Advice on Money Transfer

alirx

I've had some issues with my wages not being paid properly which will be resolved in my pay at the end of the month. I thought I would be able to manage off savings until it was resolved (it's ended up being a few months) but I can now see that I'm not quite going to make it.

I was planning on just using my overdraft but my bank are clearly not happy with the account management (without proper wages) and I've just had a note that they're reducing my od limit from the 25th. Between getting my account below the new limit and some immovable expenses, I need about £400. My work owe me thousands and I should get that on the 30th so the 5 day gap is a bit frustrating.

I have a HTB ISA and removing those funds will mean they can't be replaced (losing £100 gov bonus if I took £400). I also have an old Barclaycard and when I looked I do have a money transfer offer with 2.9% fee.

Will this money transfer be quick into my bank? It seems like such a waste of fee when I don't really want to borrow. I'd be doubly annoyed if it didn't even clear in-time. I also have a clarity credit card that I could use at the ATM if that's fee free? And pay the cash into my account on Monday. I think 10 days interest would be less than the balance transfer fee although I'm aware it leaves a mark on your credit score.

I'm working towards buying a house and needless to say, could live without any late payment markers. Any advice would be great. Thanks

YorkshireBoy

In order of priority:

1. Ask the employer to sub you the £400.
2. Borrow from family/friends.
3. If the mortgage is imminent use Barclaycard, but keep an eye on the payment arriving, being ready to jump in with Clarity if needs be.
4. If the mortgage is 6-12 months away use Clarity.

Ben8282

It depends how urgent it is to get the money into the account. If you need it on Monday then a cash advance from an ATM will be the only way. Assuming that you repay the cash advance reasonably quickly the interest will not be very much. The ATM cash advance will be 3% fee which is no different really to the 2.9% money transfer fee. It depends on how long you want the money for. The money transfer will (presumably) be at 0% while interest will be charged on the ATM cash advance. but £400 even for a whole month should not cost you more than about £6 interest.
The ATM cash advance will of course be shown as such on your credit files but in isolation and as a one-off should not have any detrimental effect.
The money transfer would probably be the better option but it will take longer to get the money in your account. Difficult to predict exactly how long it will take but I can't really see the money being in your account until the later part of next week at the earliest.
Employers are required to make timely payment of wages/salary. Has your employer offered any compensation or explanation for failure to pay you for several months so that £1000's of wages/salary are owed. This is completely unsatisfactory and out of order however you look at it.

chattychappy

No fee on Clarity (I think Ben forgot it was Clarity), only interest from date of withdrawal. Interest is not punitive - probably 1% to 2% a month depending on what deal you're on. As soon as you pay back, interest stops (except for some tiny residual interest).

IMHO no worries on the credit report - I'm getting cash on Zero/Clarity weekly. Never had a problem getting credit - I can only assume it's only negative when taken with other factors. I suppose YorkshireBoy is thinking about your mortage application.

The only time I had a decline from Clarity was at a UK ATM. (But have used UK ATMs before and since - it was just a one off.) So don't leave it to the last minute in case you need to phone them to get a block removed.

Cash taken out with Clarity can be banked immediately and should be cleared immediately.

Personally I'd try to get something from your employer, else go with Clarity.

alirx

Thanks so much for all your advice.

The situation with my employer is a bit long-winded. I do know why it happened but, it was completely their error. They're not capable of giving me an advance, we've already explored this. I decided the best thing to do was focus on them sorting out the main issue (paying my wages) and explore refunding charges etc once they've managed that. Distracting them right now could just end up with them messing up my wages again I think.

Thanks for helping me sort my thoughts out. I think I'll just go to the bank tomorrow/Tues and take some cash out on my credit card and pay it into my account. This is fee free for me with the card I have and will just be the simplest and probably cheapest thing to sort it out.