Break from payments

Forward_thinking

Hi there,

We have no income coming in at the moment and our cc card payment is stifling. If we ask for a payment break will it affect our credit score?  

eskbanker

Yes, that is the whole point of having credit rating agencies, i.e. to advise prospective lenders of your failure to comply with your contractual obligations to repay (although the 'score' itself is just a made-up number than nobody else sees).

CliveOfIndia

As above, ignore your meaningless score.  But yes, of course it will have quite a large negative impact on your credit history, meaning you will find it exceedingly difficult to obtain any further credit for the next few years.  This may or may not be an issue, depending on your circumstances - but do think carefully about requesting a payment holiday if, for instance, you're anticipating needing a mortgage in a few years when your income level returns to normal.

Nasqueron

If you cannot pay more than the minimum, at least do that to make you don't get any defaults. A payment holiday you should be careful that it's not recorded as missing payments which will be bad too.

ManyWays

No income at all, have you applied for benefits? How long do you expect this to last?

Are you up to date with all your bills and any priority debts such as car finance and mortgages? They are much more important than your credit cards and credit score unless you expect to be back in work in a few weeks.