Likelihood of First Direct Credit Card acceptance

Debtmom

Hi all

Can anyone help/advise? I need to apply for a credit card soon, in order to transfer a balance from my Barclaycard as I want to avoid the £60 interest I'm paying on this card currently. My outstanding balance is £4800. I applied for 2 personal loans last year in November 2011, from Santander and Sainsbury's and was rejected for both.

My question is the following: What is the likelihood of being accepted for a First Direct credit card (I bank with them already)? I don't want to apply and then be rejected again, for obvious reasons! I've checked out moneysupermarket to see which credit card I'm most likely to get, but this tool is unable to give me an idea of my chances with First Direct. THey offer 20 months, which is what I need, if not longer. My chances to get the Halifax credit card is 6/10, according to Moneysupermarket, my credit rating is good (again according to MSM).

In June, I will be in my place as a homeowner for 2 years, so another question is whether it would be better to wait a few months before applying for anything, also given the fact that I applied in November and was turned down. The only downside, having to fork out this money on interest, and deeply resenting this!

Anyone with thoughts about this, would be gratefully received.

Best wishes
Debtmom

Tixy

Hi and welcome

For people to be able to suggest whether you might be accepted we'd need to know
what debts you have at the moment (total balances)
how much you earn
what your credit reports show (any missed payments/ other problems?)
Do you have an overdraft with FD? Do you use it every month? do you max it every month?

Debtmom

Thanks Tixy, I'm new to the forum, so bear with me!

I have 4 credit cards at the moment, and really need to reduce this. On Barclaycard: £4800
Natwest: £4800
Santander: £4400
MBNA: £4600

All in all, about £19000. I don't have any missed payments on any of these, or on other responsibilities. I earn £36000, the FD account is joint, and partner earns £46000. However, he has his own debts as well. We do have an overdraft, and it has been a bit hit and miss, in terms of using it. The last 2 months, we've managed to stay out of it. But there has been 1 time in August, when we even went over the arranged overdraft limit.

My hope is that I can shift my barclaycard amount onto another 0% credit card, and then move the Santander and MBNA card amounts onto the Barclaycard, at a 6.9% life of the balance deal. That way I'll only have 3 credit cards.

I've thought about all sorts of strategies, and sometimes feel a bit hopeless to find a solution.

Sounds a bit bad when I put it out like this, is there any hope of finding any credit card?

Thanks

feeling-good

So you have a joint income of £82,000 per year and you alone owe £19,000 on credit cards... I actually don't think that you need another credit card I think you need to post on the DEBT FREE WANNABEE board. Does not look like you have had your LBM yet but it will come soon. You should post on the other board and also post a SOA and people will advise you of what to cut back on to reduce and clear your debts. I wouls say it is doubtful that you will get any further credit as your debt's are already exceeding 50% of your income. You will get some great advice on the debt free board......

seriousDFW

Can't comment on your situation definitively, but here's mine: Last year my partner and I had about £15000 of debts between us on credit cards. We switched our current account to First Direct, and they kept advertising the CC to me - I applied a few months later and was accepted, don't even think they did an additional credit check.

So have a look on the "apply" section on online banking - before I applied for CC, it told me that I was eligible to apply for the gold card. I have no idea if this counts as a guaranteed offer but I was accepted without problem.

Debtmom

Hi Feeling Good

Can you let me know what a 'LBM' is, as well as a 'SOA'? I haven't come across these terms, sorry.

Best wishes
Debtmom

feeling-good

LBM is Light Bulb Moment which basically means you realise that this cannot go on any further and you need to deal with your debts.
SOA stands for statement of affairs. this is a income and expenditure sheet which you can fill in and people will advise on how you can save money and reduce your debts.
I sincerley hope I have not offended you by advising you to go over to the Debt Free board but there are some amazing people on there who will give you lots and lots of support and advice.
I know as I was in £47,000 of debt, took me 5 years to get out of it and been debt free for over a year now and it feels great.
Really hope you sort it xxx

Debtmom

No offence taken, I promise! My light bulb flashes on and off, and currently it is shining bright, and I'm panicking a bit! I think I will post in the debt free section, although there are things that I know they will suggest that I can not cut back on at the moment. For example, a huge medical expense that I can't afford to not do, but can't afford to do either. Life is complicated!

Thanks for signposting me though, and congratulations, you've achieved something amazing!

Cheers
Debtmom

debtox

Feeling-good it's a balance transfer to avoid interest, not an additional card to spend.

Debtmom, I tried for a FD card recently to transfer a balance but they refused because I was using my overdraft too much.