Balance transfer help

[bellalou1234]

I can anyone help. I know I've been an absolute idiot. Ages ago I transfered my friends hight credit card debt onto my interest free one, think it was over 24 months. She pays every month without issue. Anyway, 2 years ago I had money issues and needed to transfer 2000 onto said card and that was on a promotional rate too...she has been paying everymonth... how would I work out her balance? Both sets of debt are now paying interest... I haven't been paying mine as when hers was paid I was going to take over the payments with my original debt and the interest... its such a mess I've been stupid. Would the card provider be able to let me know or is there a simple way to work it out.

I am an idiot..

-Work out how many months your account has been collecting interest.

• use those months x interest x your balance

Ie...
If the monthly interest rate is 10%, and you've been in the "pay interest" bit/out of promotional 0% offer for... 3 months...
month 1: £2000 + 10% = £2200
Month 2: £2020 + 10% = £2420
Month 3: etc etc

If you go into the bank and ask to sit with someone, i am sure they would be able to assist you with the maths and accurate amounts... but be prepared to be lectured about your credit being for you etc.

Also - try and get back onto a 0% offer... it all adds up super quick

Also, if not in a high street bank, im sure someone on either live chat or the phone may be able to help

Thank you I'll ring them tomorrow. On the statement is has at the bottom two amounts both around what the outstanding amounts would be.. would that be correct?

They do usually list separate transfers separately

But would the monthly payment friend has been paying not be shared between two amount? This is such a mess and I'm confused

How much did you lend your friend and how much has she paid back? If she has been paying each month her interest should be reducing, your would not if you aren't contributing to the payment.

Why did you allow your friend to transfer her debt onto your card?

Can she now get her own? Once you've worked out who owes what, you should both apply for new balance transfer offers and transfer the respective debts to new cards.

Look on Moneysavingexpert.com or a free credit reference service like Credit Karma for offers you'll qualify for.

Well I’m surprised the problem you’re posting here is maths and not non-paying friend! So that’s a good start.

It would help if you posted the details:

• how much was her original debt transfer
• was your card balance zero at the time
• have you only ever added the £2000
• how much has she paid you so far
• when did the interest free period end
• what is the new % APR
• what is the promotional APR at the time of your £2000 going on

The deal with her, was that her debt went onto interest free, right?
So her debt is easy to calculate.
Example: If she transferred £5K and has paid you £100 a month for 2 years, then she owes £2600 (24 months x £100 = £2400).

All the interest is on your £2K. So you’ve clocked up interest for 2 years 😳

If that was the agreement, the two separate numbers don’t matter. As of today, she owes her debt minus her payments, you owe the rest. It’s not her fault you used the fact her payments covered the minimum repayment without you actually paying off any of your own debt.

Now you have 2 different interest rates. It’s just maths, you can keep working it out. But it sounds like you will be confused, and she may argue about paying a higher rate than you.

The best option now is she gets her own card and takes her debt back. If there’s a good reason she can’t, then you should get a second card and move your current debt onto that.

As of today, she owes her debt minus her payments, you owe the rest. It’s not her fault you used the fact her payments covered the minimum repayment without you actually paying off any of your own debt.

I agree with this.

Usually what happens with balance transfers is that the payments pay off the earliest balance transfer first. So if your friend’s BT was say £3,000, and that was Jan 2021, then all the payments have been going to that.

If you then added £2,000 in Feb 2021, and you haven’t been paying any extra, then all your friends payments come off her £3,000 until Jan 23, and she’s been paying interest on what’s left for 4 months now.

If I were you I’d just subtract the payments she’s given you from the original balance, work out how much she still owes right now, and then tell her she’ll also need to start paying interest from now on. I’d just say she owes 50% of the interest that’s accruing so can she either up her payment or take the balance left back. It might be more or less than 50% but I think you need to just keep it simple.

Sorry but I agree with others, it isn't her fault that you've paid jothjng of your own debt during that time so she shouldn't be be liable for any of the interest. How much does she have left to pay?

Also check the Ts and Cs of your credit card agreement before you tell them you have someone else's debt on your card. This is against the Ts and Cs of a lot of credit providers and they can withdraw your card and demand immediate payment in full if they find out you've done this.