Newby - Advice needed please

missarber

Hi,

Just looking for some advice on the best way to pay off my debts...

I owe around £20k on credit card debts / overdrafts, which is from a mixture of getting married and debts from being a student. ATM I am making the minimum payments on what I owe, however, I am VERY conscious that because of this I am basically paying off just a little amount off the interest each month, which means my debt is not decreasing.

Due to me having so much debt (along with a car on HP), I cannot get accepted for another credit card which would enable me to shift the credit card debt onto 0%. I did think about asking my bank for a consolidation loan.

I called National Debtline at the start of the week, and the advisor was really good. She advised me that a consolidation loan would not really be the best idea, as it would just involve me getting into more debt. She went through my options, and suggested that as I am managing to pay the minimum payments every month, I should write to my creditors and ask them to reduce the interest on my accounts whilst at the same time make just above the minimum payment value so it doesn't affect my credit rating.

I have composed some letters to my creditors to this affect offering to pay X amount a month for 40 months, for example.

I was just wondering if anyone has heard of this tactic having success before? Are my creditors likely to freeze my payments considering that I can afford to meet my minimum repayments?

Any advice on this would be greatfully received.