Balance transfer to partner's card?

ClaraSolis

Hi, so my partner and I both have a 0% credit cards which will expire in the coming months. I am looking to get a new balance transfer card for both of us to get a new 0% deal while they are still available. Now I was wondering, if my partner gets a new card, will we be able to transfer some of my debt onto that, as well as his own?

He has a Barclaycard with around £2300 debt left (0% rate doesn't expire until September, but not sure we should wait that long).
I have a Sainsbury's card with £5000 debt (0% expiring in June) and £450 on a Santander one (0% expiring in September.)
I know I will not be able to transfer all of my debt to a new card as it's too high, so I'm just wondering what the best course of action is to divide the debt between us (we've both been using both cards for expenses, planning to properly start paying it off after our wedding this summer). 

Could I do a partial balance transfer from my Sainsbury's card to a new card (looking at RBS 0% fee for 18 months), then have a new balance transfer card for my partner where he transfers his balance and the rest of my Sainsbury's debt? Or does this not work, merging two debts onto one balance transfer card? Should he open a second card to transfer the other debt?

Any tips/advice are greatly appreciated! It would lift a huge amount of stress if I could get this sorted soon!   

sparelogin

Yes, that should work.

[Deleted User]

Technically they don't like it as it's a different card name but it's unlikely they would ever find out. You can do multiple cards / transfers to one account fine and bounce it off again to a third card if you can get one. Do Santander not have any offers available for you - may be worth an ask to kill some of your Sainsbury's debt.
I would apply now, if rejected at least you have time to wait before applying again in August so you don't look desperate for credit.

ClaraSolis

Deleted_User said:

Technically they don't like it as it's a different card name but it's unlikely they would ever find out. You can do multiple cards / transfers to one account fine and bounce it off again to a third card if you can get one. Do Santander not have any offers available for you - may be worth an ask to kill some of your Sainsbury's debt.
I would apply now, if rejected at least you have time to wait before applying again in August so you don't look desperate for credit.

Thank you!
In regards to Santander, do you mean getting a new credit card? I already have their Everyday Credit card (don't think you can get two can you?) and their other available card charges £3 per month. I don't have a current account with them so can't really see any offers. 

My Lloyds account has an offer for a £3550 balance transfer for either 0% over 20 months with a 3.5% fee or 3.9% p.a. over 36 months with a 0% fee... but I know there's better deals out there so doesn't seem worth it?

I also have an RBS account and they have the 18 month 0% fee, which they say I'm 95% eligible for, but it doesn't say how much I could transfer. Might look at getting that one first, then see how much I still need to shift from the remaining debt.  

PRAISETHESUN

Some lenders will accept BTs from cards in another person's name, whilst some won't - I'd check beforehand rather than just assuming it will work. Also, keep in mind that if you BT debt to your partner (or vice versa) it legally becomes that person's responsibility to pay it off - just something to keep in mind in case things every become a bit rocky.

Otherwise the best approach is as you've described - transfer as much as you can to 0% BT cards and then throw as much cash as possible at any remaining interest-bearing debt. After that, focus on the BT offers ending soonest. There's no guarantee you'll get another BT offer when these ones end if any debt still isn't paid off, so have a plan on how you're going to pay this debt off in the time frame of the current offer(s), or what you're going to do if you don't.

[Deleted User]

Santander - no, just see if they have any offers or call them and as nicely if they would consider giving you a new deal - you should be able to see offers on their app or website, I have cards with Halifax, Sainsbury's and Barclaycard and don't have accounts with them either, just look on their sites if I need a transfer

If you actually have an offer of £3550 for 20 months at 0% already then I would take that without a second thought, that way you can use the money you save to pay down the Sainsbury's debt and don't need to apply for another card - you might even be able to do all the debt with your partner's card

ClaraSolis

Thanks for the help everyone! Seems I don't need to transfer anything to my partner. I just applied for a 0% card with RBS (0% fees as well) and was given a credit limit of just over £6000, so I can transfer everything over from my Sainsbury's card it seems. Hooray! 

@PRAISETHESUN: btw, awesome name!

[Deleted User]

Just make sure you take the opportunity to pay everything off within the period of 0%, you don't want to be here again in 18 months with £5000 of debt due in 3 months

ClaraSolis

Deleted_User said:

Just make sure you take the opportunity to pay everything off within the period of 0%, you don't want to be here again in 18 months with £5000 of debt due in 3 months

Yeah that's the plan.  We've basically been prioritising saving up for our wedding, so hopefully once that is out of the way this summer we can use the money we were putting aside every month to pay off our debt. I think we had been bad for adding extra debt onto cards for unforeseen expenses (broken laptop, car repairs etc), so we just need to stop doing that heh.

[Deleted User]

If you are carrying debt and risking paying interest to save for a wedding, that's really an, uh, interesting, priority list.