Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

alixh7

I took out the Virgin 0%balance transfer with an interest rate of 15.9%in november last year i received a letter on saturday advising that from july they are putting my interest rate up to 29.9%!!!I have never missed a payment and have only gone over my limit once and when that happened i made extra payments to get back on track!Has anyone else had this letter from Virgin??Please help!

Moggles_2

alixh7 wrote: »

I took out the Virgin 0% balance transfer with an interest rate of 15.9% in November last year. I received a letter on Saturday advising that from July they are putting my interest rate up to 29.9%. I have never missed a payment and have only gone over my limit once and when that happened I made extra payments to get back on track. Has anyone else had this letter from Virgin?

If I've understood your post correctly, you have 0% on balance transfers for 15 months, so this increase in your standard rate will not affect you personally until next February 2009.

If you wish to avoid this rate of interest, you have more than enough time surely to vote with your feet

YorkshireBoy

alixh7 wrote: »

I took out the Virgin 0%balance transfer with an interest rate of 15.9%in november last year i received a letter on saturday advising that from july they are putting my interest rate up to 29.9%!!!I have never missed a payment and have only gone over my limit once and when that happened i made extra payments to get back on track!Has anyone else had this letter from Virgin??Please help!

To go over your limit you must have been spending on the card after you transferred your balance to it. That's bad practice. You should have another card for your spending.

Also, have they withdrawn your 0% rate (for going over your limit) and you're now paying 15.9%...shortly to be 29.9% APR? Is that what's worrying you NOW? If so, then you need to shift the balance somewhere else soon.

alixh7

I still have 0%on my balance transfer i will be paying 29.9%on what i have purchased, i Realise now that it was 'bad practice' to spend on the card aswell but i didnt know that you wern't meant to do that. Does anyone know why they would put the rate up like that?Every day i walk past two Virgin bilboards offering new clients the rate that i had in november are they doing this to just me or other clients as well?

Moggles_2

alixh7 wrote: »

I still have 0% on my balance transfer. I will be paying 29.9% on what I have purchased. I realise now that it was 'bad practice' to spend on the card as well, but I didn't know that you weren't meant to do that.

Martin's golden rule: never, EVER spend on a credit card after balance transferring to it! Definitely not money saving

Moggles_2

alixh7 wrote: »

Does anyone know why they would put the rate up like that? Every day I walk past two Virgin billboards offering new clients the rate that I had in November. Are they doing this to just me or other clients as well?

No. You're certainly not alone.

JimmyTheWig

This problem can be broken down into two parts...
1. What should you do now you are faced with this high interest rate?
2. Can you get them to reverse their decision?

1. It depends how much you have at 0% and how much you have that is being charged interest on. Presumably by now you have stopped spending on this card. If not, stop now!
If you have got a lot at 0% and not much at the high rate then it is probably not worth doing anything other than make sure you keep meeting your payments on time.
But if you have a lot at the high rate compared to what you have at 0% then it is worth considering your options. the only way to clear the high interest debt is to pay off the full balance of the card. Would this be possible? How do you rate your credit rating? Do you think you would be able to get another 0% card to transfer the balance to?

2. Phone them up and ask them why your rate has been increased. Ask them to put it back again.
If in part 1 you decided that your best course of action was to pay off the card tell them that unless they reverse the change yuo will be paying off the card and closing the account.
If you've decided that it is still in your best interest to keep the card, don't bother making any such threats. You'll just have to try asking them nicely.


P.S. To some extent you are lucky. Many people would have found they lost their 0% status for missing a payment.

bones65

Hi
Im new here been reading martins tips and decided it time to sort my finances out.
We have a large mortgage which i increased last year by £17k to clear debts unfortuntely i have managed to accue £7500 on a HSBC card i have had for 2 years now. I have got myself in debt due to spending the money on my business venture using the credit card to buy stock and sell online however sales have dropped off considerably.
Tried to apply for a Virgin card but they have turned me down saying that i am already nearly at my limit on the HSBC card and the extra on the mortgage is not helping matters with my credit rating. Have checked the rating site and found my rating to be good never missed a payment etc.
Apart from the mortgage and card loan i have no other debts. except child maintenance payments of £265 per month.

where do i go from here as i was told by the girl at Virgin everytrime i apply for a new card the search effects my credit rating.
I have my mortgage advisor coming over soon to discuss new deals and possibly an interest only option.

Moggles_2

bones65 wrote: »

Tried to apply for a Virgin card, but they have turned me down saying that I am already nearly at my limit on the HSBC card and the extra on the mortgage is not helping matters with my credit rating. Have checked the rating site and found my rating to be good never missed a payment etc.

Not sure what you mean by the "rating site" Have you checked your credit reports lately? (For help, see the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.) This is the information UK lenders see, when you apply for a new credit card.

For tips to improve your chances of credit card acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating* articles on the main site, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve

To maximise the 0% period on BTs, 15 months is currently available to new customers from Halifax. There's a 3% handling charge

JimmyTheWig

Do you have any other (unused) credit cards, bones65?