No way out....

Rochdale_Guy

What if.......
I have just had a thought :exclamati (not very common for me!).... :rotfl:

I have a £11,000 limit on my 29% APR 'MBNA' card, with a balance of about £4,200 owing = £6,000+ credit available.

Could I balance transfer the near £6,000 owed on my MINT card @ 20% onto the MBNA, leaving a horrendous £10,000k owed at 29%, but a blank balance on the MINT, then contact MINT and see what there best balance transfer is? Then shift it back from MBNA onto the MINT at a new lower rate, well it's better than the current 20% it costs me.

But, that means for say 2 weeks there will an enormous £10,000 on the MBNA card

And what if MINT reduce my limit while the balance is zero and don't offer me a lower fixed rate deal?

I'll still have the £4,200 owing on the MBNA though.

Then I could do the same with my RBS Mastercard. Shift that over to MBNA to clear the £3,700 owed. When I have a £0 balance with the RBS MasterCard, ask them for a long term low rate APR% and shift it back off MBNA onto that?

I am being serious here. There must be some way to utilise the £11,000 MBNA credit limit I currently have?

Please advise....

fozmcfc

You'll probably get no offer from Mint, as they seem to be almost wrapping up their business.

They are not accepting anybody new for Cards, Loans or Insurance, would seem the owners (RBS group) are not interested.

billymadbiker

Ok,
If your dead set about keeping up card payments above any of the other options suggested..
Phone mbna. Tell them you can not afford to make the next due minimium payment and you wish to speak (if they don't transfer you) to the collections team.
Don't ask or beg, simply tell them you can only afford to pay £X per month from now on and you need them to cancle your variable direct debit and replace it with a fixed debit for the £X.
You can try asking for a life-of-balance offer telling them you also have £6k on another card that you would be willing to transfer to them if a lob offer was available.
If they will not give a lob then simply tell them to reduce the limit on your card to just above your current balance.

Infact, if you reduce the limits on all your cards to just above the current balances and close any cards with £0 balance you may stand slightly more chance of getting another card at a lower rate to shift some of your higher rate balances onto.

gscrym

You sound like you're in the position I was in nearly 3 years ago. I was using my credit cards to pay for groceries, unauthorised overdrafts and other credit cards. It all came crashing down when 2 of my 5 cards (all mainstream lenders) raised my apr and halved my credit limit after reviewing my position. I went to buy a gift for someone and for the first time my card was declined. After checking why, I was £1 short of my minimum monthly payment of £201. I had got to the position of never checking statements as I was terrified. This was after getting loans to pay things off but then not cutting my cards up. I even got a secured loan which eventually got moved onto my mortgage. After the final wake up call, I phoned a debt helpline in tears and ended up in a trust deed. It finishes in December this year. Like you, I never defaulted or missed a payment. Although my credit worthiness will take a while to re-establish, I've never been overdrawn since then. If I have £10 left the day before payday, you've no idea how happy I am because previously, my account ran at £1000 overdrawn as standard. I can't remember a time in the years before my trust deed that I had a positive balance in my account for anymore than 5 days.
As Izools says, get professional help and enter an IVA. You'll get to the point where you default if you keep going like this. Live with a stuffed credit rating rather than the stress and worry of how to meet your payments, knowing that you aren't even denting the balance.

Rochdale_Guy

Thanks for the advice.

Rochdale_Guy

fozmcfc wrote: »

You'll probably get no offer from Mint, as they seem to be almost wrapping up their business.

They are not accepting anybody new for Cards, Loans or Insurance, would seem the owners (RBS group) are not interested.

Yes, I noticed the last time I logged in it says they are no longer taking new c/card applications

Hope they don't sell out and pass their accounts to someone else, it's bad enough with their soon to be 20% APR interest increase

Dr_Cuckoo3

I have received 0% offers from Mint and Nat West (as an existing cardholder) in the post a few days ago

There is a code to quote (unsure if it can be tracked to whom the offer was made)

Tesco (also RBS) will advise of any balance transfer offers if you phone them

I would phone Mint to ask them

Rochdale_Guy

Dr_Cuckoo3 wrote: »

I have received 0% offers from Mint and Nat West (as an existing cardholder) in the post a few days ago

I would phone Mint to ask them

Thanks, but that is because you DON'T currently owe nearly £6,000 with them, and if I did bravely shift this over to my MBNA card to make use of my £11,000 limit then shift it back to MINT ASAP, then MINT would only probably offer either like 0% for 6 months, then it would shoot up to something even worse than then MBNA 29% APR

I'm trying to get out my predicament, but just can't get a grip of the bottom rung of the ladder....

Dr_Cuckoo3

Yes , Mint are offering 0% for 6 months reverting to 18.3%

intranicity

Hi Rochdale Guy,

Sorry to hear the mess you have got yourself in. I really find it hard to understand why you seem so desperate to make your life harder than it needs to be. You seem to avoid sensible advice, ie getting rid of the car or going down the IVA/Bankruptcy route. I understand that you are no doubt a very honourable man, and feel that you made this mess and you owe this money and you should pay it back, but sadly YOU NEVER WILL mate.

IVA and BR are there for people like you, you've made a mess of your affairs and there really is NO WAY OUT. I really think you need to face reality and bite the bullet. I'm pretty sure that you'll in 6 months wonder why you waited so long to do it in the first place!

Get a basic bank account, STOP paying the credit cards and car loan which will give you the money to pay your BR fees, yes, your accounts will default, but HONESTLY mate, YOU HAVE NO OPTIONS left that I can see.

I had to go BR, I was embarresed, felt stupid and worthless. That was over 6 years ago, and life is totally back to normal.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop burying your head in the sand over PRIDE, it will kill you in the end

All the best mate