Car balloon payment - company refuse to take credit card

shrianne

Hi,

I have also posted about this in the credit card forum but wondered if anyone on here has come up against a similar issue.

I have just under £3000 to pay for the final payment on my car under a finance agreement. I want to keep the car but can't afford the £3000 outright, but could afford to spread the payments over 1.5 years. So decided I would get an 0% interest credit card to pay the final payment with and so spread the cost cheaply.

However when I called the finance company they refuse to take credit cards. They do accept money transfers but these are not covered under the 0% balance transfers/purchases deal.

So I can see from searching that it is not unusual for such companies to not accept credit cards but wondered why this is? Is it just so they save money and if so do I have any rights to demand for them to accept it? I don't mind paying a small fee if that is the issue but the lady I spoke to wasn't even willing to enter into a dialogue about it. Has anyone ever had this issue and managed to resolve it? Surely quite a few people would not be able to afford these kind of payments outright? They will refinance the final amount but of course with stupid interest so that is not an option for me.

Many thanks for reading and any advice would be appreciated!!

bingy_burge

Well estentially your paying credit off with credit.

They can refuse because they may end up paying visa/mastercard as much as 10% ie £300 of the balance for using there card merchant service. However on debits cards its between 10p-1.50p per transaction depended on the merchant card banks terms with the fiance house. Some debt collectors charge these fees when taking card payments but other companies work them into there pricing.


Not 100% what you can do. Refinance the ballon payment but you wont get 0% interest. You may be able to get the credit company to do a balance transfer or maybe a credit card cheque? These options are to be explored.

Someone who is a little more experienced at this matters may be of more help.

adamc260

You can get a super balance transfer card that lets you take money from the card and put it into your bank account.. which would let you then pay it off in one.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cut-loan-overdraft-costs

Look under the "The Top Super Balance Transfers" section - tis the only thing I can possibly think of for you.

"
A couple of cards - both provided by the MBNA group - only charge 0% on super balance transfers for intro periods with one-off fees of 4% for shifting the money. Yet always treble-check the details before making any payment, as terms and conditions can be changed at any time.
MBNA & Virgin 0% for 18 months. Plus a 4% fee. Both the MBNA Platinum* and Virgin* cards offer 0% for 18 months on 'super balance transfers' for a one-off fee of 4% (higher than the standard fees charged on balance transfers). You can do the super balance transfer at any time within 60 days of opening the account. After the 18 month period the rate is a huge 20.9% representative APR, so ensure you've repaid the money by then."

shrianne

Thank you so much for your replies. I hadn't heard of super balance transfer cards so will look into that right away! Feel much better now thank you

mustrum_ridcully

Do you have this 0% card already? I ask because it could make a difference as various credit card companies share data which means you could get refused one of the new cards mentioned (esp. if you credit rating isn't good).