Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

yollyp

Thank you very much for the reply sir Moggles. I appreciate it very much although I may have entered the wrong board. I already conveyed your advise to my friend. I intend to include the pros & cons of balance transfer because I'm planning to apply for it too.

Moggles_2

qw3rt7 wrote: »

My barclaycard limit was £4700, then this week I got a letter saying 'Credit where credit's due' and they upped my limit to £5000!
So, is this a good sign that I could apply for a 0% card or does my extra available credit count against me? If I knew I could get another card I'd reduce my limit to £1500, but if I do and it doesn't help, I've lost a potential lifeline.

In these circunstances, requesting a lower credit limit won't improve your credit worthiness and it may make things worse.

Obviously, I don't know your annual income, but I would think carefully before you reduce a limit which is already modest. Lowering limits can affect future applications for credit, if you overdo it.

Bear in mind that potential lenders cannot assess the way you handle credit directly. The best indication they have are the payment history and credit limits on your existing cards with other lenders.

In addition to the number of credit card accounts in use (the national average is 5), lenders look at the extent their credit limits have been utilised. Maxed out accounts make you look desperate for credit, so it's wise to leave plenty of leeway.

Other things being equal, it's better (credit score-wise) to have fewer cards with higher limits, than a clutch of cards with lowish limits. So, if you want to reduce your available credit, it's better to pay off the balance and cancel a card completely, as Martin advises. Cards that are closed down and marked "settled" stay on your file for six years and indicate that you can handle a decent-sized credit limit well

Moggles_2

qw3rt7 wrote: »

I have a Barclaycard credit card with a £1300 balance and a Barclays flexiloan with £635. I would like to transfer these balances onto a reasonable 0% card but am not sure whether I would get accepted. I missed a couple of payments on a Barclaycard football card about a year ago. The card had a tiny limit (£250) so i paid it in full and cancelled it. It now reads as settled. I also have a default from 2007 from British Gas. I ended up paying in full but they still defaulted me.

A late payment or two would not affect your credit score for long, but missed payments can trash your credit rating for years

If you apply and get accepted it might be an idea to set up a direct debit to pay the minimum amount. That way, it's the lender's responsibility, not yours, to make sure the monthly repayments get there and on time. You cannot afford any more missed payments.

For tips to improve your chances of credit card acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating: how it works and how to improve it guide*, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve

qw3rt7

Thanks for your advise Moggles, i will not request a lower limit. As to annual income, i earn around £20,000. and currently pay back £150 pm (by DD), about 3 times minimum payment, and could pay back more. The interest rates aren't terrible either, about 19%apr on the creditcard, and 11%apr on the flexiloan, i was just interested in improving these rates to 0%, as i could easily pay back the full amount in under a year.
I just wanted opinions as to whether i should bother applying for one under my circumstances (the f*ck ups last year that ruined an otherwise excellent credit file)

2 years ago, under Barclays 'Pre approved offers' (as seen on online banking and in branch with a personal adviser) i was elegable for an unsecured personal loan up to £25,000, now i have nothing pre approved. I guess the credit crunch can probably account for this in part though, i would never have dreamed of borrowing £25k!

wannaberich41

Hi
I balance transferred £2850 last month to tesco 0% for 14 months last month. Because teso would only give me a £3000 limit. Can i do another balance transfer to another card for the balance on what i owe on a interest paying credit card? I would like to be a little more relaxed xmas. If i can which card would u recommend? my last bt was in November to the new card. Any advise would be very much appreciated.
Thanks

Moggles_2

qw3rt7 wrote: »

I just wanted opinions as to whether I should bother applying for one [credit card] under my circumstances.

Well, apart from the time it takes to complete an online application, what have you to lose?
If the worst happens, at least you'll have tried.

To maximise the 0% period, 16 months is currently available to new customers from Virgin. There's a 2.98% handling charge.

http://uk.virginmoney.com/credit-card-v3/

Moggles_2

wannaberich41 wrote: »

I balance transferred £2850 last month to Tesco 0% for 14 months, because Tesco would only give me a £3000 limit. Can I do another balance transfer to another card for the balance on what I owe on an interest-paying credit card? I would like to be a little more relaxed Xmas. If I can, which card would you recommend? My last bt was in November to the new card.

I would avoid taking on two 0% deals, that end more or less together, if I were you. Also, we've two public holidays coming up which tend to slow down the processing of credit card applications and BT requests. This can be anything but relaxing, if you're not used to it. I'd play safe and wait until January.

Once you've paid off and closed your catalogue account, your chances of a decent credit limit on the new card will improve. If you can leave it until then, so much the better.

If you do decide to apply in the run-up to Christmas, Virgin lets you do everything on line. You tick a box to "sign". Egg is set up so you can sign electronically as well.

qw3rt7

Oh well, applied, failed! As i kind of guessed.
Am i correct in thinking there is no way of getting an old default notice removed? As some of you may remember if you where with british gas, this happened when British gas were 'updating their billing system', which meant me and alot of other people got wildly changing bills, sometimes within days of each other (my fav being 18th nov 'you are in credit by £165', '23rd Nov Final notice, £540 outstanding')
After numerous phone calls promising this was 'an automated response from the old system, which i could ignore' , I got fed up and moved to Npower
I was then given a final bill of around £400, which i again questioned. This was miraculously reduced to £141 with no explanation, and the Npower switch went ahead WITHOUT me paying anything.
About 6 MONTHS later, i started getting correspondence from a debt collector, i believe they were call Westcott. After some ridiculous claims from them, including a particularly nasty 'community collection agent' who told my girlfriend that unless i payed him in full, he 'WOULD FIND ME AT WORK AND ARREST ME!!' I paid the £141 and left it at that.
Im sure other people must have had similar problems when British gas updated their billing system, Is there anything i can do? Or am i stuck with this on my file for the next 4/5 years?
I never really appreciated how annoying having a bad credit rating can be!

Moggles_2

qw3rt7 wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking there is no way of getting an old default notice removed? I'm sure other people must have had similar problems when British Gas updated their billing system. Is there anything I can do or am I stuck with this on my file for the next 4/5 years?

We do not have the right to have information removed if it is basically correct, but you can ask the credit reference agencies to put a notice of correction on file explaining why you think information is misleading. This notice will then be seen by banks, mobile phone companies etc, when you apply for credit.

Most credit decisions are computerised so, if there is a notice of correction on your report, your credit applications will take longer to process, because they have to be referred for a manual decision i.e. a person will decide whether or not you can get credit.

Rebuilding a credit history takes time, but you've made a start. Meanwhile, you may be able to reduce your costs using credit cards you already hold. For details, see Martin's *Credit Card Shuffle*article.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car...-card-interest

moneysaver8

Hi,
I'm thinking of the Lloyds, HSBC or Halifax card for my next BT (already got Virgin) but I was wondering whether any of these charge interest on the Balance Transfer fee.
For example, a BT of £10000 with a 3% fee means a £300 fee. If they charged 20% interest on this it would cost £60 over the year, assuming they allocated each month's minimum payment to the BT rather than to the fee.
Does anyone know if any of these cards charge interest like this?
Thanks for any help.