2

Hope so! Thanks for your response tho.

CLAPTON

do you have any income
do you have a job lined up for september (asssuming the course is now finished)...what sort of salary

jenksy_2

At the moment I have no income, but that will fingers crossed have changed in a weeks time. From then on till my diss deadline i'll be applying, going to interviews etc, some which should be happening soon. I doubt by the end of October that i'll be on a salary greater than £15k

jenksy_2

Sorry re-reading that.. its not very clear is it?! what i meant to say was.. basically i'll have some part time work from mid August till my dissertation is due. After that i'd either extend those hours and get something like 10-12k a year or get accepted to one of the 'proper' jobs ive been applying for and get 15kish. Hope that helps!

CLAPTON

you will need to get a clear view from Barclays or read the T&Cs. as you know the basis of CDL is that you have no interest charged in the first year but pay a high rate in the second...so they may not let you simply pay off the capital amount...the barclay web site does cover this area...surprise suprise.

as far as tarting is concerned having a proper job with a good salary should increase your chance of being successful and also being offered a decent credit limit.
you could always give it a try..a single CC application shouldn't have an adverse effect on your credit rating.

ollyshaw

I remember with my barclays CDL that there were massive penalties for closeing the account early. It was basically best to keep going with the montly repayments. This is the key question, whats the penalty of closing it early, you need to know this before anything else.

CDL's are a rip off, but it was the only way i could fund my MSc.

Olly