Worth switching to M&S card? Bad for credit rating?

airchie

Hi folks, I have a dilemma and I hope someone can help.

I have about £5000 on credit cards and have decided to stop spending frivolously and try to clear them off.

I've been tarting for a couple of years but I just want to go for the stable relationship now.

After reading about the Barclay card's life of balace offer I applied and recieved it.

One problem, a limit of £1600 means I couldn't transfer all the debt!

Is there any way to make sure I can transfer all the debt to one card or is it better to transfer it to several cards?

I've just read about the M&S card with the lower interest rate for life of balance.

Obviously I would like to move all my debts to the card but how can I be sure they will transfer all my debt in its entirety?

And if they won't, is it likely to be bad for my credit rating if I switch the rest of the debt from my virgin card to an M&S card?

Thanks in advance.

airchie

Nobody got any advice for me?

The_Boss

Try applying for it - on the basis that Barclaycard would have credit checked you on Equifax and M&S will use Experian -so you have nothing to lose on this.

Whether they will give you the limit you want/need, I dont know.

Paul_J

As said above, just apply and see. When I applied for BC's 12 month 0% balance transfer card a couple of yrs ago, they gave me a similar credit limit to you. A pal of mine also applied for the same card, his salary is 44k and his only debt was 3k on a credit card............................. they gave him a £700 limit! Needless to say he returned the card and declined their 'charity', though I couldn't stop laughing when he told me (with a straight face) about
their offer! :rotfl: BC do seem a little stingee with their offers sometimes.

airchie

cool, thanks guys.

I may as well 'suck it and see' then...

preppy_2

Advice sought...
CC companies always say to allow 10 days for transfer to go through. I was planning to initiate transfer on 2nd oct, which gives them 12 working days. (the 0% period of current card finishes 18th Oct). obviously i am trying to let the current card run for as long as possible but allowing time needed to complete transfer. Am I cutting it too fine would you say, should I make the call before 2nd oct? what sort of margins do you guys usually allow?

A further query- I need to use max 3000 on this card. I also need soon to clear my overdraft and pay bills etc and could do with a further 2500-3000. Wondering what you would recommend. Know that Martin says not to make too many applications at once, but if I made appli for post office 0% card mid october do you think that would be acceptable? Also wondering how long I can keep this up for. contemplating life of balance transfers and not spending any more money.


I realise all these decisions are mine to make in the end, but
would appreciate any feedback or tips on these questions, thanks.