Help - Defaulted on my credit card twice

mackman

Hi there. I need a little bit of help. For the 2nd month in a row i've defaulted on my barclaycard. What will happen to me. I really can't afford to pay it and would like to try to come to some agreement with them to freeze my interest and balance and start to pay it of.
What can/should i do?

many thanks

MM

Tixy

What is the minimum payment?
How much can you afford a month? Have you worked this out with a detailed income & expenditure account?

You could write to them explaining why you cannot afford to pay it and offering a monthly repayment you can afford and asking them if they will agree to freeze interest & charges - ideally enclose the first monthly payment with the letter.

If you do this its likely to hve a long term effect on your credit file but if you cannot afford repayments then it may be a route you need to consider. If you have other debts you are also struggling with then you might be better advised to contact one of the debt advice charities.

mackman

How long an effect could it have on my credit file? I do have other debts but they are manageble. This one is just outwith my reach now due to job issues. Do barclays do anything that includes freezeing interest and charges?

Tixy

Very few will agree to freeze interest without issuing a default notice - a default notice stays on your credit file for 6years. Many banks will freeze interest & issue a default if they can see you are paying all you can afford.

Some (eg MBNA) may agree to a 6month freeze if you ask and explain why you are having short term problems - this is usually marked with an arrangement to pay marker on your credit file.

Your creditors are less likely to agree to freeze interest if you are making payments on time to other unsecured creditors but just not to them. They are more likely to if you treat all creditors equally.

mackman

Thanks for this. It looks like i'll have to give them a call and see what they can do. I'll have paid off a couple of debts at xmas one of which was a 5 year loan. Hopefully they can come to an agreement for a few months.