Trying to clear debt as soon as possible!

Liver123 · 23 May 2018 at 12:10PM

I am unable to get any credit or even look towards saving for a mortgage so hoping to clear my current debt asap.

I am finding it a bit complicated!

I have a loan of £13,491 with a monthly repayment of £315 with 68 months remaining. The interest is 18.9% APR.

I have savings of £2800 and have no credit cards. My only other 'debt' is a pay monthly O2 iphone.

I have no credit cards, but have heard :money: talk about balance transfer cards.

Experian says I have a 70% chance of getting a Barclaycard Platinum 35 Month Balance Transfer Credit Card. Balance Transfer Rate 0% - 35 Months, 1.85% Fee.
Purchase Rate 0% - 6 months, APR Representative, 19.9% APR

Any advice would be brilliant! Thanks.

National_Debtline · 23 May 2018 at 12:22PM

Hi Liver123 and welcome to MSE,

Unfortunately, a new credit card is unlikely to be a solution in this case. Normally, when you do a balance transfer you are asked for details of the card that has the balance on that you wish to move. The loan is not a card, and therefore, may not meet the criteria for this. If you got a 0% interest card for new purchases then you may be able to use it to pay a lump sum off the loan, however, I worry that could be deemed as a 'cash transaction' and subject to interest charges - you would need to read all of the terms and conditions very carefully.

If the loan is up to date, and affordable then you could try and overpay it (as long as there is no penalty for overpaying and clearing the loan early). If the loan is a struggle then you need to post a SOA to discuss other options but please be aware that if you need to do reduced payments, that will cause damage to your credit file (among other things).

Laura
@natdebtline