Credit card debt advice

I have a BOI credit card and have an outstanding balance of a few thousand euro. I have had the credit card for the last 5 years and have made regular payments up until the last 6 months. I havent been able to make regular payments for the last few months due to severe financial problems. My wife had a child and suffered alot of health issues after the birth., with us been based in the US for now and the way the exchange rate is it has been very hard. I will however be able to make regular payments starting in the next few weeks as my wife got a new job so we will have more money coming in. Also we are in the process of selling our house and the sale should go through within the next 6 weeks. Should i explain to to the bank instead of waiting for a letter or call on why i am not making regular payments. I do now use this credit card anymore and havent done so within the past year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

i would just start making the payment when you can, it does not matter to the bank where you are they are just waiting to get the money

good luck with the sale and the family

Irishman -- If you give them a call and explain your set of circumstances. They are likely to give you some kind of brief moratorium on the interest, after you ask for it and after when you give them a payment schedule.

mercman said:

Irishman -- If you give them a call and explain your set of circumstances. They are likely to give you some kind of brief moratorium on the interest

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Is this true? I find it hard to believe.

They will Clubman as what they do not need is another set of problems of collecting a debt which is now overseas. But aepayment plan will have to be set out to show good faith and don't expect anything till the very end.

As your debt is with an Irish bank I believe talking to them and maybe resheduling the debt is the way to go. They would rather be paid something than get nothing and if you show good faith they can be sympathetic and they may stop charging you hefty interest which will get you into further trouble. You could also try mabs or the citizens advice bureau to get some advice on how to talk to banks.

I called them this morning, well rather the customer service. I had to update my address listed on the card as they still had an old one. Right now i am been charged 80 euro per monthly on purchase interest and general interest for the debt. I had to fax them my new address as they wouldnt take it over the phone. I havent lived at that address for over 4 years and when i moved i updated the address well in ireland anyways. I explained my situation to the girl on the woman and she noted it but surely i need to talk to someone else/ non customer service. I gave them my email address and my contact numer. I dont owe a great deal just over 5k. Should i call them again? We will be moving back to ireland in the next few months so will be able to pay off alot more monthly instead of what is happening right now with the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro. I am not trying to deceive the bank, we just had alot of crap happen over the last 12 months with my wife and childs health which greathly affected our finances.

I'm in the same type of situation.
Having financial problems, struggling to meet all my monthly debt repayments. Explained my situation to the credit card company and banks, and THEY DON'T GIVE ONE IOTA. As soon as they heard I was struggling, they were all defensive and cold. One bank even wanted to increase my monthly repayment. By all means, be up front with them, but don't expect an ounce of of support or helpfulness.
So much for all those so called financial experts telling you to go to your bank straight away when in difficulty so they can assist you. Quite the opposite in my experience.

As soon as you get back to Ireland switch to an interest free card.
In similar situation myself, except they rang me, came to an agreement to pay 35 per week, which is manageable. I find paying small amounts each week is a lot easier than paying a larger amount each month. I have been approved for a Halifax card (God only knows)
which is interest free on balance transfers, so at least I'll save on interest charges as I chip away at this godforsaken debt. Good luck, it will get better.

Best of Luck folks !!

I had about 5,000 in CC debt between 2 cards about 2 years ago. I just plugged away every month. Cutting back on my spending and paying as much as I can every month.

Got my balance down to zero about 2 months ago.

Don't worry you are not alone. I have a Halifax CC now - but I think 3 times about using it b4 I do - only really use it for booking flights, hostels etc.

To gain an insight into how the CC demon does it damage I recommend you look at a documentary called "Maxed Out". I think you'll find on Google videos.

It lifts the lids on the way American Banks (are Irish the same ??) want to trap people in the minimum payment cycle for as long as possible.

Of course no-one forces people to spend money using CCs but the extent to whick the Banks encourage it is unbelievable.

Good Luck - you can do it !!