What to do ....balance transfer/ Purchase 0% ending but can't get another

JPWolf123

Hi All ,

Need your help on this one . Over last 2 years  being doing a major home renovation . On top of existing mortgage , i have borrowed on 7 credit cards  . I thought i was being wise as either 0% for purchases or small fee for cash transfers . The borrowing was easy for approval and clearly better than 5.75% , if i had extended my mortgage . The promotional periods are  different on the credit cards but the two with the largest amounts end on 28/12/2024 and change to between 24% - 30% interest .

The plan was simply to do the same i.e transfer balance for a reasonable fee and use of 0% promotional period.

HOWEVER , i now have 3 problems :-
1. I have found there are no new deals to transfer too as most the current providers are linked to each other e.g as i have borrowing with Barclays can't now get the tesco bank card (as they are linked) and so fourth for MBNA , Lloyds , HSBC etc . I simply can't get approved for any other card i have spotted. 
2. That the additional borrowing on credit cards on top off my existing mortgage has driven down my affordability score to "poor" , this is also a factor for any new approval (albeit i can't find one to transfer too, anyway).
3. The mortgage provider is unwilling to extending mortgage borrowing to pay off the credit cards due to affordability score.


I feel trapped and what seemed wise has became the unwise thing to have done . I can meet the current re-payments ( interest and capital on mortgage) and minimum monthly on credit cards but will not be able to afford the payments if interest is not up to 30% on credit cards.

 Any advice on what to do or where to go with this ?. I feel trapped and that i could spiral 

Brie

First - don't panic.  There's always a solution.

Second - do you need more credit?  As in are there more renovations to do or is this it for now?  (hopefully the answer is no)

Third - ignore the score.  You're the only one who sees it.  The banks/card companies look at your credit history and that's what will be the issue for a while.

I'm glad the bank said no to extending your mortgage.  It would be making unsecured debt into secured debt and that's not a great idea.  

I would suggest that you post who you owe and what you owe on each, when the 0% offers end and what the monthly payments are currently.  With that we might be able to formulate a plan.  It might help too to state how much your credit limit is on each too.  

TheSpectator

It's only 'wise' to do what you did if you have a plan to pay the debt off at the end of the deal. Never bank on recycling it through more 0% cards - as you have found out sooner or later the merry go round ends.

As suggested above post your SOA. In the meantime stop applying for credit as any hard searches will damage your credit file.

Brie

In case you don't know the SOA that TheSpectator refers to is found on one of the top stickies on the DebtFree board.  It's a statement of account.  Likely that will take some time to get together and once done if you post it on that board there will be lots of good suggestions on how to cut costs or generally shape up your budget so you can better deal with it all.  If you start with just all the details of the cards we can make a start on that while you get the other numbers together - or just look at those without the rest.  Decide if you want to post here OR there so there's no duplications going on.  

JPWolf123

Thanks . No not looking to borrow more ( don’t think that is wise). I will post each card , amount outstanding and limit as soon as I can gather all this . I am panicking a bit though !

eskbanker

JPWolf123 said:

Thanks . No not looking to borrow more ( don’t think that is wise). I will post each card , amount outstanding and limit as soon as I can gather all this . I am panicking a bit though !

Just to be clear, as far as prospective lenders are concerned, you are looking to borrow more, as you'd need access to new credit on new cards prior to using these to recycle old debt.  You presumably intend to close down the old cards to leave your aggregate available credit similar afterwards, but they don't know that and can't rely on it, so assessments of your affordability will be based on the inflated credit figures....

molerat

Are none of your current cards offering anything ?  You could then play musical balance transfers.

JPWolf123

eskbanker said:

JPWolf123 said:

Thanks . No not looking to borrow more ( don’t think that is wise). I will post each card , amount outstanding and limit as soon as I can gather all this . I am panicking a bit though !

Just to be clear, as far as prospective lenders are concerned, you are looking to borrow more, as you'd need access to new credit on new cards prior to using these to recycle old debt.  You presumably intend to close down the old cards to leave your aggregate available credit similar afterwards, but they don't know that and can't rely on it, so assessments of your affordability will be based on the inflated credit figures....

Thanks ..... That may explain it . Yes , intend close the correct cards and transfer to another on promotional rate (hopefully) . How do i make this clear ?.

JPWolf123

Hi -this is the full information 

JPWolf123

For context - i have never missed a mortgage or other credit payment. I am full time employed . Options  or thoughts ?

molerat

Are there no offers on those Tesco and Amex cards ?  Tesco is permanently offering me BT/MT, currently 12mths but with a 5% fee.