Super Balance Transfers - Do they check?

Hello all!

I have been reading through the advice on this site about how to do a super balance transfer. I've got a number of credit cards, but the highest outstanding balance i have on one at this moment is -£600. This is an egg card and the credit limit is £10,000.

What i want to do is get a super balance transfer from virgin for approx £15K, so that i can begin stoozing and put the money into a savings account. I have not applied for a card yet but i should be ok as my credit rating is pretty good as far as i can tell.

I've never done a balance transfer before so would be grateful if anyone could answer the following questions:

1. Will stoozing this money kill off my credit rating?
2. Am i likely to get £15k, or should i request more/less? 15k seems reasonable based on the fact that egg are willing to lend me up to 10k(green) and 5k (blue card)?
3. If i request a SBT to my current account, will the bank do a credit check to see if i actually do have a debt of £15k (which i don't) with another back/c.card company in order to qualify for a balance transfer?

Thanks for reading this. :D

Oaf

Comments

  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541
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    Fat_Oaf wrote:
    1. Will stoozing this money kill off my credit rating?
    Depends on all sorts of things; salary, total available credit, total "used" credit (including mortgage), etc.
    Fat_Oaf wrote:
    2. Am i likely to get £15k, or should i request more/less? 15k seems reasonable based on the fact that egg are willing to lend me up to 10k(green) and 5k (blue card)?
    The £10K "available" credit with Egg could/will go against you, depending on your personal circumstances. If you want to "request more" than they give you, do it before you sign the credit agreement as you'll be in a stronger position.
    Fat_Oaf wrote:
    3. If i request a SBT to my current account, will the bank do a credit check to see if i actually do have a debt of £15k (which i don't) with another back/c.card company in order to qualify for a balance transfer?
    Virgin may not know whether you have an overdraft or not, and certainly won't be able to tell the size of it. However, not many people have a £15K overdraft, so it's probably better to tell them you have a loan and "some other debts" to settle from your current account.

    A couple of points...

    Terminology - you said "an SBT to my current account". It's actually an SBT from your current account. The "balance" goes from your current account to Virgin. The "cash" goes from Virgin to your current account.

    Further Reading - you say you've been reading through the advice on this site. Have you checked https://www.stoozing.com (a site supported and sponsored by Martin Lewis) where you'll find step-by-step guides including cash/balance routing illustrations, and a forum dedicated to stoozing?
  • Fat_Oaf
    Fat_Oaf Posts: 5 Forumite
    Thanks very much for the advice Yorkie, much appreciated. :D

    I'm off to check out stoozing.com and will report back with success/failure of application asap ;)
  • ey143
    ey143 Posts: 435
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    Which card companies still offer super balance transfers i.e. transfers directly to a bank account. Other than Egg, I dont know who else does, as Barclaycard has stopped doing this and Halifax dont either.
    Be ALERT - The world needs more LERTS
  • martinpike
    martinpike Posts: 357 Forumite
    ey143 wrote:
    Which card companies still offer super balance transfers i.e. transfers directly to a bank account. Other than Egg, I dont know who else does, as Barclaycard has stopped doing this and Halifax dont either.

    Pretty sure Virgin do.

    Check Martins' paper on the subject - I know he keeps them up to date.
  • ey143
    ey143 Posts: 435
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    which page?
    Be ALERT - The world needs more LERTS
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541
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    They told me they would charge a BT fee, but that they would cap it at £35.
    This is really useful Marigold - thank you for posting.

    There has been much speculation recently (as I'm sure you are aware) as to what Virgin would do with their "old" customers T&C's. From what you have said here, it looks like they are invoking their "we may" charge £35 for *some* BT's and actually charging for them once outside the intro period - exactly as Martin Lewis has been saying all summer.

    Moreover, it seems Virgin are applying the original T&C's to your ongoing post-introductory rate Virgin account - and not changing them to the new £50 max BT fee.
  • nearlyrich
    nearlyrich Posts: 13,698
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    Not sure if this info is of any interest but I have SBT'd £10450 to Egg (anniversary offer no fee 5 months 0%) £9500 Virgin no fee 9 months 0% and £10000 to Marbles ( no fee 5months 0%) No questions asked, I didn't actually have an overdraft when I did the deals.

    £30k almost in 3 weeks, good job I can resist spending it, I wonder if this is responsible lending?
    Free impartial debt advice from: National Debtline or Stepchange[/CENTER]
  • The monthly fees can pile up

    Virgin £5
    Egg £290

    Yikes
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541
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    The monthly fees can pile up

    Virgin £5
    Egg £290
    It's a bit of extra work, but (with a pre-May 1st card) you can recycle the Egg minimum payment back to the stooze pot after it's registered on your account - every little helps! ;)
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