Struggling to get a long-term 0% balance transfer for 24 months or more.

rocktron_amp

Struggling to get a long-term 0% balance transfer for 24 months or more.

I tried MSE Eligibility checker.

Every one points to a card that I already have or have a debt with. Virgin Money seems to the only one, but I already have a Virgin BT.

I don't know what the hell to do: How can I force a bank to give me a promotional offer instead of the standard offer?

I want to pay debt back, but avenues seem to blocked. Provider used to offer 30 - 40 month balance transfer, but now they are restricted.

Even Tescos Bank used to offer a 12 month promotion every month, but I just checked my emails this stopped in October 2022.

Is this the cost of living? Cost of energy? Inflation?

I thought I could play the game of balance transfering to transfer whilst paying down the debt, but if the roads are getting narrower and narrower, I don't see a happy solution in 2 years or so.

Thoughts?

MorningcoffeeIV

rocktron_amp said:

I don't know what the hell to do: How can I force a bank to give me a promotional offer instead of the standard offer?

You can't. That would be mad if it were possible.

Accept any BT you get offered. Then cut your costs and hammer down the debt, starting with any interest bearing debt or the first to come off a promo.

DullGreyGuy

rocktron_amp said:

I don't know what the hell to do: How can I force a bank to give me a promotional offer instead of the standard offer?

I want to pay debt back, but avenues seem to blocked. Provider used to offer 30 - 40 month balance transfer, but now they are restricted.

Do what you say, pay the debt back. 

You cannot force a bank to give you a promotional discount rate and there was always a risk that the day would come when promotions end or you fall out of favour and so a plan b for repayment should be at hand and enacted (or take a shorter period if those are available to you still)

Nebulous2

Credit will get tighter as we enter recession, and deals will be fewer.  It sounds like you have debt with a lot of lenders already, which may make lenders wary. Making minimum payments can also be a red flag for lenders. 


If you go over 50% of your income with unsecured lending you may find it becomes difficult to get more. 

Have you looked at the Debt Free Wannabe section on here? They offer a lot of practical advice and support. 

Another thought is, maybe you have to lower your expectations - for instance you are saying you want 24 months or more on a BT. There might be more opportunities if you considered a bit less, such as 18 months.

alco_pop

You could take a punt at cancelling one of your cards and re apply. I had a balance transfer with NatWest which I paid off. The in app off for another transfer had a fee. But on MSE It came up with 18 months no fee. So I cancelled my card. I had messaged Natwest to do so and they advised as soon as was closed could sign up as a new customer. So I am doing that,

The period was 18 months.

Not sure if that helps

Martico

MorningcoffeeIV said:

rocktron_amp said:

I don't know what the hell to do: How can I force a bank to give me a promotional offer instead of the standard offer?

You can't. That would be mad if it were possible.

Accept any BT you get offered. Then cut your costs and hammer down the debt, starting with any interest bearing debt or the first to come off a promo.

Yep, that's the answer. You just need to hammer down the balances as much as you can - if there's an existing card that you can clear, there's a chance that provider will then offer you a fresh deal.
If you're already carrying high balances across several cards without making much of a dent, they're unlikely to make new offers. I know I wouldn't, and I've got nowhere near the smarts of banks.

MalMonroe

Hi, I also have a Virgin cc and a Tesco cc.

Last month both offered me money transfer and BT deals. 

As Martico says above, if you already have high balances then you're unlikely to receive new offers - or be able to get the BT transfer card of your choice.

It may be better to take whatever BT offer you can get, as MorningcoffeeIV said, and then work towards clearing all the debt. Bear in mind that there will be a hard search on your credit report too if you apply for a new card.

If you're really struggling with debt, you could do worse than contact one of the free debt-help agencies, StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice. They all offer free, confidential and non-judgemental advice. And you don't have to take their advice either if you don't want to.

rocktron_amp

I am in flaming trouble then

I have £9257.23 on Virgin the promotion expires 8th January 2023! I wanted to balance transfer to a new card. Ergo I am snookered. Unfortunately, Virgin Money is the only one that appears on the MSE Eligibility Checker for me. I am 100% pre-approved for a Virgin Money 28 months, but that cannot be true. In any case it is not enough, credit limit is just over £13K.

My credit rating is 619, which I is still rated "good". I have never missed a mortgage payment ever.

How can DebtChange helped with this? They can't hand out balance transfer cards can they?

MorningcoffeeIV

Your credit rating means nothing. You're assessed on risk, not a made up number.

Visit the DFW boards - time to start living within your means and get debt free.

DullGreyGuy

rocktron_amp said:

I am in flaming trouble then

I have £9257.23 on Virgin the promotion expires 8th January 2023! I wanted to balance transfer to a new card. Ergo I am snookered. Unfortunately, Virgin Money is the only one that appears on the MSE Eligibility Checker for me. I am 100% pre-approved for a Virgin Money 28 months, but that cannot be true. In any case it is not enough, credit limit is just over £13K.

My credit rating is 619, which I is still rated "good". I have never missed a mortgage payment ever.

How can DebtChange helped with this? They can't hand out balance transfer cards can they?

They help by dealing with what sounds to be the underlying problem... you have more debt that you can afford, they can help you plan to repay the debt quicker as it seems like you planned on the assumption you'd always be given interest free credit

Martico

How much are you able to overpay each month? You'll really have to start looking at that, and budgeting well.
One other option (which I used a couple of years ago and served me well) would be to see if you can get a 0% spending credit card. Put your daily spends on that, and use the equivalent as an overpayment on your expensive CC. It would give you some respite, but you would still need to hammer down your debt. I doubt you'd get one with a limit over 1,500, 2,000, but it's something. And, of course, you'd only slowly "transfer" those funds across to 0%