0% balance transfer for retired Mother in Law

sweetmoneysaver

My mother in law has just admitted that she has around £6k on Barclaycard Visa at an APR of 23.9% from a household purchase that was an emergency around a year ago. She is currently paying £300/month but has realised that the total is not really going down because of interest on her interest! I have suggested a 0% balance transfer card in which she could clear the balance in around 20 months. There are products out there that cover this length of time but has anybody had success when they are retired? She has a private pension and some other income plus a younger partner that is working (they are not married) but I am concerned that they may not accept a 71 year old. If only she had thought about a 0% purchase type card or even a loan in the first place. Any ideas or experiences welcome.

YorkshireBoy

sweetmoneysaver wrote: »

...a household purchase that was an emergency around a year ago.

That's some "emergency"! Most people's largest "emergency" purchase would be a boiler replacement at around £1,500 or so.

She is currently paying £300/month but has realised that the total is not really going down because of interest on her interest!

At 23.9% APR she's paying around £108 a month in interest at the moment, meaning a good £200 a month is coming off the debt. It's not the end of the world...yet.

...has anybody had success when they are retired? She has a private pension and some other income

She could ask the bank that receives this income for a card. However, what's the limit on the Barclaycard?...because she'll be asking for around twice this in available credit - at least in the short term.

plus a younger partner that is working (they are not married)

Some cards ask for total household income. However, ALL cards ask for the applicant's employment status.

Just out of interest, does she own her own home?

whitewing

Wouldn't it be great if mother in laws really did retire.

sweetmoneysaver

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Just out of interest, does she own her own home?

Yes she owns her own home with about 6 months mortgage left. The original debt was lower but I think she didn't pay off as much as £300 to start with.
She banks with Barclays and as the debt is on Barclaycard their terms and conditions don't allow her to switch to their 0% balance transfer card. Therefore I was thinking of RBS or Virgin for her but I know Virgin can be a bit funny.

thomasdown

Do what i done go onto Moneysupermarket and do the smart search, takes 2 mins to fill in and does NOT effect your credit history like leave a footprint or anything. Then the results will show whats best based on the info you put in. Tesco and M&S cards came up with 9/10 chance for me of being accepted.

I got accepted for the Tesco Credit Card straight away after applying online, all down to the smart search because the amount of credit cards on the market is vast and I didn't know who to go with.

I don't know if the smart search will take into account that your mother is retired but the fact she has a barclay card and is paying a hefty some every month off of the debt must be a good a thing?

Do the smart search and see what the best 0% balance transfer cards are that come up for her?

Hope this helps?

CLAPTON

sweetmoneysaver wrote: »

Yes she owns her own home with about 6 months mortgage left. The original debt was lower but I think she didn't pay off as much as £300 to start with.
She banks with Barclays and as the debt is on Barclaycard their terms and conditions don't allow her to switch to their 0% balance transfer card. Therefore I was thinking of RBS or Virgin for her but I know Virgin can be a bit funny.

normally minimum payments area at least the interest so are you saying she has missed payments ?

skintdad

Being retired is often viewed as a good thing by banks so long as there is a good private pension income as well as the govt one. You can't get sacked or made redundant if your retired and if your sick you still get paid. use moneysupermarket soft search to find a good deal.
alternatively if she cant get a high enough credit limit to transfer it all she could apply for a loan. the rate should be less than half that of the credit card. sometimes its cheaper to borrow more than you need because of the steps in interest rates (usually a big drop in apr at around £7.5k) so have a play around with the online calculators 1st. particularly useful if she's had her eye on a purchase for a while and not been able to afford it. stops her being tempted to buy it on the newly clear credit card