Barclaycard interest help

soupyjnr

Hello I’m wondering if someone could help. 

I have a barclaycard which has a balance of £5000 and the limit is £5200. Each month I pay more than the minimum payment (around £140). My biggest issue is that the interest is £90 so the payments are not making a dent in the overall balance. 

I have tried to get a 0% balance transfer however the only ones available are for 6 months and I obviously couldn’t pay £5000 over 6 months. 

I was considering calling Barclaycard and asking them if they could freeze the interest for a while to allow me to get caught up a little. 

I’ve never done this before with any company and truth me told I’m afraid about the consequences. I am wanting to know if it will affect my credit score if I do this and to find out the affects of me asking them to do this?

Any help at all would be very helpful. 

Many thanks
Ryan

cs101

During this Corona virus period, yo can freeze your payment for upto three months without affecting your credit score. They have online form to fill. At least it will give you time to look for other alternatives.

PaulW922

If you get get zero percent over six months that doesn’t mean you MUST clear the debt in that time. If it is all you can get then it is still better than paying Barclaycard £90 interest a month for the next six isn’t it? You would save over £500

You could also ask Barclays if there are any zero % or reduced rates available that they could apply to your existing balance. They have offered this to people in the past. However telling them that you cannot afford the interest will probably result in the line of credit being shut down for some time so think carefully. 

soupyjnr

Thank you both for your replies. 

I’ve checked on barclaycard’s website however they still add on the interest if you choose a repayment holiday so that probably won’t help me. 

I think that’s a good point about not paying barclaycard £90 interest a month for 6 months. I’ll try that and hopefully it’ll help out. 

Many thanks

Mr87

£90 x 6 = £540 off your balance + whatever else you manage to also pay on top. Definitely worthwhile.
Why don't you look at cutting day to day expenditure too? That's where the biggest differences can be made...

maxximus75

Just be careful that these 0% for 6 months to have a heafty standard interest rate once it ends.

Also, remember to factor in the transfer fee.

Good luck!

20aday

Barclaycard have the following website: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/customer/repayment-calculator
Might be worth having a play around if you can adjust your expenditure and make more than the minimum repayments?

missjones80

I once asked for a reduction of interest on my Barclaycard as I'd been made redundant and I didn't know how quick I'd get a new job.  The first CSA I got through to in the general call centre said absolutely not but if I wanted to 'complain' they'd put me through to a different department.   Ended up speaking to a lovely lady who said she couldn't change my rate but she could put me on 0% for 3 months- it really helped me out and I managed to clear quite a lot off my balance.