Paying off the whole balance...

HenryGale11

Hi..

I have a Virgin Credit card that is virtually at its limit. I pay the minimum payment every month and 98% of that is just interest and the card balance goes down by pounds every month.

I am now in a position to pay the whole balance off and I am wondering if I can ring them and negotiate a settlement deal.

My balance is just over £11k and my card limit is £11.5k.. Would they accept a full payment of say £8k or £9k as a one off final settlement or has it got to be the total balance.

If I leave the debt and it gets passed to a debt company surely they would accept a settlement..

Any advice please?

Thank you...

NYGiants

Unless you've defaulted they won't accept a settlement; at the moment you're their perfect customer, only paying the minimum.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

HenryGale11 wrote: »

Hi..

I have a Virgin Credit card that is virtually at its limit. I pay the minimum payment every month and 98% of that is just interest and the card balance goes down by pounds every month.

I am now in a position to pay the whole balance off and I am wondering if I can ring them and negotiate a settlement deal.

My balance is just over £11k and my card limit is £11.5k.. Would they accept a full payment of say £8k or £9k as a one off final settlement or has it got to be the total balance.

If there were a FAQ here this would be one of the entries. There's not a snowball's chance in hell of their accepting an offer if you've been paying regularly up to now.

HenryGale11 wrote: »

If I leave the debt and it gets passed to a debt company surely they would accept a settlement..

Probably they would. Eventually. You would also end up with a trashed credit rating.

HenryGale11 wrote: »

Any advice please?

Pay your debts.

HenryGale11 wrote: »

Thank you...

You're welcome.

[Deleted User]

Depends on whether you want any credit in the next 6 years or so.

You'll certainly pay less if you want to default and have it passed to a debt agency. But you will then pay over the odds for all your borrowing for the next decade or so, until the markers have cleared and you've built up some kind of history again.

Is there a problem with paying them back you haven't mentioned?

HenryGale11

No, no problem.. Just wondered if I could offer them a figure that they would accept as a one off figure.. but like was said. I am their perfect customer: paying the minimum every week...

Just thought I'd see if it was possible.. I know that you can early repay loans and mortgages..

redpete

HenryGale11 wrote: »

I know that you can early repay loans and mortgages..

But that avoids paying interest that would be raised in the future if you didn't pay it off. You are looking to avoid paying interest that has already been charged and you already owe - totally different situation.

Superheavy

The difference with a loan is that the loan is added on at the start, so the settlement figure for them is less because they've refunded you the interest for the time that you had already paid for in borrowing for the full term.

With a credit card the interest is added on monthly.