card debt of circa 4k

padee

I have card debt of 5k on 2 cards and am paying interest on both

I don't have savings so am thinking of taking a loan out to pay it off over 2years.

is this my best option or should I try and switch balance? i tried to take out barclaycard visa but refused one

fozmcfc

Too get the best advice, you're going to give some more details.

People will need to know what cards you have. Also what the APR is on the card, what the limit and balance on all the cards are.

As for taking out a loan, well people will need to know what you debt to income ratio is. This is key information, because say you apply for a loan of £4k, even though it is to consolidate, companies have no guarantee you will, so they will look at it that your debt would be 8k (i.e 4k + 4k).

Most lenders will go up to 50% of your income, but that depends on other factors, such as job status, home address, electoral role and your general credit history (i.e no dafaults, lot of late payments etc.) So if you have absolutely no other outstanding debt, I would say you need to be earning at least 16k (possibly nearer to 18k) a year to stand a chance of a 4k loan, with the 4k of debts at the moment.

jamesd

If you don't have a Virgin card or another MBNA card, give them a try. Barclaycard is on the stricter side when it comes to granting credit, MBNA on the less strict side.