Advice needed please!

stellbob

I have often used this site to find cheap flights and mobile phone deals but have always skipped the credit card info as I refuse to have one. Unfortunately it means I dont have a clue about them and so apologies if this post seems to be written by some simpleton!
Basically... my 67yr old mother has a mastercard. About a year ago I gave her£1500 to put in her account to bring the interset down as she was trying to pay it off. She now owes £800.
I now need my money back (car's gone tits up!)
Ive picked up from glancing briefly at articles on here that she could move over to a 0% interest card and suggested Tescos as she collects clubcard points. When she rang them they told her that if she wanted cash (to repay me) they would charge her a high interest rate like 25% or something.
If she repaid me the £1500 from her mastercard account BEFORE moving to Tescos would she get 0% interest then?
As I said before, Im sorry if its a ridiculous question but I really don't have a clue as ive never had a credit card!

stellbob

Thankyou so much Stephane. I knew it was going to be a simple question for someone to answer lol
So if she takes my money out today then rings Tesco and applies for a card and gets turned down she could apply for one of the other 0% cards?
OK while Im embarassing myself I may as well ask another stupid question.... if I get a Tescos credit card myself (because I collect tesco points too) how do I use it to pay all my direct debits that come out of my current account with HSBC eg council tax, SKY, gas/electric.
Also, if I use the Tescos credit card to pay for things in everyday life like i do with my debit card how do i find out how much Ive spent each month so that I can pay it?

KonkyWonky

If Tesco turn her down there is nothing to stop her applying elsewhere. Just be aware that every time she applies a credit search will be done by the lender and if she is refused this will look bad to prospective lenders.

You can't pay your direct debits via your credit card as the direct debits are attached to your current account, not your credit card.

You can check your credit card account details online at any time, you will also be provided with a statement once a month detailing the minimum required payment and balance. You can set up a direct debit to pay either the minimum payment or full balance, alternatively you can make a single payment at your convenience online or over the phone, in branch (dependant on lender).

stellbob

Thankyou for that konkywonky
So I might apply for one to pay for my everyday things, petrol,shopping etc that way Im kind of getting Tesco points for nothing if I make sure I repay the credit card each month!
Hopefully I'll manage to resist the temptation of buying something I couldnt normally afford:A

chanz4

mbna may do, and you pay 4% for cash

stellbob

My mum has just transferred the money over from her mastercard account and into my current account.
How long should she leave it until she applies for a Tescos 0% card? Does it take a few days before the new debit shows on her account or will it not make any difference.
Thanks again everyone x

Tixy

I would have got her to apply for a new card before she transferred money from her mastercard - as she may not be able to get a new card with a 0% deal.

So certainly get her to apply as soon as she can. If she struggles to get a 0% card then its going to be costly keeping the debt on that card - is she in a position to start paying off big chunks off the debt to try to minimise the interest.

stellbob

My mum has now just done an online application for a Tescos 0% credit card. IF she is accepted (will know within 5 working days) she is only allowed to transfer a balance of £700!!!!!:eek:
I feel terrible now because she owes £2500
So does that mean Tescos will take on the WHOLE debt but will allow her 0% on £700 but she has to pay higher interest on the rest? Or should she maybe apply for another couple of 0% cards and then spread the debt over 3 of them if they all offer the same balance transfer amount?

I feel like my heads going to explode!

Tixy

They'll likely only allow £700 to be transferred. So she'll end up with £700 at 0% (plus the fee) on tesco, and then £1600 on the mastercard, of which half will be at the expensive 25% and half will be at the existing rate.

But even to get that result she needs to be careful - she'll probably need to wait for the £1500 paid to you to appear on her next statement, before doing the transfer from Tesco. If it goes through to soon it will pay off the existing balance, leaving her with all of the £1500 at the expensive rate.

A better option (but too late now) might have been for mother to perhaps pay for your car repairs on her existing credit card, at least then they'd have only been at whatever the purchase rate is.

stellbob

Like I said in my very first post - I know NOTHING about credit cards. I didnt know they would only allow £700 transfer. I automatically thought 'balance' meant exactly that - the balance thats owed.
I asked on here if she would still be offered it AFTER she gave me my money back and was told yes - which is exactly why we did it that way round!
So yes, a very expensive mistake that i thought by asking on here i wouldnt make

Tixy

She'll have to wait and see if she is accepted for this card - and if so what limit she is given (the amount you can transfer depends on the limit given).

If she is not accepted she could try for another card elsewhere - who does she bank with? Who is her current card with?

If she is declined for 2 cards then I wouldn't suggest she applies anywhere else.

Do you know what APR her original debt is on with that credit card?

Maybe you could help her with budgeting so she could work on paying the debt off quicker? how much can she realistically afford a month to start getting the debt down? If she could pay off say £200 a month then she could clear the whole debt in just over a year and only pay around £300 in interest in total.

Another option might be for you to try to get a credit card with 0% on balance transfers. You say you've never had a credit card before - have you had any sort of credit agreement (including things like phone contracts /overdraft etc?) Do you know what your credit history looks like on your credit file? If you have had some other credit and made all repayments on time etc then you may find you can get a 0% card yourself.

If you could get a 0% card then you could do a balance transfer to mother's original card to pay off the expensive £1500 (providing that your new card is a different card provider to her original card).

So there may be a few options but first wait to see what tesco say.