Is there a way of getting interest reduced..?

OCDOCD

I had 5 CCs, now have 4 (paid Barclaycard off as my first snowball)
All remaining are at 29.9% apr
MBNA plat: £1400
Virgin (MBNA): £1800
Citicard: £3200
Cap 1: £1600

I am currently paying off Virgin at a rate of £400 a month (more if I have it) and paying £10~20 a month above minimum on all the others (I know it's not properly snowballing but if I just pay minimums then each debt goes up a few pennies every month, at least overpaying keeps them in correct direction!)
Anyway - I applied for a low apr Tesco clubcard CC to try and transfer balance of one CC but was declined, I daren't apply for anymore as I know I'll also be declined (Not missed payments, just level of debt I guess)
I know I will clear these before end of 2008 but the excruciatingly high apr is slowing me down (I have taken on 2nd job dedicated to paying CCs) - how open are these companies for asking for a lower apr? Would they trounce my credit rating if I approached them about it? Or is it better to just pay up and stop whinging?
Thanks.

Zebedee69

No harm in asking.........

Have you tried your normal everyday bank about a low apr overdraft or card you can BT to?... Even if its 15% APR its half of 29.9% so its a good start.

Is there anything else stopping you getting the 0% deals.... Check your credit rating!

OCDOCD

Thanks for reply, I have a £600 overdraft facility with Barclays already (unused) - I usually keep a positive balance of at least £500 in that current account in case I have unexpected bill (with OD there in case it's an even bigger bill!)
I see what you're saying about saving the interest by using the OD but then I'd leave myself open to having no money left in an emergency. I suppose I could go into Barclays and ask if they'd extend my overdraft for 12 months.
How do I check my credit rating?
Thanks.

Milarky

Subject to available limits, could you ask for a balance transfer between any of these cards at promotional rates? Even with a BT fee and an adverse order of payments (lowest rate first) this would take the heat out of the rate of 29.9 you mention. I suspect you've already tried shuffling the debt and you know it and the card issuers know it so they might act collusively and none of them offer you a lower rate on a debt transferred from somewhere else - even where it makes them a profit

OCDOCD

Thanks - I've not tried shuffling anything, I just started snowballing when I realised I'd been a complete moron getting into more debt than I admitted to myself.
I applied for the Tesco CC but that's it on the CC front.
Good idea on the BT at a lower rate, the Capital One card has £1400 available on it so I could see if I can move the MBNA over to it at a lesser rate.

GeorgeUK

To check your credit hisory go to experian (free) and cancel within 30 days.

It is usually best to have no more than 3 credit checks within 6 months or your credit score starts to drop.
Don't bother paying to see what your credit score may be. All organisations have their own method for calculating this so not really worthwhile.

If it's possible to shuffle, then by all means do this but remember to factor in the transfer cost to see if you are getting any real saving. Not sure if you'll be able to transfer to something cheaper as they are currently all the same rate.

Another thing i have read on the forum is that when you contact the bank to close an account, they sometimes offer an incentive for you to keep the account open. If you can BT the card with the lowest limit and wait a month or so, you could try contacting them to inform them you want to close your account and hopefully they'll offer something - which will then allow you to transfer from one of the other cards.

The incentives are usually 0% for 6-9 months or a life of balance offer. I would try to get this if possible as the APR is usually about 6%. This should allow you to throw more at the higher APR's and on clearing a card - try getting another deal.

YorkshireBoy

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Another thing i have read on the forum is that when you contact the bank to close an account, they sometimes offer an incentive for you to keep the account open. If you can BT the card with the lowest limit and wait a month or so, you could try contacting them to inform them you want to close your account and hopefully they'll offer something - which will then allow you to transfer from one of the other cards.

MBNA are known to offer decent retention deals, providing your account has been run well (29.9% APR might indicate that it hasn't been though?).

If you can shift the debt from one of the MBNA cards (the one with the highest limit) onto one of your others (preferably not the other MBNA card), you may be able to get a retention deal on the now empty MBNA card.

OCDOCD

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

MBNA are known to offer decent retention deals, providing your account has been run well (29.9% APR might indicate that it hasn't been though?).

If you can shift the debt from one of the MBNA cards (the one with the highest limit) onto one of your others (preferably not the other MBNA card), you may be able to get a retention deal on the now empty MBNA card.

Cheers, now shifted the MBNA to Cap1, just waiting for it to go through so I can call through and settle any outstanding interest with debit card and ask to close account, will then see if they are willing to offer a better APR - if not then so be it! At least it's then down to 3 cards to worry about - paid off £700 from the Virgin account the last few weeks, bonus from work due soon should kill off most of the Citi card after I've bought some token xmas presents for people.
Never again, once these are all gone I should be able to save for anything I want. I plan to keep the Capital One and use it for diesel, with full amount paid off each month to try and build a better rating for possible future needs.
Thanks for suggestions guys.

ad44downey

OCDOCD wrote: »

I had 5 CCs, now have 4 (paid Barclaycard off as my first snowball)
All remaining are at 29.9% apr
MBNA plat: £1400
Virgin (MBNA): £1800
Citicard: £3200
Cap 1: £1600

I am currently paying off Virgin at a rate of £400 a month (more if I have it) and paying £10~20 a month above minimum on all the others (I know it's not properly snowballing but if I just pay minimums then each debt goes up a few pennies every month, at least overpaying keeps them in correct direction!)
Anyway - I applied for a low apr Tesco clubcard CC to try and transfer balance of one CC but was declined, I daren't apply for anymore as I know I'll also be declined (Not missed payments, just level of debt I guess)
I know I will clear these before end of 2008 but the excruciatingly high apr is slowing me down (I have taken on 2nd job dedicated to paying CCs) - how open are these companies for asking for a lower apr? Would they trounce my credit rating if I approached them about it? Or is it better to just pay up and stop whinging?
Thanks.

The threat of physical violence has always worked for me. :T

OCDOCD

ad44downey wrote: »

The threat of physical violence has always worked for me. :T

Hehe - they all said no when I asked for lower APRs, maybe I should crack my knuckles...

OCDOCD

Capital One have just upgraded me to a Silver card and a lower APR for no apparent reason, shortly after refunding me £12 (albeit by their own admission their fault) and BTing from another card, I don't understand how they make these decisions - transfer from MBNA is showing in Cap1 online now - but also still sitting on MBNA account, a few days overlap paying interest on both :rolleyes2 - hopefully I can finalise MBNA on Monday - either by getting a better retention deal (to transfer money back onto if interest rate is better) or just closing it. MBNA is currently 27.9 not 29.9 as I first believed, still stinkingly bad though.
Paid a few more hundred off now - now stands at...

MBNA plat: £0
Virgin (MBNA): £1699
Citicard: £2950
Cap 1: £2708

So down to £7357 from £8000 and at a better APR. I plan to get Virgin down to £1000 by end of month and paid off by End of Feb, then start work on Cap1 (Citi will hopefully have been covered by bonus by then)
Cheers for help guys, feeling a lot better about it now.