In partnership with the Insolvency Network
Credit card (and overdraft) debt
A recent study by www.thisismoney.co.uk has shown that millions of consumers will be paying off their credit card debt for the next 30 years because its too easy to make only the minimum payment. This situation is far from ideal but becomes even worst when you are unable to even meet the minimum payments.
If credit card debt alone is your problem, depending on your circumstances, the best solution might be to take advantage of a free balance transfer. Moving your outstanding balance from one card to another could allow you a long enough interest free period to get back onto your feet. Even if you are not in financial difficulty a balance transfer could well be a good idea until you have paid off your card in full to stop the interest from adding up.
Another alternative is to take advantage of an interest free overdraft, 40% of current accounts on the market at the moment (Feb. 2008) offer an interest free overdraft or "buffer zone", however, the number of accounts that provide this service at the time of setup is much lower. This means you will have to contact your bank and see if they offer the service, if they do then ask them to enable it on your account. If your bank do not offer a interest free overdraft then it might be worth switching as some overdraft limits are in excess of £3k, this would be ideal to ride the tide fo a high spending period.
The above solutions are just a sample of the options available to you and our advisors will be able to find the best solution for your individual situation, if credit card debt or overdrafts just make up a part of what you owe transferring your balance might not be the answer and could ultimately leave you in a unmanageable situation. Speak to one of our expert advisors today to discuss your situation in confidence and take the first step to becoming debt free.
Money Supermarket provide an excellent credit card comparison tool which you can use to find the best card for your circumstances online if you would like to carry out additional research online.