Would It be reasonable to send Credit Card Company letter..

[fruitandbarley]

Would It be reasonable to send Credit Card Company letter asking for reduced payments while I am on maternity leave for 6 months. I think I am really going to struggle otherwise.

I was thinking I would offer to pay them half of what I am paying at the moment (minimum payment).

Are you still spending on it , how much do you owe? You should ask for interest to be frozen but whether they will reduce minimum payments I suspect not.

Thanks

I am not spending on it (well one transaction of £100 in the last month as emergency, but nothing for ages before that), and also been paying a few chunks of money off as I've had it aswell as the minimum to try and get the balance down. I owe about £3800.

How do I go about asking for the interest to be frozen? And would this affect my credit rating ?

Write and ask them or see CAB/MSE for a sample letter. But you can't spend on it again .

When does your maternity leave start? I think they have 12 weeks to respond to letters so if they cross over and you miss payments it won't do you any favours. If I were you I would call them and speak to them about it. Have you looked into doing a balance transfer to a card with 0% interest?

can you not do a balance transfer to a 0% interest card?

(sorry, Ladykookoo - didn't see you had already suggested that!)

I applied to do this but it was turned down for some reason, ( i was in my overdraft at the bank, that might have been it) and I didn't think it was a good idea to apply for another so soon afterwards.
I also went on money supermarket and chose the best deal, which i wonder if they are very choosy who they say yes to.
Last time I applied was october.

Would freezing the interest adversly affect my credit rating do you know ?

Thanks for your help by the way. Much appreciated.

Yes it will affect your credit rating, however it's better to reach an arrangement with them rather than simply not paying.

I'm sure you've already looked at all of your other outgoings to see what you can cut.

My understanding is that credit card companies are not particularly flexible on reducing the minimum payment.

You might be better to transfer it or to take out a loan over a longer period to pay it off.

Whatever you do, don't start missing payments and making your credit history worse.

Wasn't planning on not paying them at all, I have always paid on time, and still plan to do so, it would just be a real struggle for those 6 months thats all.
I am well aware of the importance to keeping my credit history good, hence me not keep applying for balance transfers etc..

I just wondered if it was something they would be likely to say yes to for that period, and if they did if it would affect my rating, which it sounds like it will.

I don't really want to take out a loan over a longer period, I am hoping to be able to pay it off in a few big chucks when I'm back from maternity leave anyway.

Do you have a mortgage? (Depending on your answer will depend on where this goes).

I would check your own credit rating and then go from there - MSE boards have loads of advice about balance transfers. If you last applied in Oct I don't think another application now will have an adverse effect. I wouldn't increase your mortgage though to clear a credit card - much better it is unsecured debt than secured on a property.

Yes i do have a mortgage, but would not want to extend it really.
Sounds like having another attempt at a balance transfer might be a good idea.

Most mortgage companies will let you have a mortgage break whilst on maternity leave. If it were me I would speak to the mortgage company about having a break for six months and then putting the money you would normally pay to the mortgage each month to get the credit card cleared off. The interest you pay on the mortgage, is, I assume, less than the interest you pay on the credit card?