£4700 debt- Shall i transfer to a cc 0% balance

sdoherty1000

So i have a debt of £4700 that I have been paying over the last few years at £100 a month. Problem is I have just recieved my statement and it has come in at £4700 which I am shocked at since the original bill was only £5000. I have paid over £3300 towards this debt and because of the interest charges etc etc the bill still stands at £4700

Is it worth transfering the debt to a cc and paying off £100 a month to them instead to save on charges?

I see a new virgin cc today for 13 months. Is that the best card to choose

Thanks

Steve

Tixy

What sort of debt is it? what is the APR? is it another credit card or something else? If something else do they allow the debt to be paid off by credit card (most loans won't for example). If you cannot pay it by credit card then you might need to consider a super balance transfer which virgin do allow, but a lot of cards do not.

On new cards providers often start with a limit lower than £5k. But obviously it would depend on your income, credit history etc.

lisyloo

Well I'm guessing you on an APR of around 25% and that's why the debt hasn't dropped as you've mostly paid interest.

Yes it certainly is worth swapping to a card with a lower APR.

Do you have a good credit rating? any late payments? Do you have big debts?
Have you chceked your credit report?

Getting a 0% card is for people with good credit ratings.
You could get your credit reports, have a look and then post back here.

Another alternative is a loan. Basically you want the interest to be lower.

thenudeone

Two issues:
1) Will Virgin allow you to pay a loan off as a balance transfer? Normally BTs only apply to other credit cards. They may allow transfer to a bank account (from which you can pay the loan off) but this would be a cash transfer not a balance transfer and would not be eligible for the promotional offer, unless it's specifically mentioned.

2) After 12 months after paying £100 a month your balance will still be over £3700 (there will be a BT fee and you won't have paid anything in the first month).
What interest rate will the card charge then? How does that compare to the loan interest rate? You could end up paying much more. The minimum payment will then be 1% of the balance + All of the month's interest which could be over £100. Can you afford that?

sdoherty1000

Firstly thanks for your reply. It is a debt that went to the bailiffs office and although i have paid £3300 over the period it still stands at £4700. I assume they will be happy to recieve the payment by any means necessary.

So the virign card you mentioned, is that the best way forward for me?

sdoherty1000

Lets say it was was approved etc. If I then transfer the reamining balance to another card in 12 months and then again and again till it is paid?

lisyloo

There are a number of cards where you can move money to your bank account (SBT), so you can pay off any kind of debt.
http://www.stoozing.com/sbt.php

However if this went to the balliffs it's quite possible your credit rating is impaired and you won't get any good deals.
Did you have a CCJ (county court judgement) for this?
Have you checked your credit record.

In theory you can keep balance tranferring PROVIDED the deals are still available (no guaratee).

However I am concerned about your elligibility for ANY of these deals.
Ironincally they are not available to the very people that need them.

Have you checked your credit report at all?

Tixy

Has this gone to bailiffs as a result of a CCJ? If it is and the CCJ is on your credit file then you won't get any new credit cards, especially not 0% deals (if its in relation to council tax or a fine rather than a CCJ then it probably won't show on your credit report).

What APR are the bailiffs charging you? have you checked that all their charges are correct (bailiffs are known for adding on additional illegal fees when they start to collect a debt) If they are adding interest have you checked that they were allowed to do so by the court order?

sdoherty1000

It was a ccj of mine and not the wife- she has a better credit rating than me so she could sort out the card. I wouldnt even know where to start checking if the fees at justified

Tixy

Are you and wife financially associated? eg a joint mortgage or joint loans or bank account with overdraft? If so then your CCJ might well impact on her ability to get new credit.

I would suggest you start reading up bailiff fees, checking what has been applied etc, looking over the CCJ to see if they are allowed to charge interest.
This website might be a good starting point - http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/ (its run by a lady who used to post on this forum a lot and is very knowledgeable on bailiffs and their illegal charges and unresonable behaviour and has helped many a poster.)

thenudeone

sdoherty1000 wrote: »

Firstly thanks for your reply. It is a debt that went to the bailiffs office and although i have paid £3300 over the period it still stands at £4700. I assume they will be happy to recieve the payment by any means necessary.

If you give the "bailiffs" your credit card number for payment (if they accept it); it will be treated as either a cash transaction or a purchase; neither of which is eligible for your promotion, although it still may be a lower interest rate than you are currently paying.

If you contact Virgin to pay the loan off, they are likely to say that they will only do BTs to other credit cards, not to loans or other debts.

You cannot force the creditor to accept payment by CC or give you a means to pay off the loan by BT.
You cannot force your card company to make a balance transfer outside of their published terms (e.g. to pay off a loan)