Balance transfer period ended

BenEssex

Hi all,
I welcome your options and advise please. My balance transfer period has just ended with Santander meaning a am now paying a hefty interest fee on a £9,000 credit card.
Naturally the best solution would be to move to a new balance transfer card however having looked on the money saving expert eligibility checker and a couple of other comparison sites I am being told that no recommendations are possible as my details are unable to be matched with the credit bureaus. I have tried going through a credit report site (clear score) and receive the same message.

I looked at Sainsburys and received a 90% success rate but when applied was rejected.
Are cards harder to obtain with the current situation or does anyone know of any cards that are worth looking at?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Deleted User]

Lending criteria have tightened carrying the existing debt is going to make things tough.

Try one more application elsewhere, but if declined, leave it for a couple of months.  In the meantime, put your payment plan into action and throw every penny at the debt.

sourcrates

Hi Ben.

Balance tranfers are only ever a stop gap option, when times are tough, lenders start pulling up the drawbridge.

What was your plan originally to repay this debt, just hoping the deals would keep on coming ?

It may be time to take a more pro-active approach with this, pay more than the minimum to get your balance down quicker, or if this is not possible, or you are struggling, take debt advice on how to clear the balance.

CRISPIANNE3

sourcrates said:

Hi Ben.

Balance tranfers are only ever a stop gap option, when times are tough, 

I care to think of them as prudent financial planning. 

Ebe_Scrooge

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I care to think of them as prudent financial planning. 

I would disagree.  They are useful when they're available, but you should never "plan" on being able to get another one.  My standard reply on this forum whenever anyone asks about interest-free cards always ends with : "Make sure you have plans in place to repay the outstanding balance when the promotional rate expires.  You cannot bank on being able to shift it to another 0% card".

MEM62

CRISPIANNE3 said:

sourcrates said:

Hi Ben.

Balance tranfers are only ever a stop gap option, when times are tough, 

I care to think of them as prudent financial planning. 

Not in this case apparently.  And not in many others either.  Sooner of later the tally man always comes to call and most will not have a credible plan for clearing the debt.  

[Deleted User]

CRISPIANNE3 said:

sourcrates said:

Hi Ben.

Balance tranfers are only ever a stop gap option, when times are tough, 

I care to think of them as prudent financial planning. 

I agree, so long as you have a method to pay them back in the worst case scenario. If I have anything major to buy I will use the offers that I get from Barclays to move it over (I also get offers from my 2 other cards but I use those for spending so wouldn't be ideal to use them). I am constantly paying the balance down with a fully planned budget to ensure each transfer is paid off before the end (even if it means on older card gets paid off early) and I have the cash around to pay them off if I need to. OP should have been paying off the 9k over the course of the balance on the assumption they might not get another offer.

OP you need to go to the debt free pages and post a statement of affairs (use the link in the sticky) to see where you can save money and get the balance down - might be worth one other application to a "lower" brand card, transfer what you can and hit the balance hard as fast as possible

born_again

Ebe_Scrooge said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I care to think of them as prudent financial planning. 

I would disagree.  They are useful when they're available, but you should never "plan" on being able to get another one.  My standard reply on this forum whenever anyone asks about interest-free cards always ends with : "Make sure you have plans in place to repay the outstanding balance when the promotional rate expires.  You cannot bank on being able to shift it to another 0% card".

In many ways M Lewis has a lot to answer for with his stoozing on Credit Cards.
When promoting the 0% offers he should always be adding that "You need to budget, to repay over the term" not simply keep playing the game to avoid paying back what you have spent.
Sadly now the Cows have come home. Banks are making sure that they do not end up footing the bill.

eskbanker

born_again said:

In many ways M Lewis has a lot to answer for with his stoozing on Credit Cards.
When promoting the 0% offers he should always be adding that "You need to budget, to repay over the term" not simply keep playing the game to avoid paying back what you have spent.

Hence https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards/#fiverules

Your aim should always be to clear the amount you transferred over during the cheap period, minimising the interest.

cymruchris

You could try running eligibility checkers directly on banks websites - don't go through comparison sites. Direct will give you a better indication of whether you'll be successful. One more search wouldn't be a problem - but if declined again you need to wait a few months before trying again. In the meantime you've got to try and get that debt down by putting any spare money you can find into it. The usual applies - are you on the cheapest broadband? do you have a large sky package? what can you cancel that's 'not essential' just nice to have that can save money? Do you have anything of value that's been sitting around for a few months that you haven't used that you can sell? If you do manage to get another card - you might not get the same limit anyway - so it's worth looking at what you can do right now to make an impact on this debt. 

sourcrates

CRISPIANNE3 said:

sourcrates said:

Hi Ben.

Balance tranfers are only ever a stop gap option, when times are tough, 

I care to think of them as prudent financial planning. 

Yes, I’m sure a lot of ex-bankrupt’s once shared the same point of view.