need credit card help

[genevieve]

I've got a Halifax credit card which I owe just over £6000 on, I've used it once in last 12 months
I took it out about 3 yrs ago as a 0% balance transfer to clear another card

last year I had a nasty divorce and at the moment I'm still living in the family home paying all mortgage and bills until it sells, I just let this card carry on paying by dd while dealing with other stuff, about 10 months ago I realised I was paying 22.9 APR on it and applied for another 0% card which was rejected due to my credit rating, I checked my credit rating and reason it was so bad was due to a joint bank acc I had with my ex, although I set up my own acc with same bank (A&L) ex had taken the joint acc to max overdraft limit, that was ok as neither of us used it again until they put on charges, the charges were due to a company trying to take a dd from the acc even though I had set it up to pay out of my new acc, this generated a fee which took joint acc over limit which caused charges, within couple of months the charges were more than £200!
I asked A&L to freeze acc and let me pay it off monthly but they refused, cue more charges 3 months later. Then I had a call from Santander saying did I want them to freeze the acc and pay it off at £40 a month which I have been doing, they also said that my credit rating would be adjusted over the next few months.

So I presume it's ok now but don't know which card to go for or wether to check my credit rating first, or if applying for one will affect my rating when I'll need to apply for a mortgage soon

Just checked card statement and I'm paying around £120 a month of which £100 is interest and I could really do with that extra money

I know my problems are nothing compared to others on here but if anyone can help I'd be really grateful

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: need credit card help

Your credit file will still be screwed as you'll have late payments and/or arrangement to pay indicators.

I suggest you get your statutory (£2) credit file from experian & equifax!

[genevieve]

Re: need credit card help

ok got that what do you need to know?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: need credit card help

Can you screen print the relevant entry and attach it to a pm to me or email me please then I'll advise for you

[genevieve]

Re: need credit card help

Can you screen print the relevant entry and attach it to a pm to me or email me please then I'll advise for you

with the help of a teen who's rolling eyes at his technophobe mum I think it's done

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: need credit card help

with the help of a teen who's rolling eyes at his technophobe mum I think it's done

Ok, regards to your email - i'll quote the content here to allow others (and you) see what i'm explaining for you....

report 1 relates to a joint loan with ex, he is paying this in full monthly from his account, then deducting my half from what he pays me monthly for my son, late payments are due to him but \i realise it's a joint loan

Report 1 shown below:

Unfortunately, this is not good reading. There are 6 late payments plus an arrangement to pay marker over 4 months (which suggests this was to either clear arrears or reduced payments) - in any case, any more than 3 late payment markers in a 3 year period is viewed as bad and will drastically downscore you. The above account alone would result in a good 90% refusal rate - for 0% deals, with a report like that i'd not hold my breath..... You'll struggle to get ANY credit at all, let alone top rated things...

report 2 is the joint account I mentioned in my thread that I am now paying off, not sure who's fault it is that it got in such a mess, I had transferred all dd's and so's to my new acc but one company were still calling on this acc instead and I didn't realise until charges were added for not having funds to pay

Report 2 shown below:

As above, you have way too many late payment markers and the AP indicator - with this and the above account, your chances have just been reduced to around 5% success rate across all credit - this is very bad reading to lenders.

report 3 is an old credit card that was paid off with the card in report 4 (I applied for it but didn't realise ex was spending on it, or that he was going in to pay it rather than by dd, and I know I can't do anything about that)

Report 3 shown below:

This is settled so has no impact, however the few late payment markers will still impact any automated decisions made as it alone, exceeds the normal acceptable limit of 3 late payment markers....

report 4 is my current credit card 2 late payments were when I was paying over counter before I set up dd

Report 4 shown below:

If this was the only account with late payment markers, and all the others were full of green [0]'s then you'd be fine, as a result of the other 3 accounts coupled with this account, your late payment markers total 35 (approx) - so in the last 3 years you've been late with 35 payments over 4 accounts meaning out of 36 months (x 4 accounts) which is 144 payments, you've missed 35 of them which is a good third, when you also take into account the AP's across the accounts.


Would you lend you money after reading that? I hope the above helps explain why the banks are not so keen to lend to you right now. You need to wait until ALL these late payment markers are OLDER than 3 years and then look to reapply for a 0% deal - until then, you're gonna struggle.....


Hope the above has been of some help, however it's not great news to your original question, but at least now you'll know why you're being declined....

[caspar]

Re: need credit card help

Hi Genevieve,
Sorry I missed you last night posting!

Niddy has explained above (thanks Niddy for the screenprints and explanation - teaches us a lot!) You now have the option of checking enforceability or setting up a manageable DMP with your creditors. Wait for further advice on the UE route as to whether it's realistic or not. If not and you want help sorting a DMP, post in that section and I'll help as much as possible.

To be honest, although you may need it, the last thing you need at the moment is further loans if you're struggling anyway. One of my golden rules now is never borrow more to get out of debt, it just gets you further into debt. If you end up going the DMP route I'll explain some options, but see what Niddy has to say about UE first.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: need credit card help

Casp mate

I think that the OP wants to actually improve her credit score and get a 0% product to save the extra funds. I don't think UE or anything is an option right now...

[caspar]

Re: need credit card help

That's what I thought, but it is in the UE section!

Genevieve come over to DMP and post up the history again and we'll have a look at some options. TBH nothing is going to happen over night, so you need to demonstrate you're making every effort to pay them and let them know WHY you're in this position. Will need to know things like was it a joint mortgage etc.... as there are things you may need to do to force your other half to pay their share unless the house was part of the settlement. All stuff we need to go through!

[garlok]

Re: need credit card help

You're right, Casp. I was going to post up a very similar reply to genevieve. There is a lot to play for here and the house position is of some importance. Just be a ware of a snidey thing sometimes put in by some lawyers basically called "tenancy in common" with joint owners. It can be sorted often to the injured party's advantage if there is any time lapse to it all.

regards
Garlok

[genevieve]

Re: need credit card help

hi and thanks

looking at my OP and then some of the dates on the reports I seem to have lost months somewhere! not hard to believe it's been a rough 2yrs

so I'm going to get any paperwork out I've got and try to put it all in a proper order and post it properly at the weekend
also going to read a bit more of the site so I understand any advice

re report 1 the loan, the AP markers are just when I paid it over phone rather than it come out of the joint acc (when I was trying to sort that out) it was never late or underpaid on those months, some of the late payments were because although I'd made sure enough money was in joint acc ex would then withdraw some!!!

re report 2 the joint account I felt at the time A&L didn't help the problem because even though I'd moved all dd's to my new acc, also with A&L, when one company carried on calling for it from old acc A&L were charging me for not having funds and then charging me again for the charges putting me over my overdraft limit

anyhow I think I should sit down and go through everything and come back, and also explain properly the arrangement with house/mortgage

[genevieve]

Re: need credit card help

Hi
would it be best to post everything in the DMP board or the debt diaries board?