Credit card for large balance transfer

RDZTwins

Hi All,

I need some advice please. Wasn't sure if this or the debt forum would be the best place to ask, but I'll try here.

I have a very large balance (£20k-ish) spread across three separate credit cards, all charging interest at varying rates averaging out at 15%. I'm barely keeping up with the minimum payments, although I have never missed a payment nor do I have any CCJs etcs.

Can anyone suggest a card that is likely to accept me with such a large balance transfer that also offers a long 0% period and low transfer fee?

I'm only too aware of what a terrible situation this is, so if you're thinking of replying to tell me what a fool I am for getting into this mess, please save yourself the trouble. Believe me, I know

TIA,
RDZT

ColoredSands

My parents who had a similar amount of debt applied for a Barclaycard and got initial limit of 8k and also MBNA and got a starting limit of 9.5k.

Nothing's guaranteed and people report vastly different limits from same companies for people in similar circumstances.

I would apply for one see what you get offered and transfer what you can to start saving you money. Even a few pounds a month of saved interest can be huge.

RDZTwins

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Sadly both Barclaycard and MBNA (along with Cahoot) already have the pleasure of my custom.

Consumerist

As said earlier, it's a bit hit and miss as to the amount and duration of any balance transfer deal. You may have to do this in stages - applying for cards at about six month intervals to keep the searches on your credit file under control.

If you're in difficulty with even the minimum payments then you might want to consider off-loading debt from the Barclaycard first (2.25% minimum repayments). This might not be the cheapest long-term option but may relieve the immediate payments pressure.

Santander is offering a fee-free 0% balance transfer for 15 months card but it is likely to be for smaller amounts.

chattychappy

The usual advice is to clear the balances with the highest APR first.

However, if you have a smallish balance on a card with a decent limit, it could be worth clearing this as a priority. On clearing a balance, cards often come back with good 0% deals.

In the last few weeks I've had 0% offers from Santander, Barclaycard, MBNA, Post Office, Nationwide, Natwest and Tesco.

RDZTwins

Thanks for that.

I do get regular 0% deals on the cards I've got, but have now got too close to the limits on all of them to make it worthwhile transferring between them any more.

Plus, I've noticed that MBNA (which I have the highest limit on) apply payments made to the 0% portion first, so transferring anything onto it at 0% with a large balance already just means you pay more on that original balance because you're not paying it off at all...if you understand what I mean!

I made a mistake earlier, I do have £1k of the debt on a 0% deal until May 2016

YorkshireBoy

RDZTwins wrote: »

Plus, I've noticed that MBNA (which I have the highest limit on) apply payments made to the 0% portion first, so transferring anything onto it at 0% with a large balance already just means you pay more on that original balance because you're not paying it off at all...if you understand what I mean!

I made a mistake earlier

You've made another one just now!

MBNA most certainly do not apply 'negative payment hierarchy'. Any payment you make will go towards the balance with the highest interest rate first, known as 'positive payment hierarchy'.

That's been true across the industry for a number of years. Indeed, MBNA were pioneers in that they started even before the industry regulators said they had to (in September 2010, 4 months ahead of the implementation date of January 2011).


Some reading for you...

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=positive+payment+hierarchy+MBNA

RDZTwins

I guess time flies and it must have been prior to September 2010 when I last looked at the terms and conditions, when they certainly did apply 'negative payment hierarchy'.

I sincerely apologise for my statement, which I now realise was wrong. Thanks so much for your help.

20aday

Might it be worth OP's time contacting BarclayCard and seeing if they'll reduce the card's APR?

I'm *sure* I've seen threads on here where customers have called/messaged them and have received a reduction?

eskbanker

Unfortunately I think it's extremely unlikely that any credit provider will be able or willing to offer credit of £20K if you already have £20K of debt, because these would be aggregated together to take you to £40K of available credit, even though you intend for one to replace the other (they can't bank on this). If you're already struggling to service £20K of debt and are only making minimum payments then lenders will be able to see this pattern and in my opinion would be unlikely to offer significant further credit unless you have a salary that can withstand it. As above, see what you can get but I suspect that anywhere near the full £20K would be ambitious....

Candyapple

If you bank with Halifax, they are more likely to give you a higher limit and they offer 0% BT for 20 months with no fee:
http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/no-balance-transfer-fee/

Or Tesco 19 months 0% with no fee, they give generous limits:
http://www.tescobank.com/credit-cards/low-fee/index.html?cmpid=aggregator/moneysupermarket/creditcards/lowfeecc4

If you are not able to take out another card, you'll need to snowball your debt:
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx