advice needed

youmitegetian

Hi all.

I am trying to sort out my debt problem without going to one of these companys that get u IVA's etc

Basically i got myself in this mess after a failed marriage, I had debts from home improvements etc and also from not being very restrained after we split, kinda living my youth again,

Anyway now im left with £17,000 of debt that i want to get rid of.
most is credit cards that i'm paying the minimum on, i also have 2 loans both of which will be paid off later this year.

The problem is that ive tried a couple of main stream lenders to convert my cc debt into a loan but been refused, i've been holding off attempting to get a loan until my other 2 are near repaid but am worried now that i wont be able to get a loan and will just be paying high interest on the cc's until there paid off

I can just about afford my current repayments but know my hours are soon going to drop off at work so need to cover this before my 2 loans have ended giving me an extra £315 per month to play with

My credit history isnt to bad, I have a couple of charges from going over my overdraft limit and a couple of late utility payments but no loan or credit card or mobile phone late payments

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

rising_from_the_ashes

youmitegetian wrote: »

The problem is that ive tried a couple of main stream lenders to convert my cc debt into a loan but been refused, i've been holding off attempting to get a loan until my other 2 are near repaid but am worried now that i wont be able to get a loan and will just be paying high interest on the cc's until there paid off

You may well have been turned down as lenders look at it as additional debt on top of what you've already got as they have no guarantees you will clear your current debts.

Getting another loan and consolidating your debts is rarely the best way forward as it often leads to bigger debts - much better to tackle what you've got rather than taking on more.

Fill in a statement of affairs http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html with your income, outgoings, debts & APRs etc and I'm sure we'll be able to find some areas to cut down on to help clear the cards quicker

youmitegetian

The problem with not clearing the cards is i'm hopeless at paying more than minimum payments whereas if i have a loan i just set up a direct debit and don't think about it, hence why my loans have never had a missed payment, is there no one that would lend the money on a loan even if they pay the money direct to the card companies?

Mort

Have you stopped spending on the credit cards? You need to do this to clear them. Have a look at this guide http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=clicks&utm_campaign=resourcebar and post your SOA which will show what room you have for manoeuvre.

rising_from_the_ashes

youmitegetian wrote: »

The problem with not clearing the cards is i'm hopeless at paying more than minimum payments whereas if i have a loan i just set up a direct debit and don't think about it, hence why my loans have never had a missed payment

There's no reason why you can't treat the cc's in the same way - if we can find £50 / month spare in your SOA, then you can set up a standing order to pay this to them each month.

Other factors count in loan decisions and without more info eg your income (which you've mentioned will be dropping, so we'd need the current & new figure) compared to debt level is a very important one.

Other factors are length of time in job & home, type of job etc etc

youmitegetian

yes stopped spending more than i was earning a couple of years ago, i've cut down on all my spending, cant remember the last time i bought clother etc, a bottle of wine is a luxury atm.
I've reduced everything to just about manageable levels.
Everything has gone very well with my plan to reduce my debt i just need to transfer my cc's to 1 payment and reduce the high interest on those which will give me that little bit i need to keep the momentum going.
I will post my SOA when i have time to go through the different interest rates and outstanding balances

DVardysShadow

youmitegetian wrote: »

The problem with not clearing the cards is i'm hopeless at paying more than minimum payments whereas if i have a loan i just set up a direct debit and don't think about it, hence why my loans have never had a missed payment, is there no one that would lend the money on a loan even if they pay the money direct to the card companies?

Even if they do pay direct to the CC company, the risk is that you will reload the CC with debt. Consolidation loans are the road the hell, paved with good intentions. Lenders know this - that when someone asks for credit to pay off a loan, there is a much higher chance that the loan will go delinquent.

If you are hopeless at paying more than minimums, your best option is to stop being hopeless and set up a standing order or see if the CC will take a higher amount on DD. They will certainly take minimums on DD