Pay off credit card before balance transfer?

ramonastone

Dear All,

I am new to the forum so hope this is ok. I wondered if anyone had advice on the below:

We have used 0% purchase cards to support cash flow for our extension/used them as cheap loans. The deals are coming to an end. I have enough cash to pay off most of the cards but we will have about £7k to balance transfer which we will be easily able to pay off in about 23 months if we pay £300 a month, though I think we might be able to do more than that some months. My question is, should I pay off one of the cards (they have £12k and £9k on them) BEFORE I apply for a new card?

Thoughts welcome! Thanks in advance.

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes. Your amount of outstanding debt would then be less, so you've more chance of being accepted for a new card. You need to give it enough time for the fact that you've paid them off to register on your credit file, so that other lenders can see it.

ramonastone

Thanks - that was my instinct but i wanted to check. Any idea how long it would take to register????

matchboxfull

ramonastone wrote: »

Thanks - that was my instinct but i wanted to check. Any idea how long it would take to register????

Dependent on your billing date and their date of reporting it can take up to two months.

ramonastone

Oh dear. I will have to pay it off and take my chances then. Wish I'd asked this sooner! Thanks.