Credit Card Advice Please.

Verdoux

Hello all,

This is a basic plea for advice regarding our situation with acquiring a new credit card. I am sure there are plenty of threads that could help but there are a fair few to trawl through so I apologise for adding to that.

The situation is that the wife and I are trying to get a new credit card so that we can transfer our balance. The reason for wanting to transfer is simply because the interest is crippling us and has been for a while. Thus far I have been refused. The amount we need to transfer is £5000.

First of all -

Am I fighting a losing battle based on the amount I need to transfer?

My personal credit history isnt the best due to about 7 or 8 years ago I missed payments on an earlier credit card and as it stands at the moment we are constantly in and out of our overdraft. However we do have a regular income and for the past five years or so we have always made payments on time.

Does any one have any advice to give on what we can do? So far we have been refused credit cards from Nationwide (our bank), Halifax and Bank of Scotland. At the end of the day if we can transfer our balance to a 0% BT deal then we would be saving around £100 a month.

Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

stephane_2

What is your annual income?
What is the limit on the credit card?
Do you have any other debt part from mortgage?

Having those details will help understanding your situation....

Tixy

Hi

Any late payments made 7+years ago will certainly not be affecting your credit history anymore. Being in your overdraft every month can have an effect on you getting new credit (especially from your own bank).

Have you checked your credit files to ensure there is nothing on there that is incorrect?

Getting a new 0% card with a £5k limit is likely to be a little tough as most card providers start the limits fairly low these days, although presumably even just transferring some of the debt to 0% would help you.

Have you tried to apply in both your name and your wife's name? and both been refused?

Certainly if you have been refused a number of times its looking less likely anywhere will accept you unless you can make some change to whatever is stopping you getting new credit.

Are you on the electoral roll?
How much are your total debts (excl mortgage)? How much is the total credit you have available to you?
How much do you earn?

A lot of people struggle to get new credit because of the amount of existing credit they have compared to their income. If you have any unused credit accounts or very high credit limits it can sometimes help to close the accounts or reduce the limits down.

Other factors are how stable you are considered in terms of how long you have been with your current employer, how long you have lived at your current house etc.

stephane_2

You're saying that you applied for Nationwide, Halifax and BOS....when were these applications made?
Also if you have been declined by Halifax then you would also by BOS as from same group....

[Deleted User]

Doesn't sound like you'll get a 0% deal with those rejections.

You MAY be able to apply for a card with a lower rate of interest than you're currently playing, but with 3 quick rejections, you may need to wait for a few months before trying again.

Probably not what you want to hear, and it's not always easy but you need to focus on paying off as much as you can in the meantime