Questions About My Debt Situation

paperstars

Hi guys

I am a newbie to this forum.

Just after some advice, in a bit of a pickle.

I currently have an outstanding credit card debt of £2400 with MBNA and the interest free runs out in June of this year.

Because I was way..way over spending to help with my mental health issues last year, I decided to close the account in order to stop the spending getting worse and after googling this, perhaps I made the wrong choice.

Anyway, I realise I ought to ring MBNA but just the thought of it scares me. I did drop them an email however. Just I'm curious to see if anyone else has dealt with them, and what options they would perhaps advise me on?

I do work full time and currently been paying the minimum amount due which is around £37. I understand this ought to be increased but have no option at the moment to increase these funds, not by a substantial amount anyway.

Guess I'm just scared that come June time, the interest will be such an excessive amount that I'll never be close to paying this all off

Thank you in advance for your help.

sourcrates

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm confused, first you say you've closed the account, then you say your still paying it, which is it ?

If the latter, you can always come to some arrangement with them if you can't afford the payments.

paperstars

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm confused, first you say you've closed the account, then you say your still paying it, which is it ?

If the latter, you can always come to some arrangement with them if you can't afford the payments.

Thank you

Apologies, what I meant to say was I closed the credit card to refrain me from spending even more.

So, although I still owe what is left on the card which is the £2k+, I no longer have the option to spend further on it.

After researching, a lot of sites say that it is best to leave the credit card open as closing it with a debt on it can affect your credit score quite substantially

enthusiasticsaver

If your credit rating is ok and you haven't missed payments can you balance transfer to another 0%? If you are making payments the account is not closed. Presumably you are no longer using the card to spend on?

sourcrates

Yes you can't close an account without first repaying the balance.

paperstars

Whoops, sorry...I meant I have cancelled the credit card. Not the account
Yes that is correct, the card itself is no longer active, thus me no longer spending.

I did attempt to have another go at credit card applications but did not get very far. Perhaps MBNA will have an answer for after June time when the free interest comes to an end

National_Debtline

Hi

There’s an MSE eligibility checker here. It gives you a rough idea on your chances of being able to get a new balance transfer card.

https://creditcards.moneysavingexpert.com/?balance-transfer&_ga=1.142826037.1017524171.1485337778

James
@natdebtline

enthusiasticsaver

If you still are in the interest free period now I would leave it until June before applying for anything else. Do a soft search on the mse eligibility tool so it does not leave a trace on your credit report. Concentrate on bringing the balance down as low as possible in the meantime. Why not put up an soa and see if people can suggest ways of you reducing outgoings?