Credit card - loan to clear it?

Hi all,

I'm asking this on behalf of my sister. She has almost 3,000 euro debt on her credit card and she really wants to clear it. She has a 5 year loan from AIB, on which there is almost 10,000 euro left to pay. She has a weekly direct debit set up for this and can make the payments for this easily enough. She does not earn much, and at the moment can only afford to pay off approx 30/40 euro per week off the credit card.
Would she be better off asking the bank for a top up loan and using this to clear her credit card debt? She does not have a credit union account.
Or should she go to MABS and ask them what her best plan of action is?
thanks.

There are a number of factors to be considered here:

What would the repayments be if she did top up her loan by 3k?

Would she have to extend the term of her loan in order to afford the repayments?

Does she have any other debts/poor credit history that could make it difficult for her to get the top up?

She does noy have to top up her existing loan - she could have a look around the market & see if she can get a better deal elsewhere. Either get a new loan for the 3k, or get a loan to pay off the AIB loan and the 3k.

Whatever she decides to do, if she is only paying 30/40 euro per week off 3k credit card bill, she is not going to ever make much of a dent in it & the interest she is paying is HUGE.

Whatever she decides to do get her to cut up the credit card first.

MABS may be able to help but a straightforward personal loan is probably her best bet...that's only my opinion though!

re

Thanks.

Where would be the best place for her to go looking for a personal loan? Would the credit union give it to her even though she has no account with them?

hey there

for the first credit union loan they will only give you the equivalent of the shares( amount you have lodged with them )

my mam's advice with the credit union was always to tell tehm you can pay less than you want ie tell them you can pay € 20 a week when you know you are gona pay € 40

builds up a good rep

What about shopping around for the new topped up loan, from what I remember AIB's personal loan rates can be quite high and 13000 is a considerable loan. Have a look at the Best Buys for an idea of what rates to expect.