Advise please!

flowerpot28

Hi,
I was just looking for advise, I have an income of 29k and the following debts and would really like to get these paid off.

Virgin c.c - £803 interest rate is 35.9%
Barclaycard - £813 interest rate 29.9%
Egg/barclaycard - £637 interest rate 26.9%
Overdraft limit of £3650 and use about £3300, first 1000 is interest free and the rest is 14.9%

I also have a capital one credit card with no balance but limit of £750 and the interest rate on that is 35.4%

Ive checked my credit rating on experian, it was 955

So I was wondering what the best way of trying to get interest free or lowering interest was? Any suggestions would be great
Thanks:)

chanz4

score of 955 and no intrest under 20% that shows how good the score is, pay the highest apr off first and min on the rest

Curr946

Ask virgin to review your rate, my virgin card is 16.4 after my 0%... and I though that was high LOL

As said, you need to pay off the high rate cards first.

With a high score like you have you should not have much problem getting a new balance transfer card. If you could a high enough limit you could move everything into one with 0% for X months and only one payment each month.

EDIT: Also, whats the limit on your EGG/BC? Could this card take over the virgin and other BC debt?

opinions4u

I would stop messing about with new lines of credit.

Ring each of your card issuers and ask what customer loyalty offers they have for your existing balances.

After that, pay the minimum payment plus £1 off each card. Then pile the rest of your available cash against the highest rate card.

No new spending. No increase in the overdraft use.

Once the cards are clear keep one. Use it once or twice a month and clear the balance in full.

And then work the overdraft down to zero.

Then start saving.

YorkshireBoy

A £29K salary must mean around £1,700 to £1,800 a month into your account? You should be able to make significant inroads into your credit card debt with that?

Unless you also have loans and/or a mortgage and/or a large family?
Maybe your partner (financial associate) has debts and/or a low income?
Do you have any late payments on your file? An Experian credit score of 955 would suggest not?
What are the limits on the 3 cards you've mentioned with debts?
Have you been rate-jacked recently, or always had high APRs?

flowerpot28

Thanks for reply, I've has all those cards since 2006, all balances are about 200 less than credit limit.

I wondered if anyone thought that I could ask capital one for a promotional interest rate? Is this something they do?

Then I could transfer a balance from another, maybe virgin, and hopefully get offered another promotional rate from them? Is this likely? Or am I on cloud cuckoo?!

Curr946

No its always worth the ask, but as i said before, personally i would be (and have done) open a new card, and with a score and income as yours you should get a limit to take at least all your credit card debit. The overdraft?? Well if you get a high enough limit, you need a cash transfer and not all card offer this.

flowerpot28

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

A £29K salary must mean around £1,700 to £1,800 a month into your account? You should be able to make significant inroads into your credit card debt with that?

Unless you also have loans and/or a mortgage and/or a large family?
Maybe your partner (financial associate) has debts and/or a low income?
Do you have any late payments on your file? An Experian credit score of 955 would suggest not?
What are the limits on the 3 cards you've mentioned with debts?
Have you been rate-jacked recently, or always had high APRs?

Actually meant i have 29k a year in funds ie - about 2400 going into account per month, but yes have 3 hungry children, a 88k mortgage, which I have just changed to a better interest rate. I have budgeted EVERYTHING and have just short of £400 per month spare to try and get rid of these debts.

To be honest I know the virgin card was originally an interest free offer but I have no idea about the other interest rates and if theyve changed because ive coasted along paying the minimum ignoring them for a while - bad i know!

I have one late payment on my file, to the barclay card - i just forgot to set up the payment to go while i was away, its now on d.debit!

YorkshireBoy

Curr946 wrote: »

with a score and income as yours you should get a limit to take at least all your credit card debit.

OP is using 80% of the credit card limits available. That, irrespective to a degree, doesn't look good to a lender's scoring model.

Add in the fact that the OP is using virtually all their overdraft facility - a clear sign that they're in financial difficulty*, being as they can't budget month-on-month - and it doesn't look very good for new borrowings?

Income and used credit aren't the only criteria in credit scoring.


* To a computer at least.

opinions4u

I have budgeted EVERYTHING and have just short of £400 per month spare to try and get rid of these debts.

In that case, you can be down to NIL on the credit cards by next summer. Early in 2013 you should be debt free.

Don't just try. Make it happen.