To tell or not to tell?

annie2005

I would appreciate some advice please. The situation is that I have been diagnosed with a serious illness which has resulted in my now having an income consisting of benefits. My question is do I tell the credit card company LTSB or do I keep silent in case they panic and try to get increased payments out of me? I am making regular payments to pay off the card and if the worst came to the worst provision has been made to see to it that the debt is cleared. My problem would come if they started to demand higher payments to clear the debt more quickly as my income is totally inelastic.

Does anyone know what LTSB are like to deal with or what the best tactic to use in this sort of situation is? I have no intention of not paying in full it's merely a question of the best way to maintain a manageable schedule of payments.

bengal-stripe

There is no need to tell the company any change of circumstance, as long as you keep to your part of the agreement: stay within your limit and pay, at least, the required minimum.

jojo1978_3

If you find that you are struggling to make the minimum payments you may find it beneficial to tell them. They can put you on a hardship plan, as your circumstances have changed, which may stop the interest being charged (not 100% on this tho) and also reduce the minimum payments, i think the only downside is that it will be recorded on your credit file that you were on the plan.
Do you have any insurance setup that could cover the payments for you, eg ppi?

egamar

I concur.

With one exception: if your financial position ever becomes over-stretched or looks like it is going to become so, unsecured debts like this are at the bottom of your priority list. Mortgage/rent and bl**dy council tax are at the top.

I'd be having a preparatory read of the 'Debt Free' and 'Budgeting' forums (oh, fora if you insist) to start getting your head around what you need to do and putting things in place in case your health deteriorates to an extent where you can't keep up. I've been there, and struggling to find the energy to deal with matters is a bad if not worse than not having any bl**dy money!

Sorry for your news.

annie2005

:T Thank you everybody for the advice I feel that at least I have a better idea of where to begin to draw up a plan of action. I'll check out the other forums mentioned and not mention anything unless the circumstances change.

Thanks again.