Struggling with a Virgin Credit Card debt

Weleno

Is there anything I can do to help clear this? They hiked my interest rate up a couple of months ago and now I'm paying nearly £100 a month in minimum payments!

I'm already paying over £600 a month into other credit card debts (which at this rate will be gone in 1 year) and this minimum payment from Virgin is literally crippling me... it means that I cannot actually afford to make any paments into the balance - I'm only paying the interest each month.

It's really upsetting me as I'm trying SO hard to clear my debt as fast as possible and am making so many sacrifices to do so, but I just feel like I can't cope with the Virgin credit card debt any more...

Getting really down about this all, plus 12 months seems like SUCH a long time away!

GeorgeUK

Are you able to get another credit card or do you have one that is not in use that you could ask to get a balance transfer offer on?

Have you had alot of credit searches recently?

If possible, could you overpay on the card with the lowest balance and once that is clear, try to get a BT offer?

365days

Can you balance transfer to the other credit cards if they are lower APR?

Tixy

Hi

Next time (if there is a next time) a credit card rate gets increased are you aware that you can reject the increased APR and continue to pay the debt at the current level - the account is closed so you can no longer spend in it (which is probably no bad thing) but you do not have to pay off all the debt at once. You have 1 month to opt out of a rate increase from the date you were told about it.

Have you tried writing out a full income & expenditure account to see if there are any areas you can save money (change suppliers/switch tariffs or just by cutting back) so that you can free up a bit more to throw at your card debts?

Also have you used one of the snowball calculators to make sure you are paying your debts off in the most cost effective manner (the one that means you pay least interest overall)?

Weleno

Hi GeorgeUK, I'm afraid I probably don't have a very good credit rating (am scared to look!) as I've got a fair few thousand pounds worth of debt. I'm worried about applying for a card and getting turned down because of how this will look to others.

Essentially, I need to be in a position in 18 months time to apply for a mortgage and look good - I'm terrified of being turned down for the mortgage! How can I make myself look more appealing?

One of my debts has been transferred to a company called Blair Oliver and Scott, and I have a repayment plan to clear this debt with them in 2 years (unless I can manage to up the payments and make this shorter - which I'm hoping to do). If this debt hasn't cleared with them by the time I apply for a mortgage - will I get declined?

Sorry - more than one question in here now!

Weleno

Hi all, thanks for the tips, yes I probably could do a balance transfer but only once I've cleared some of the debt from the better rated cards I own, which will take a little while now. I'm afraid I just can't pay any more into them each month - I'm making just over £600 in repayments each month, on top of the minimum payment DD's I've got set up with each of the cards. This is just over £800 of my monthly income going into clearing the debt... and I just wouldn't be able to survive if I repayed at a faster rate.

GeorgeUK

Not that simple i'm afraid.

If you have late payments on your file, creditors may take these into account and it will impact your score slightly for up to a year. After 2 years any impact should be negligent.

If you have missed payments and are issued with a default (even though you arrange a repayment plan with your creditor), this will remain on your file for 6 years and will have a big impact on your credit score.

Paying to see your score is not really worth the money as all organisations work it out differently. Also the credit reference agencies won't know the little details such as how much your income is.

How long ago was the account defaulted?
If you're not sure, you can take a look at you credit file for free at experian (if you cancel within 30 days)

Tixy

Just so you know blair oliver scott are the inhouse collectors for halifax/bank of scotland. This will mean you probably have a default on this debt. If you have then it will stay on your file for 6years from when you defaulted and could make it pretty hard to get a mortgage (or one at a decent rate at least).

To know if there is a default you need to get your credit report. Be brave and get it so at least you know - £2 each for each of the credit agencies or you can do by free trial (only free if you remember to cancel within 30days)

GeorgeUK

The best way to clear the debt is usually to pay the minimum to all cards and throw anything you have left at the debt with the highest APR - this means you will be paying less interest in the longrun. If you have high APR debts that you can't transfer, it may be worth clearing the smallest balance first to try to get a BT offer. As an existing customer, this usually doesn't require a credit check.

Weleno

Thanks for all the help guys

I started making repayments to Blair Oliver and Scott in July last year, so I imagine that the default came some time before this.

It sounds as if I'm doing the right thing in terms of repaying the debts in order of priority... but if this default is going to stop me from getting on a mortgage then this sounds like the most AWFUL situation to have got myself in.

Is there anything I can do to make this look better on my credit file? If I repayed the BO&S debt first would this help? Are there any solutions or have I pretty much ruined my chances?

Tixy

You could possibly try to see if the default notice and procedure was executed properly. If they hadn't put the correct info on the default notice, or didn't send one (and could not prove they had) then there is a chance you could get the default removed.

One other possible option might be if you could agree to pay BOS in a lump sum in exchange for them agreeing to remove the default (although depends on how much you owe them whether this is even slightly feasible)

To be honest neither are great chances they are the only things I know of to suggest.

First step would be to get your credit report and see when the default was entered (and if there are any more on other debts).