Getting Credit cards for short term loan

misiudad

I am taking delivery of a new car at the end of October and need to borrow about £10000 in the short term to pay for it. I have worked out that I can pay this off inside a year so am looking at using credit card deals as opposed to a loan. I am able to pay £3000 directly on to a credit card so was going to try and get a 0% on purchases card for this amount. The plan is to use my Egg Money card and a good balance transfer deal for the other £7000 if possible.

I currently have a Halifax cashback card that I have used and paid in full for the last 7 years. I have £9000 limit on this card but never use that much. I recently got my Egg Money card with £3000 limit but have not used this yet. Finally, I have a store card with £2000 limit that I used for one purchase and paid off in full. The only other debt I have is my mortgage in joint names. I have never missed a payment on anything so would think I have a good credit rating.
I have a good monthly income that is paid in to a joint current account and have about £7000 in savings.

I am looking for any information regarding:

• Who, if any, are most likely to give the required levels of credit? I assume some are better than others
• Am I likely to get a good term for 0% on a BT and a good level of credit or will there be a trade off - Ideally 12 months %0 is needed for the BT. Up to 6 months 0% on purchases for the £3000 paid on a card would be nice.
• When would be the best time to apply for these cards in order to get them ready for late October?
• Should I stagger applications in order to maximise the chance of getting the 2 cards I need?
• Should I reduce my limits / close my existing cards in order to increase my chances of getting the required levels of credit?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Bokkens

The way the credit card 0% periods work is that the companies give a medium sized limit say £6000 and once the 0% offer ends they raise the limit but at this point if you used the extra increase in your limit you would incur interest charges.
To secure the £10,000 in one go I would personally go for a loan.Most loans have a 30 day "cooling off" period where the loan can be cancelled without any charges .Liverpool Victoria have a 60 day cooling off period.
Get the loan,money goes into your account.Apply for two or maybe three credit cards depending on the limits given one of theses will need to be a mule card ie.A&L which allows you to transfer money from the card to your bank account or other credit card.(read up on SBT).There will be some fees involved here to transfer the money at 2% of say £5000 you are looking at £100 say £200 for the full £10,000 to be moved between bank account and credit cards ,but it would then be at 0% for the period of the cards.No charges from the loan company if you use L&V.(obviously read the small print incase they have changed their policy recently)as you will hand the £10000 back before the end of the cooling off period thereby incuring no charges.
MBNA cards give reasonable limits as does Nationwide and American Express.
You should apply for the cards three weeks before you need them allow extra time for weekends or bank holidays.Staggering you applications may help but normally applying for two cards in a short period is not a problem,I would cancel your store card use a credit card or debit card for purchases.
Depending where you buy the car from and the limit you have on the card(s) you could just buy the car using the credit card and then share the debt onto other 0% cards you would still have a 2% handling charge from the garage.
Hope that gives you some ideas.

misiudad

Thanks for the advice. I was actually going to go down the loan route as a last resort. I have been banking with Halifax for 10 years and just thought I would use them to get a loan if the card route did not work out. Might be best to look at this upfront.

I have had a look at the cards you mention and think the A&L MBNA card could be a good option for the balance transfer. Alternatively, does anyone know how generous Fly and Buy are with credit limits? - capped £50 BT fee is apealing

I cannot buy the car solely on a card - I have been told they will accept £3000 on a credit card. Looking at the cards available for 0% purchases, the Halifax One at 12 months 0% and the MBNA Platinum at 9 months 0% seem good bets. From what you say, I am probably more likely to get the required credit limit with the MBNA. Do you think already having another Halifax card for 7 years would help or hinder my chances of getting a good limit on the Halifax One card?

Finally, these rates seem to apply from the opening of the account. Is the opening of the account classed as when you are accepted or when you start using the cards?