I'm totally bamboozled - can anyone help?

lisyloo

I am struggling to see what you can do beyond just sticking with it for 7 months, than applying for lower rate credit but ONLY once the loan has shown as settled on your credit report (this may be one month after it's paid - to allow for the CRA's to udpate).
If the loan is paid but it doesn't show as paid on your credit report then the lenders will treat you as if you still have the loan, so it's important for it to show.

Rupert_Bear

greyville wrote: »

I agree, Rupert.

The problem is that if I apply for a credit card and am refused, then my credit score may go down and the chance of getting a card next time will go down.

Also, a balance transfer could end up costing me £300 in the short term anyway.

Because it is a largish amount outstanding I would be inclined to try for a loan. Have you thought about your own bank?. Myself i would be prepared to take the gamble on a credit search.

rartherinv

Do you have assets which you need to protect in the event that you lost your job? if no house or car to lose then PPI is a waste of money as you're already going to be up the creek losing your job in this market whether you get a 12 month breather or not. If you cancel that insurance and somehow scrimp an extra £75 on top of the 100 more you are already considering then the debt will be gone in a little more than a year.

greyville

rartherinv wrote: »

Do you have assets which you need to protect in the event that you lost your job? if no house or car to lose then PPI is a waste of money as you're already going to be up the creek losing your job in this market whether you get a 12 month breather or not. If you cancel that insurance and somehow scrimp an extra £75 on top of the 100 more you are already considering then the debt will be gone in a little more than a year.

Rar - I'm renting a property and I don't own a car, so I see what you mean.

I'll cancel the insurance and then start paying £100 extra a month.

greyville

Right, today I've cancelled my repayment protection, which is £25.11 a month.

I've also signed up for a credit report website (free for 30 days) so I know exactly where I am financially and, more importantly, I know what firms think of my financial position.

It takes a lot to deal with this kind of stuff head on for most people, so I'm quite proud of my achievements today!

Thanks so much for your advice, everyone.

This website is a Godsend,

greyville

Just to give you an update, I've written to barclays to make a PPI claim and it looks like I could be owed about £1,500.

Another point of interest:
I have just paid my monthly bill of £102.85.

That has reduced the balance from: £3,203.75
To: £3,100.90.

Before I cancelled my PPI in January, I was paying the same amount each month (about £100) but only about £30-£40 was coming off the balance.

(I've not used the card for years, by the way)

1. Why is this? I've not had my statement for this month through the door yet, so maybe they've not added anything on yet and will do before my statement arrives.

2. Can I do anything about what was happening before, apart from my PPI claim?

The way I see it is I was paying off a generous amount and yet hardly any of it was going towards clearing the balance.

scott_lithgows

If you put the £1500 ppi reclaim against the debt then try for a creation card (easiest non sub prime cards to get) and pay them £100 a month,you could be looking at the debt cleared by Summer 2013.
Good luck.