Is there anything i can do without damage to my credit record ?

nomoredebtpls

Hi all, I have been unemployed off and on since being made redundant in august 2010,i had a vanquis credit card which has had a balance of approx £2000 since january. I have never missed a payment but because i have been getting temp work which lasts a max of 2 months i am unable to transfer the balance to a cheaper card and i have now been out of work for a month again. My minimum payment is now approx £115 per month but out of the last 4 months only £30 has came off my balance the rest in interest. I have called vanquis but as is usual with call centres you get no help whatsoever and i just get told to make larger payments to clear the balance quicker which doh if we could we would. Is there anything i can do eg request the interest rate to be lowered or even froze without it damaging my credit record? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Tixy

Hi

A simple quick request to see if they would consider an interest rate reduction won't affect your credit rating - I'm not sure vanquis would be likely to agree but could be worth a try.

Anything more than that - a request based on struggling financially - or a written request to freeze interest or lower the minimum payments would impact on your credit file (as either an arrangement to pay or a default).