any help and advice please...

_tonybroke_

Well,where do I start!

 I have managed to get myself into the deep do-do  on my credit cards after paying for my living expenses and materials for a job etc to bridge the gap until I got payment for the job I was doing.The job got shut down during lockdown and so far ive only received 8k.

 The cards got as high as 37k over time and I only really stopped using them in april as I woke up to the massive debt building (I realise this was was far too late to wake up to it,but here I am now)

Been paying them off as much as I can spare since I woke up and the debt is now 34.5k

 All cards are on 0% at the moment but my MBNA 0% rate runs out next month

I owe 8k on the MBNA card...5k of which runs out next month and the rate is 20.3%

The other 3k is on a fixed low rate until Jan 2023

 The big issue is my balance transfer offers have disappeared from all other cards I have... so I feel like I’ve snookered myself.

The reason I think they have disappeared is i missed a payment of £30 to a sainburys mastercard last month,I think this was a fault with their automated system but realise its my own fault for not having a DD in place to avoid problems like this.

I paid Sainsburys straight away plus the late payment charge and another £55 on top... after phoning them they said this wouldn’t affect my credit rating as I paid it so quickly.

But I think this is why the offers from the other cards have vanished

 Three other cards 0% offers run out in January which are adding to my worries

Tesco 10.2k

Santander 7.5k

Sainsburys 1.1k

 My other cards are

 Virgin 5.8k 0% until sept 2021

M&S 2.4k  0% until May 2021

 I really am confused of what to do next.

I have 10k in the bank and not sure whether to;

pay a chunk off the Mbna card

keep paying all cards monthly (around £500) and hope the balance transfer rates return soon

phone a debt agency and ask about possible interest freeze which I assume means my credit rating will be in ruins

 

to top all that I have just been laid off from work as contract has been put back indefinitely and not sure when next pay cheque will be arriving.

 I have a interest only mortgage and property is worth 300k and I owe 169k

 Will/can  the credit card company force me to sell or put some kind of charge on my home?

 

I really appreciate any help/replies as its now a constant worry and Im not sure what to do next.

 thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

D3xt3r5L4b

Post a soa in the DFW board

molerat

If Sainsbury's didn't report the late payment then there is no way it would be affecting your transfer offers, that is more than likely down to the level of debt you have which is not reducing combined with the general withdrawal of many offers during this current situation.  The offers are still there for those that don't "need" them.

_tonybroke_

thanks molerat,ive been reading that they are moving the goalposts and tightening the criteria...it was just the timing of it all as i had a Halifax card lined up ready for the BT from MBNA card and it vanished almost overnight

_tonybroke_

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Post a soa in the DFW board

thanks D3
DFW = debt free wannabe board
can u tell me what soa  is please
im away from computer for next few hours so will check in again later
thanks again

born_again

Statement Of Affairs 
Basically income V expenditure.

You would only see a credit co put a charge on your property if you agree to it.
Personally I would not pay off anything at the moment out of your savings. You really do need proper debt advice.

Talk to step change. As they are free debt advice charity.
https://stopcharges.org.uk

_tonybroke_

thanks for the advice born_again
i will get in touch with them later today
im going to repost the above on the DFW board

foxy-stoat

If you have no repayment vehicle on your property then you have a bigger issue in years to come which needs to be sorted while you have time.
I would pay the minimums for the time being until you get back into full time work.  No point in trashing your credit file as you could be back 100% working before your savings run out so you can rebuild them.  Once you go down the road of not paying or going IVA/DMP etc your stuck for years.
When interest starts to be added look at overpaying or clearing the card with the highest interest rate first.
What is the interest rate on the mortgage and monthly payment, you may if you want, remortgage to a repayment type and drawing out equity to clear your cards.  As long as you budget properly and cancel them ALL and not take out credit like this again, it may be a road you could explore - however if your not careful you could end up with less equity and the same amount of unsecured debt again so its advised against on here but an option.
If you have no repayment vehicle and no savings to clear the £169K then you will have to sell your house anyway at some point.

ManyWays

Your mortgage is your top priority. If you don't know when you will next get paid, can you pay the mortgage let alone credit cards? 
At the moment you can take a 3 month payment break on the cards but only until the end of October. Wouldn't that be a good idea now? If you get another job, you can return to your previous plans. But a lot of the 0% deals have gone and I think you may have difficulty refinancing that amount of debt. 

_tonybroke_

thanks so much for the reply foxy-stoat
my mortgage is £304 a month at the moment
the idea was to clear the huge debt and then start paying of the mortgage amount with the spare money i would've had in a few years time...seems a pipe-dream now for sure.
my top priority is getting back to work and i will be contacting step change etc to see what they suggest
the ideal situation would be back into fulltime work and hope the 0% BT offers come back but listening to advice i think the offers could be gone for good as i have so much debt.
losing my credit rating and cards etc will probably do me a favour in the long run....i guess some of us are just too stupid to have credit!
thanks again for your help

_tonybroke_

thanks for the reply Manyways
i will look into a card payment break although i think the interest still piles up on them but beggars cant be chosers!
i will call a few debt agencies and get a few opinions and go from there
getting back into fulltime work is top priority at the moment
thanks again for the advice