Converting HSBC credit card to loan

Mickey_G23

Thank you all for the advice. I have been quiet for a week as I realise I came into this forum like a bull in a china shop. Apologies to all of those I have upset.

I realise that DMP and bankruptcy are serious possibilities given my situation.

So what have I done since last weekend?

Firstly, accepted the state I am in. Not good, but not yet dire straits as somebody put it.

I am checking my bank balance a lot more and actually budgeting for day to day things, instead of just running out of money. Ok, only a week but today I bought food for all my lunches and evening meals for £15 for the week. No more staff canteen at lunchtime.

I am having a major clear out and listed 10 items on ebay, these two things alone will stop me needing to put anything on credit this month.

I have spoken to a few people about extra work, this may see an extra hundred or so in a month.

Thank you all again for your help, this is a wonderful forum and I hope to get a lot back from it and hopefully contribute positively as well.

Thrugelmir

Mickey_G23 wrote: »

Thank you all again for your help, this is a wonderful forum and I hope to get a lot back from it and hopefully contribute positively as well.

Plenty of advice and support on the Debt Free Wannabe forum. You are not alone in your situation. Bare your soul where people are tackling similar issues.

dalesrider

Mickey_G23 wrote: »

Hi I have £6k on a HSBC credit card and want to transfer this to a personal loan with them.

Does anybody have any experience of converting bank cards to loans?

If you go to HSBC they will want to close the credit card. But given some of the other posts and your situation you may find that they are not prepared to offer a loan for this.

All you can do is ask HSBC and explain your situation.

Remember they are there to help you. At the end of the day. They want their money back.

GlamGirlie

HSBC won't necessarily close your card, it depends on your internal credit rating with them.

And they won't charge you more if you say it's for debt consolidation - rates are assessed on a borrower basis not a purpose basis, so you will pay the same rate as if you said you wanted it to buy a car.

msallen

I was in a similar position to you about 18 months ago (£46K CC debt, £36K salary). Fortunately - although it didn't seem fortunate at the time - I was made redundant and so able to pay about £8K off from my severance payment, and was also inspired to do something about the debt I'd been carrying around for years (without even knowing the total). It was also fortunate of course that I was able to get another (better paid) job very quickly.

I had one card with a low-ish APR, much as you have, so like you say you are doing I started by moving as much debt as possible to that card (by spending on that card but paying off on the highest APR one). I then continued to do the same with the next lowest APR card etc.

Within a few months I had paid off one card totally, and what do you know, a few weeks later the paid off card offered me a BT deal. I used this to pay off another card, which in turn offered me another BT deal a couple of months later. etc etc

I have basically been micro-managing my finances ever since, moving money or debts around to make the most of whatever repayments I can afford each month. Now, 18 months later I have about £2K left on 5.9% APR (which will be cleared within the next few weeks) and everything else is split between three different 0% APR balances (and each will be cleared before its particular 0% deals come to an end).

There is light at the end of the tunnel, and I guarantee you that if you get stuck into this for a few months you'll start to see that you're moving in the right direction, and that will inspire you to keep going.

Mickey_G23

msallen wrote: »

I was in a similar position to you about 18 months ago (£46K CC debt, £36K salary).

I have a barclayscard sat almost empty with about £6000 spare credit. I have asked in the past if they will do a balance transfer but they say they have no offers even though a different barclays card I have is on 6.9% life deal.

Is there a magic word on anyone inparticular I should ask to speak to or just threaten them that they have two choices. "Either let me transfer on £6k or I'll close the account." How have you approached this?

Rosie888

Hi I spoke to my bank this afternoon First Direct about exactly the same thing as I wanted to know if they could reduce my APR as I was looking to transfer to another provider. The woman who took my call suggested transferring it to a personal loan with an interest rate of 5.1% and I could make over payments if I wanted to reduce the amount or pay it off quickly with no extra charges. Hope this helps as I'm going for this option. Good luck.

Mickey_G23

Rosie888 wrote: »

Hi I spoke to my bank this afternoon First Direct about exactly the same thing as I wanted to know if they could reduce my APR as I was looking to transfer to another provider. The woman who took my call suggested transferring it to a personal loan with an interest rate of 5.1% and I could make over payments if I wanted to reduce the amount or pay it off quickly with no extra charges. Hope this helps as I'm going for this option. Good luck.

Worth a shot. Cheers.

Thrugelmir

Mickey_G23 wrote: »

Is there a magic word on anyone inparticular I should ask to speak to or just threaten them that they have two choices. "Either let me transfer on £6k or I'll close the account." How have you approached this?

You may find that they'll snap your hand off to close the account. Given you don't use it and therefore don't generate any income for Barclaycard.

The magic roundabout days of transferring balances between cards are drawing to a close I suspect. As lenders come to terms with responsible lending policy. Allowing borrowers to defer repayment indefinately serves no purpose.

msallen

Mickey_G23 wrote: »

I have a barclayscard sat almost empty with about £6000 spare credit. I have asked in the past if they will do a balance transfer but they say they have no offers even though a different barclays card I have is on 6.9% life deal.

Is there a magic word on anyone inparticular I should ask to speak to or just threaten them that they have two choices. "Either let me transfer on £6k or I'll close the account." How have you approached this?

Fortunately I didn't have to do this as I spend quite a lot on my cards each month (work expenses), so I can transfer debt between cards very easily by just spending on one but paying off another. Even if you don't have work expenses to help you do this, you should be able to effect a transfer between cards by doing all your spending on the Barclaycard but paying off the highest APR one (plus the minimum on Barclaycard too of course).