Consolidating debt 1 June 2022 at 12:10PM in Credit cards 20 replies 396 views

Linsomer

I'm a pensioner in Housing Association on Assured Tenancy so credit score pretty irrelevant

Brie

well owing money on a credit card is being in debt but it doesn't sound like an extreme situation.  is there a new 0% deal you can move to?  Not a proper solution but gives you breathing space.

Ebe_Scrooge

Linsomer said:

I'm not in debt, just my 0% balance transfer deal on 1 card coming to an end and other one already finished. Im trying to avoid paying high interest rates

In that case, the two simplest options are either to transfer to another 0% card, or else use the savings you were putting aside, having known from the outset that you'd need to clear it when the promotional rate expired.

Linsomer

Thanks, I think I'll call a halt to this post.
I was hoping for one of the MSE experts to give me the heads up on this particular scheme

Linsomer

Ebe Scrooge thank you very much for that.
I am financially astute so was going to check them out with the FCA etc but was hoping one of the Experts would say good/don't go near them based on their industry knowledge.  Even after due diligence, easy to thing you are in a genuine site but in fact it is a fake.  HMRC and Land Registry classic examples.
Thanks everyone

Ebe_Scrooge

Linsomer said:

Thanks, I think I'll call a halt to this post.
I was hoping for one of the MSE experts to give me the heads up on this particular scheme

With respect, you've been given some excellent advice from various forum members.  The majority of people on here (with a few exceptions) are not "experts", but people with plenty of real-world experience who do their best to help others.  Please don't take offence if you feel you haven't received the answers you were hoping for - the overwhelming aim of this forum is to help each other.  We don't get it 100% right 100% of the time - but any advice that's given is done so with the best of intentions and in the utmost good faith.

Linsomer

And the effort people made to try and help was very much appreciated

beckstar1975

We used Payplan Plus - we entered into a DMP with them whereby they negotiated with our creditors to have the interest frozen but then defaulted on all our cards//loans and paid every spare penny to them for 6+ years to clear our debts. It meant we could pay them back but every single debt defaulted and was on our credit file and so it took 6 years  before we could rebuild.

We did it as we couldn't make the minimum payments each month - Payplan will want to see that you have enough left over after essential spending to make headway on the debt but not so much that you can afford to pay the debt off without their help - it sounds like this may be the case for you - you just don't want to pay higher rates. If paying the minimum payments will leave you destitute it's worth you speaking with them.

You will need to share bank statements/credit files etc with them and have to be honest, no hiding money here and there, so bear this in mind if you like your privacy.

Obviously you won't be able to apply for any more credit during this time too, not just credit cards/loans but new washing machines and may even struggle to get new phone/tv contracts - so please make sure you're fully aware of all the implications.

Good luck

Linsomer

Thanks for sharing your personal experience.  As I pay more than the minimum and was just trying to get out of the interest, it definitely isn't viable for me.  I know that irrelevant of good credit score, lenders look at your exposure and whether you have "maxed out" your cards which is a big negative.  So will wait until I have paid off a good chunk then go for another 0% balance transfer.
I'll close this post now and thanks to all your advice, I'm definitely not going with this scheme.
Thanks everyone

Ebe_Scrooge

beckstar1975 said:

We used Payplan Plus - we entered into a DMP with them whereby they negotiated with our creditors to have the interest frozen but then defaulted on all our cards//loans and paid every spare penny to them for 6+ years to clear our debts. It meant we could pay them back but every single debt defaulted and was on our credit file and so it took 6 years  before we could rebuild.

We did it as we couldn't make the minimum payments each month - Payplan will want to see that you have enough left over after essential spending to make headway on the debt but not so much that you can afford to pay the debt off without their help - it sounds like this may be the case for you - you just don't want to pay higher rates. If paying the minimum payments will leave you destitute it's worth you speaking with them.

You will need to share bank statements/credit files etc with them and have to be honest, no hiding money here and there, so bear this in mind if you like your privacy.

Obviously you won't be able to apply for any more credit during this time too, not just credit cards/loans but new washing machines and may even struggle to get new phone/tv contracts - so please make sure you're fully aware of all the implications.

Good luck

I just wanted to add my thanks for sharing your experience.  This makes it a lot clearer, and confirms what information I'd been able to glean from the Great God of Google. - it's a DMP, which can be a way out of debt, though far from easy, and one must appreciate that one's credit history will be trashed.  And it's not some panacea whereby the debt is magically cancelled.  But great to hear that you sorted everything out in the end, it's so uplifting to hear of a positive outcome to what can be an extremely negative situation.