Decision time

PrincessStanny

Hello all

First let me explain my predicament. I managed to get myself into some £15,000 worth of debt and began missing payments when I went on maternity leave back in November 2006. I have managed to cut this debt by £6,000 over the past year and am continuing to reduce. I set up several arrangements with Lloyds TSB to pay back my credit card, overdraft and loan. These were all reduced payments and have therefore gone on my credit file as 'arrangements to pay'. The loan arrears have been paid and I am back to the normal agreed payments and the overdraft arrangement is finished too.

When all the trouble started back in November 2006, the credit card department contacted me and offered me an arrangement of £5 per month until I am back on my feet (their letter actually says it was to be reviewed in 3 months but I have never heard anything since!). I have continued with this arrangement as the interest has been frozen and it gave me chance to work on my other debts.

I am now considering contacting Lloyds TSB and asking them to reinstate the card so that it does not continue to affect my credit rating and I can start rebuilding. It's a LTSB Classic Card which last time I checked had a rate of 17.9%. I work this out to be just short of £40 per month in interest on a balance of £2,600. I am really reluctant to do this as its going to take me a lot longer to pay it off.

I can't currently obtain any credit worth having which I could switch this debt to but was wondering whether anyone out there had similar experiences? I'm thinking about reinstating it, hopefully improving my credit rating slightly and then perhaps applying for further less expensive credit.
How long do you think this will affect me?

Does anyone have any experiences with LTSB like this? Do you think they would reinstate the credit agreement or just set me up on another arrangement but for a higher amount?

Any advice greatly appreciately, although I do realise my question is quite specific. Think I just needed to get it down on screen to help me with my dilemma.

Cheers
PrincessStanny
xx

GeorgeUK

I'd be careful about restarting the interest too soon. It would take some time to repair the damage done to your credit score and there are quite a few banks that are increasing the interest rate and also you will need to make sure that the minimum payments are manageable.

If you are confident that you can maintain this until the debt is fully paid off without getting access to a better rate - only then would i consider it.

skintas_2

hiya please pot your soa see if anyone on here can help