Credit card whilst on disability benefits

[Pumpkinmoocher]

Hi everyone, first post!
Is it possible to get a credit card with 0% interest for 6 months whilst on disability benefits (Universal Credit and PIP)? I would like to borrow about £1000 to pay for a few things (I am not eligible for a uc advance/budgeting loan) but am struggling with all the different cards out there! Has anyone successfully applied for a credit card whilst on disability benefits?
Thankyou for any words of advice offered ❤️

Would you be able to pay £1000 off in 6 months if you haven’t been able to save up until now?

There's no restriction to you having a credit card in your circumstances- whether the application is successful depends on the credit provider's view of your income and overall credit status. Some prefer employment income but it is possible to get one without.

I have an amazon barclay card. Am on pip and uc, plus esa and have a small ill health pension (not sure if that makes a difference). I think it was 0% at first. I use it every month and pay off in full just to improve my credit score. I have my mortgage with barclays so that probably helped secure it. Might be worth checking out with banks you have products with.

Hey, thankyou both for your replies! Goz, it’s more of a sudden expense that’s arisen, I need a new car/parts sooner rather than later. Hopefully in 6 months I’ll be able to sell a few things/raise the cash from family and owe them instead. I’m just stuck atm.
LilyBunch25, thankyou, I don’t suppose you have any recommendations for a card that would accept me? I’m guessing if you did you would have already said though.. thanks again!

It would be a commitment of approximately £170 pm, if clearing the entire balance within 6m. Am guessing OP has considered the budgeting implications and is simply asking if getting a card would be possible in their circumstances.

Moneysaving Expert have an eligibility calculator, have a look at that.

I don't unfortunately- my advice comes from being a welfare benefits specialist and having many clients who have applied for credit cards in your circumstances and have successfully managed them. You can look at Money Saving Expert for some guidance on the general card market.

Thankyou Justneedtogettotheend1 and Bjorkdidit ❤️
You’re correct LilyBunch25, I’m mainly asking if it’s possible and for any recommendations

Thankyou so much, I really appreciate your help ❤️

No, I wouldn’t assume everyone looking at putting something on credit has looked at the budgeting implications at all actually.

Try capital one
although you might not get a high limit

Good point about the limit, it used to be as little as £2-300 until you could demonstrate you're able to manage this properly, however this would be dependent on your disposable income.

You can do a comparison on MoneySavingExpert: it will give you an idea, based on your income details, which cards you are likely to be eligible for without doing a hard credit search. You can then follow any up individually and they will also do a soft search which lets you know whether you have a strong chance of being accepted and the likely credit limit before you make a full application.

Hi, thanks for replying! I’m sorry I’m a complete newbie to all this, what do you mean by limit?

Hi, thanks for your reply! I’ve just done this, it’s come up with post office and capital one. I don’t suppose you know when it asks about income, would I multiply what we get for uc plus my pip by 12 then put that as the figure? As a large chunk of what we get for uc is the rent element, but I guess it’s all income. Or is it? Sorry lol…. 🙄

Maximum Credit limit on the card , you don’t necessarily get to dictate how much you want,

If you complete the pre-application eligibility checker with either provider, it will ask your total annual income, sources of income, expenditure on rent, number of dependents, and major financial commitments. It will then indicate whether you’re likely to be approved so you can decide whether to go ahead with a full application and credit check.

Income is normally annual income, although sometimes they ask for monthly. I would read the question carefully and answer accordingly, including your rent.

They will normally ask how much your rent/mortgage separately is as a gauge of your disposable income.

The limit is a credit limit, which is the maximum balance on the card at any one time. If you spend up to the limit, you can't use it again, until you've paid off some of the balance.

You must not exceed the limit, as this will be seen negatively by the lender which may cause them to freeze the card, or refuse future limit increases. However, don't rely on them stopping the card working if you reach the limit, as they may continue to allow transactions to be charged to the card.

Thankyou for the further information ComtesseDeSpair, you’ve been really helpful. Thanks for explaining LIZS, I do only need £1000 approx so hopefully that’s be ok 👍 ❤️

Thankyou so much for this, you’ve been super helpful! I really appreciate all the info you’ve given me ❤️

That's your prerogative. IME most people on fixed incomes do.

Remember your PIP is weekly therefore if you are submitting monthly figures you need to x it weekly by 52 then divide by 12, not 12 x your 4 weekly amount

Post office is also capital one.

OP clearly hasn't

'Hopefully in 6 months I’ll be able to sell a few things/raise the cash from family and owe them instead.'

I have 2 credit cards and my income is PIp, UC and carers allowance. My dh works full time though and we own our house outright so have a fair bit of disposable income. A lot of the cards ask for household income / dependents etc rather than what income you have personally. I’ve never had an issue getting a card.