New to stoozing

katyp · 8 August 2005 at 11:51AM

I have just opened a RBS OneAccount, and am looking into stoozing to bring the balance down on my account.
I am pretty well-organised, so I think I will be able to manage.
I have been turned down for a Virgin card, which I need to look into, as I think it must be because I have a couple of dormant MBNA cards which I haven't used for years. I imagine once I get rid of them, I will be Ok with Virgin?
I have missed by egg 0% offer, and I have opened a blue egg card, which I think only allows 0% interest with purchases, rather than balance transfers, so that was a waste of time!
What can I do next? I don't want to apply for any more cards in case it starts to look bad on my credit rating?

Clariman · 8 August 2005 at 12:01PM

Hi Katyp

The first thing to do is to read up on stoozing. There are any pitfalls for the unwary so it is best to read as much as you can. Take a look at Martin's "Revenge Article" by clicking on "Stoozing" above. Also read the Stoozing guide on https://www.stoozing.com (sponsored and supported by MSE). Before taking your first steps, draw up a plan and post it here or on the stoozing website so that folk can take a look at it. For example, if you had posted to say that you had a dormant MBNA card and were about to apply for Virgin, we would have told you to close the MBNA card(s) first !

My initial thoughts would be to call Virgin/MBNA to confirm their reason for rejection. Then ask them if they would consider and appeal or re-application in a month's time if you closed your unused MBNA cards first.

Having missed your Egg anniversary and missed out on a Virgin card you have pretty much exhausted the free 0% BT options for the time being. Next best bet would probably be a MINT card with their "transfer and save" cheques. These have a charge but the maximum fee is £40 so it can still be worthwhile if you get a good credit limit.

Of course, you can use your Egg Blue card to do a slow stooze by building up the purchases.

Clariman

Reaper · 8 August 2005 at 12:24PM

Don't forget Egg will give you another 0% period each year lasting 5 months, starting on the anniversary of when you first took out the card. Put a note in your diary.

mrsw · 8 August 2005 at 1:00PM

Clariman wrote:

Having missed your Egg anniversary and missed out on a Virgin card you have pretty much exhausted the free 0% BT options for the time being. Next best bet would probably be a MINT card with their "transfer and save" cheques. These have a charge but the maximum fee is £40 so it can still be worthwhile if you get a good credit limit.

Clariman

I recently (last week) received confirmation from Goldfish credit card that they do not charge for BTs. Is this not another option for Katy?

katyp · 8 August 2005 at 1:17PM

Thanks for your advice so far.
Point taken about the MBNA cards - but if I had remembered that I had the cards I would have cancelled them before I applied for Virgin. I haven't used them for around three years, and I have a credit limit of around £20,000 on them, so I imagine that's why Virgin have said no!
I'm now a bit stuck - I don't want to apply for cards willy-nilly, but I do want to get started.

Reaper · 8 August 2005 at 3:43PM

£20,000? In that case don't apply for any more until you have canceled all your redundant ones. After that wait 2 months for the info to reach the CRAs. It may only take 1 month so if you are impatient to get started after a month get a copy of your credit history and see if they are marked as canceled.

Then try again. You need at least one SBT card but you should find your Egg card is fee free so you can always pass the money via Egg to your bank account - this is known as using it as a "mule".

tinalives · 8 August 2005 at 3:56PM

Out of interest, should cancelled credit cards actually show on the credit report as 'cancelled' or do they just show as 'settled'?

I ask this because both myself and my partner have cancelled credit cards from months and months ago on our reports which just show as 'settled'.

Now I'm worried that I might get rejected for the Virgin card I've applied for.

Clariman · 8 August 2005 at 4:13PM

tinalives wrote:

Out of interest, should cancelled credit cards actually show on the credit report as 'cancelled' or do they just show as 'settled'?

I ask this because both myself and my partner have cancelled credit cards from months and months ago on our reports which just show as 'settled'.

Now I'm worried that I might get rejected for the Virgin card I've applied for.

Settled = Closed i.e. "settled" is what you should see on the CRA files for a closed account.

Clariman

tinalives · 8 August 2005 at 4:20PM

Clariman wrote:

Settled = Closed i.e. "settled" is what you should see on the CRA files for a closed account.

Clariman

Phew! :whistle:

katyp · 8 August 2005 at 8:48PM

I have phoned Virgin, and was told that it's only because I have two current MBNA cards that I was refused a Virgin card.
I have cancelled both the existing cards (total credit limit £18,700) and Virgin say I should simply reapply and I will be approved.
Should I do this straight away, or should I wait. I have applied for (and been accepted for) an Amex card at the same time as the Virgin one, so this new Virgin application would be the third search in the space of a month.
What should I do?

tinalives · 8 August 2005 at 8:50PM

Will the Virgin search show again?

New to stoozing

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free