Brother paying £30 p.m charges using o.draft with Halifax?

buel

Thank you all again (i cant use the 'thanks' button on my mobile phone for some reason), ok- the application was turned down so i will help him get his credit report+go from there! In the meantime i suggested he get his gf to use her 'strings' to get them a joint Halifax reward a/c so i can fund it, along with his, with £1000 pm to get him £10 pm whilst at the same time he is, on average, £30 pm better off now that his overdraft is paid off!

kerri_gt

Consumerist wrote: »

I would advise caution on this point because you don't yet know how much of the debt he will be able to shift from his (authorised) overdraft. Unauthourised overdrafts cost £5 per day not £1 per day.

Sorry, to clarify, I meant reduce the overdraft when it is paid off (assuming that the kind offer to lend your brother the money happens). If it's paid off (ok so he will still owe family money) then he shouldn't go back into it (assuming he is serious about getting out of this situation) and if it isn't available it will be less of a temptation to do so.

buel

opinions4u- i couldn't agree more! If it was my other brother then i wouldn't help as he has had more than enough chances but this brother is a good one but i take your point!!!

buel

ps- just out of interest- if my mother were to get a credit card with 0% transfer rate, is it possible to transfer a balance from my brother's c.c to that?(she is willing!)

kerri_gt

buel wrote: »

ps- just out of interest- if my mother were to get a credit card with 0% transfer rate, is it possible to transfer a balance from my brother's c.c to that?(she is willing!)

Yes it is possible to transfer the balance in one person's name to a credit card in someone else's name.

However, a word of caution, it is lovely that you are all rallying to help your brother out but so often family 'loans' are never repaid and I am sure your mum doesn't want to be saddled paying off his £2k cc. I suggest that he should set up a DD to this card or your mum's acount for an agreed amount until this debt is paid off.

buel

Hi again! Ok, so bearing in mind that my mum is more than willing to do the 0% credit card transfer and the fact that my brother's credit history is not great (but not terrible i dont think) would you suggest he tries for a less 'excellent-credit-rating' credit card? Or do they generally not offer any decent transfer deals?

Consumerist

I think the first thing for him (& the family) to do is to draw up a budget so that he knows how much is available for debt repayment each month. This needs to be realistic; if it's too onerous, he is less likely to keep to the budget and if it's to lax then he will be paying more interest on the debt. A 0% balance-transfer deal will only last, at most, 16 months.

You probably know about this already but, just in case you don't, the MSE Budget Planner can help you.

Once you know what money is available, you will be in a better position to find the deal best suited to needs.

I think it would be better to do this properly from the outset rather than discover unplanned-for hitches down the road.

blueberrypie

buel wrote: »

Thank you all again (i cant use the 'thanks' button on my mobile phone for some reason), ok- the application was turned down so i will help him get his credit report+go from there! In the meantime i suggested he get his gf to use her 'strings' to get them a joint Halifax reward a/c so i can fund it, along with his, with £1000 pm to get him £10 pm whilst at the same time he is, on average, £30 pm better off now that his overdraft is paid off!

A joint account will link their credit reports, and if either one of them has poor credit, it will reduce the credit-worthiness of the other - it might well be better for the two of them to remain separate, as far as financial records are concerned.

Consumerist

blueberrypie wrote: »

A joint account will link their credit reports, and if either one of them has poor credit, it will reduce the credit-worthiness of the other - it might well be better for the two of them to remain separate, as far as financial records are concerned.

Quite agree. Best avoided, I think

iereboy

Oohhh, I like the way this thread turned out. Everyone's helping out again and giving ideas to solving the problem. Very much the spirit of MSE.

Buel, along with the tools to manage his debt, remember the key point to let your brother know is to live within his means. Spend some, save some but never spend more than you have.