Advice please

Pants_with_Pounds

Hi all.

I am in debt to about £6500 on 2 credit cards.
Total monthly repayments is approx £200 and not really making any head way. The car is up for sale to help cover a little of it.
My credit score is poor as I missed a few mobile phone bills, not because I dont have the cash but problems with direct debit (This is now sorted). Also the amount and time I have had my credit cards brings it down.

I am looking to get another credit card to transfer some of the funds over to 0% and hopefull get rid of one rather than have 3!! I know after this short period I will be stung on the APR, so aim to clear it with the cash from car ASAP, increase my credit rating and hopefully do it again or loan if able.

Now then... the question is any thoughts on credit cards that i may be successful in getting with a poor credit rating?

All constructive thoughts welcome.
Cheers

Tixy

Most of the 0% cards require a pretty perfect credit history these days. And if your current level of debt is fairly high compared to your income this will also count against you. Are you paying just the minimum on your cards or do you always try to overpay slightly? If you have only been paying minimums try to increase this even by just a couple of quid each month, which then means the minimum payment marker is not flagged on your credit file.

I don't suppose you still have any old credit card accounts with nil balances but still open? If you did they are often worth trying to phone and see if they have any existing customer balance transfer offers for you.

What cards do you currently have balances on?

The creation 0% card is meant to be a little easier to get than many other 0% cards so could be worth a try.

Pants_with_Pounds

I currently have an egg and HSBC.
I always try and pay a little more 20-30 quid more.
No other old cards.
Might try the creation card then. Just dubious about applying for too many as i know refused applications make your score/rating worse as well.
Cheers

Tixy

One or 2 applications won't make a big difference. Its true that applying for lots of cards in a short period of time makes you look desperate for credit and so is more likely to cause a further decline. But if you try to limit applications to around 3 in 6months then it shouldn't have a big negative impact. After searches are 6m old they have very little impact.

What APRs are you being charged on your current cards? Might be worth phoning them to see if they would consider a reduction in the APR. Have you checked barclays have taken over your egg account correctly, kept the interest rate correct etc? (quite a few people are reporting problems).