cant pay my barclaycard

rainham_2

Hi Im new to this, I am finding it hard to pay my barclaycard due to
the cost of living rise , everything gone up but haven,t had a pay rise in 3 years. I am now 60 and will only be working for a couple more years, Have been with BC for twenty years , a while ago they put my APR up from 12% to 21% I owe 5000, my credit rate has been put up a few time without me asking at one time to 10000 which I ask to be put down, as I know Im not very good with CC . I have cut up my card sent it back and ask them to consider a repayment amount, I sent to Customer Relations but have had no replie , I have worked out that at that Apr i probley never pay it back I cant afford to pay it all off at once hope someone could give me some advice Thanks. .

redpete

I've not heard of anyone being offered a lower full and final pay off amount unless they are already in default.

How long ago was the interest rate increased to 21%? You have a short time to refuse the increase (and agree not to spend any more on the card).

I suggest going on the the Debt-free Wannabe board and post a Statement of Affairs where you will get advice as to how to cut down spending so that you could put more towards paying off the CC.

It's always good to be honest with yourself about how you get into debt - e.g. you've not paid off the CC because you have spent more than you earn, not blame external factors like rises in the cost of living.

fatblackandwhite

It is important to be aware that a credit card is a non priority debt - i.e. it doesn't have major repercussions that will affect the way you live if you cant or dont pay it. Unlike mortgage/rent/gas/electricity/fines/council tax/tv licence - these are the things you should be worried about paying, not your credit card. You can try to negotiate smaller repayments based on your income and expenditure - National Debtline have some great template letters to help you with this. They don't have to agree, but at the end of the day if you stop paying altogether and they make a county court claim against you the payment agreed in court would be one that is in line with what you can reasonably afford. Obviously, any default and especially a ccj is going to affect your credit rating but you may not want to get any further credit anyway (?). They cant send bailiffs round unless you default on a CCJ and even then bailiffs would have no power to break in.