Good simple advice needed

Jake_Barnes

Hi there,

I've got a loan out from Egg that currently stands at 8,450 UKP at an interest rate of 7.7 pa.

Can I:

Make a balance transfer of no interest for a certain period of time (a year for example)

Switch to a provider with a better interest rate (i.e who would you recommend)?

Do a combination of the both?

On the Egg page it says call them re penalties for paying off early. Anybody ever had to pay any kind of fee for early repayment with Egg?

Thanks in advance,

Jake

Rafter

The terms and conditions you got when you took out the loan should tell you the repayment penalties or whether you can make overpayments at least?

Without this information it is difficult to advise you.

7.7% isn't a bad rate, but it isn't as good as 0% or the 3.9% life of balance transfer rate from Texaco.

Jake_Barnes

Thanks,

I checked with EGG, and there's no charge for paying off the loan in full, or in part.

I'm guessing I've got two choices, a transfer to a credit card with a 0% interest rate, but I think this is over a relatively short term? I would have to pay the loan off within 1 year (eek!) or open a new account after the first year is up (how would this affect my credit rating?).

Or go for that Texaco fixed rate, which would save me a chunk of money (thanks for the tip ).

Can anyone give some further advice on the best way to proceed?

Many thanks inn advance for all advice,

Jake.

Rafter

Jake,

Good news about the Egg Loan.

Suggest you apply for the Texaco card and see what credit limit you get. Remember not to use the card for purchases - only use it for the transfer!

Only pay the minimum balance of the Texaco card then and try to pay off your Egg loan as much as you can first.

After you have the texaco card, try applying for a zero% card. MBNA for 9m might be the best for a decent credit limit. You do run the risk of not being able to get another zero % card when that expires.

If you are strict with yourself though you should be able to pay off your loan much faster than at present.

Nobody is really sure how many applications you can make before running into credit rating problems. But a loan and a couple of credit cards shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck.