Consolidation

Hi Folks,

I know this question is asked a lot but here's my scenario.

Single guy, employed, salary 35k (about 50% of what i was on 2 years ago). Mortgage originally 150k taken in 2002 and but not really in trouble there. A house on the estate has recently changed hands for 235k so I am not too worried about it at the moment. The rental market is strong in the area also and I have just rented one room for 80Eu a week, which is handy.

Now I have no car loan but have a credit card with 6.5k on it and an overdraft of 2.5k. To be fair to myself, a lot of these bills were incurred furnishing and finishing the house. While I am making monthly payments on the credit card I am getting nowhere really in paying it off..Apart from monthly bills which i am keeping paid, I have no real other debts.

I want to consolidate the credit card and overdraft (both with BOI who I have always been with) but with the way things are I am unsure how the bank will look on an application for this. I also wonder how i should approach this with the bank. Should I tell them what I am trying to do? Should I call them and try to arrange a meeting? What do people think? Do ye think they would look favourably on this or would i be wasting my time? I would like just to clear the two, close the credit card a/c and have one payment coming out to pay these two bills off.

Any advice appreciated.

Hi deeptek,

BOI shouldn't have a problem refinancing the debt because its all theirs anyway. Be open with them about why you want to do it. The amount involved is not that much so it shouldn't be a problem getting a personal loan to clear them off.

Had a similar situation with BOI. They were happy to refinance for me but they cancelled both the credit card and the overdraft facility so I couldn't run the debt up again. The best thing I ever did!! Make an appointment to see the manager, explain the situation as you have above - be open with them.