No way out....

Rochdale_Guy

Hi, long time I was last on here....

Anyway, how things can change.

I currently owe:

£500 on EGG card (£3,000 limit), £30 min per month
£1,770 on a RBS MASTERCARD (£3,900 limit) , £39 min payment (£23 interest)
£2,750 on a MINT VISA (£6,900 limit) (£60 min payment)
£1,160 on a CitiBANK VISA (£1,750 limit) (£26 a month, but at 5.9% APR until paid off)



and the big killer....

£6,780 on an MBNA visa (£11,000 limit), my low offer APR rate has now ended and my monthly payments have gone from about £40 a month to a crippling £150 approx monthly payment with £147 interest.
I only noticed this by checking my online balance last month

So, being totally strapped for cash, what are my options please?

The LEEDS Building Society 6.9% APR balance for life offer has ended, and the next best one is Halifax at 7.9% APR for life.

Or do I try for the longest 0% balance transfer card?

I can't afford to pay the MBNA extortionate £150 (and going up) each month in interest alone.

The next payment comes out of my account by D/D in a few days.

What are my best options please?

Someone throw me a life line.....

RD

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CannyJock

What are the limits and APR on your cards? And who are the cards actually with? VISA/Mastercard doesn't mean anything.

Rochdale_Guy

Post re-edited to include card limits, thanks

Valli

give us an edited list under four headings

Card Outstanding Balance APR Minimum payment

(Why is the min payment on the Egg so high?)

and any chance of a SOA?

ILW

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

Hi, long time I was last on here....

Anyway, how things can change.

I currently owe:

£500 on EGG card (£3,000 limit), £30 min per month
£1,770 on a RBS MASTERCARD (£4,000 limit) , £39 min payment (£23 interest)
£2,000 on a RBS VISA (£3,500 limit) (£60 min payment)
£1,160 on a CitiBANK VISA (£1,800 limit) (£26 a month, but at 5.9% APR until paid off)


and the big killer....

£6,780 on an MBNA visa (£11,000 limit), my low offer APR rate has now ended and my monthly payments have gone from about £40 a month to a crippling £150 approx monthly payment with £147 interest. I only noticed this by checking my online balance last month

So, being totally strapped for cash, what are my options please?

The LEEDS Building Society 6.9% APR balance for life offer has ended, and the next best one is Halifax at 7.9% APR for life.

Or do I try for the longest 0% balance transfer card?

I can't afford to pay the MBNA extortionate £150 (and going up) each month in interest alone.

The next payment comes out of my account by D/D in a few days.

What are my best options please?

Someone throw me a life line.....

RD

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Not sure what lifeline you expect.
you really do need to address your income and expenditure rather than just trying to keep moving the debt around and making minimum payments. It will only get worse unless you bite the bullet.
Sorry

Charlie_Manchester

ILW, it isn't that easy. MBNA are terrible. I owed £8,700 on an MBNA card (minimum payments £196 pcm) and I phoned up two years ago to pay £4,700 off it. The woman I spoke with said that the interest rate was 'ridiculously high' so once the £4,700 had claered they would look to reduce the rate. Nothing happened.

Each time I phoned up to ask then to reduce the rate I was put on hold for upto 1hr 40 mins at one stage so naturally had to hang up. I wrote a letter and the wrote back stating that I had to phone them up, so I did, and after 1hr 20mins I hung up.

What they did do however, straight away, is increase the interest rate so on a balance 45% lower at £4,000 I was still paying a minimum of £196 pcm! I thought paying off £4,700 would reduce the minimum payment, not increase it.

Anyway, 28 months ago my balance was £4,000 (I haven't used the card in five years) and for the last 28 months alone I have paid MBNA a total of £5,488 and my balance is still.....£4,000.

You try to pay them off but they have got you. I can't go elsewhere due to my credit rating.

CannyJock

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

£500 on EGG card (£3,000 limit), £30 min per month
£1,770 on a RBS MASTERCARD (£4,000 limit) , £39 min payment (£23 interest)
£2,000 on a RBS VISA (£3,500 limit) (£60 min payment)
£1,160 on a CitiBANK VISA (£1,800 limit) (£26 a month, but at 5.9% APR until paid off)
£6,780 on an MBNA visa (£11,000 limit), £147 interest.

Still doesn't have the APR.

Can you transfer any more to the CitiBank card?
Have you spoken to Egg or RBS about any balance transfer deals that would help you move the MBNA balance across?

MBNA's minimum repayments are among the lowest you can get, so you might be able to move the balance to a lower APR basis, but that won't help your affordability.

CannyJock

Charlie_Manchester wrote: »

I can't go elsewhere due to my credit rating.

That isn't really MBNA's fault though is it?

They are notorious for hiking interest rates up, although you can reject the increase nowadays.

Their position is that they assess you for risk - the reality is they assess you for risk and profitability, and they will try and make as much money from you as possible. That just makes them a financial institution, they're not in business to be "fair" unfortunately.

ILW

Charlie_Manchester wrote: »

ILW, it isn't that easy. MBNA are terrible. I owed £8,700 on an MBNA card (minimum payments £196 pcm) and I phoned up two years ago to pay £4,700 off it. The woman I spoke with said that the interest rate was 'ridiculously high' so once the £4,700 had claered they would look to reduce the rate. Nothing happened.

Each time I phoned up to ask then to reduce the rate I was put on hold for upto 1hr 40 mins at one stage so naturally had to hang up. I wrote a letter and the wrote back stating that I had to phone them up, so I did, and after 1hr 20mins I hung up.

What they did do however, straight away, is increase the interest rate so on a balance 45% lower at £4,000 I was still paying a minimum of £196 pcm! I thought paying off £4,700 would reduce the minimum payment, not increase it.

Anyway, 28 months ago my balance was £4,000 (I haven't used the card in five years) and for the last 28 months alone I have paid MBNA a total of £5,488 and my balance is still.....£4,000.

You try to pay them off but they have got you. I can't go elsewhere due to my credit rating.

I appreciate it is very difficult, that is why I suggested that the OP needs to look beyond paying credit card minimum payments and trying to knock a few % off the interest rate and maybe look at increasing income or reducing spending in other areas.
The real problem here is caused by just making minimum payments every month.

Valli

which is why I asked the OP for a SOA and more details...

then we can suggest a way forward which might be focussing on one card (ie snowballing) and clearing that, while making minimum payments on the others. The card to focus on might be the one with the highest APR or it might make sense to get the Egg balance (£500?) cleared ASAP then focus on the others...

There might be ways for the OP to reduce other spending for a while and focus on getting some of these debts shifted.

Rochdale_Guy

Thanks for your replies. Can't get online much. Will try and post the APRs soon.

I had a letter when I got home from work from RBS VISA offering 5.9% APR balance transfer until March 2011.

Would that help me? better than the £150+ a month MBNA surely.... what a mess I am in

I see HALIFAX are doing a 6.9% APR life of balance card.... if lucky enough dependant on your credit score... too scared to apply though....probably get 10.9% knowing me

http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/easyrate.asp




and I can't afford to pay £1,800 minimum in interest alone on the MBNA card

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