balance transfer or request freezing interest?

durden

Hello,

I am new to the forum so this question may have already been asked before. My girlfriend and I have decided to look at our finances and try and get on top of everything. My girlfriend has some debt on her credit card, at present she is not managing to clear the debt because she is paying off a lot of interest. Would it make more sense to transfer the credit card to another company (for example Virgin) or should we ask the current provider to freeze the interest?

Thanks

loveandlight

Definitely transfer to another company, ideally 0% or a low life of balance card. Asking the current provider to freeze the interest may or will damage your girlfriend's credit file. Don't do it. A person's credit rating is very precious and must be protected, so far as is possible, at all times.

durden

Hi loveandlight,

thanks for getting back to me. I didn't realise that your credit rating can be affected by asking the credit card company to freeze the interest. I had been on some debt advice websites and they have standard letters to send to the credit card companies to request the interest is frozen, so I was a little unsure what to do.

We are going to try and find out if the balance can be transferred somewhere else.

thanks again

GeorgeUK

Make sure you don't apply for too many at the one time. Usually 3 credit checks within a 6 month period is ok. Also, you can't transfer if the card is issued by the same card provider. ie Natwest and mint have the same card provider - RBS. This table should keep you right. http://www.stoozing.com/cards.htm