Can’t get a balance transfer card??!!

Ellalou

We have 4 credit cards : 

MBNA - £5200 o/s - 0%
Virgin - £6700 o/s - not 0% anymore
BOS - £5300 o/s - not 0% anymore
M & S - £340 o/s - not 0% anymore 

I’m finally trying to get on top of our debt, I’ve posted on the debt free wannabe thread and I’m going to do a SOA. 

My question is..what have you done if you are unable to move your debt onto 0% balance transfer cards? 

I am currently paying the minimum payments on each card. 

Anyone in the same position? Or been in the same situation? 

Thank you 

WillPS

Pay £1 more than minimum payment each time. This means your lenders can't report that you are only paying the minimum required (which might help with future affordability checks).

Focus everything else in to the card which you are paying the highest APR on. 

Every couple of months, see if your affordability for 0% balance transfers is improving, and if there's a reasonable chance on any of them give it a try, but if rejected stick to plan A, do not make multiple applications in a short period. If accepted, shift other cards on a highest-APR-first basis and continue to pay min+£1 on each except whichever has the highest APR.

Ellalou

great advice, thank you! 

I didn’t realise they can report on only paying the min payment. I‘ll up the payments slightly! 

How do you check your affordability for the 0% cards? 

I am on clear score and when I search on there it only gives me high interest rate cards that I would be eligible for. 

Is there a better way of checking? 

[Deleted User]

Check with other eligibility checkers and directly with lenders for a better idea.

WillPS

MSE Credit Club also has an affordability checker.

I would probably avoid using the lender's affordability check until I was ready to apply anyway - lenders will have visibility of you using their own affordability checker but not of you using the likes of ClearScore/Credit Club.

I have no evidence of this ever having caused a problem, just my understanding of what they could potentially use vs what they can't, and that constantly checking is normally viewed unfavourably.

born_again

Ellalou said:

great advice, thank you! 

I didn’t realise they can report on only paying the min payment. I‘ll up the payments slightly! 

How do you check your affordability for the 0% cards? 

I am on clear score and when I search on there it only gives me high interest rate cards that I would be eligible for. 

Is there a better way of checking? 

Ignore anything offered by a CRA. They are getting a kickback. Look direct to the lenders.

I know the norm is to target the debt with the highest interest rate.
But get rid of the M/S £340 & then focus on the others. 

Lenders will be looking at your debt to income ratio. Which unless you are on a great wage, with £17K debt is going to be high. So 0% offers are not really going to be coming your way that often.

Good luck 👍

Ellalou

I was going to clear the £340 one first, would you then close this card down? Or leave it open for the useable credit still there? If I close it down my %for used credit will go up? 

cymruchris

Ellalou said:

I was going to clear the £340 one first, would you then close this card down? Or leave it open for the useable credit still there? If I close it down my %for used credit will go up? 

I'd keep it open - but clear. For it to maintain as an active card - once every couple of months you could put a transaction through for a tenner of regular spending - and clear it in full at every statement. 

As for the others - yes - highest interest first and work your way down.

Look at your monthly spend - what can be cut? (Be ruthless! - Can you live without Spotify premium/Netflix/Sky sports etc for a few months? Are there subscriptions you're not using? Can you drop a package on your internet? Do you have stuff in the cupboard that you bought but never use? Old phones/ipads? Ebay it all - you won't get anywhere near what you paid for it - but it'll be money off the debt rather than stuff in the cupboard that you've never used and will likely never use.)

Ellalou

Thanks, yeah that’s what I thought, keep it open. 

I need to be ruthless with my monthly spend - I need to just stop going to the shops too and spending unnecessarily. 

It’s just changing habits isn’t it! 

cymruchris

Ellalou said:

It’s just changing habits isn’t it! 

That's a big step to make yes - but it'll have an impact on the debt. It's easy to wave a card and buy things - it's much harder to step back and stop yourself saying 'I can do without that today, as it'll help knock my debt down a little bit  further, even if it is only £3'. 

I wouldn't say you need to go into the dark ages and spend NOTHING - but the more you challenge yourself - and the more you're able to cut back - the quicker the debt will drop. (Of course achieving the drop will be amazing - you then have to be careful that you don't think to yourself - 'Oh I've got £Xk of available credit on that card - I think I need a holiday/new car/new laptop etc - and I can afford the monthly payments!'. 

In an ideal world - credit cards should be used for your everyday spend - and then paid back in full each month incurring no interest. In the event of a genuine emergency (boiler breakdown in January and no money in the bank) they can be useful to plug the gap - but there should always be an aim to clear the emergency as quickly as possible.  (I know this is all sort of obvious stuff - but it doesn't harm to repeat it from time to time - just to keep it in the forefront of our minds)

Thrugelmir

Ellalou said:

MBNA - £5200 o/s - 0%
Virgin - £6700 o/s - not 0% anymore
BOS - £5300 o/s - not 0% anymore
M & S - £340 o/s - not 0% anymore 

I am currently paying the minimum payments on each card. 

That's the root of your problem. A revolving door of 0% balance transfers with just minimum monthly payments. Persistant debt rules will make some borrowers unattractive in terms of taking them on board with a new offer. Your credit history is likely to be painting a picture of same.