How can I get out of persistent debt?
To repay more of the card's balance, you should try to:
Speak to your provider
They may be able to:
- Stop interest
- Stop charges
- Offer you a better deal
Let them know if you are thinking of moving your persistent debt to either:
- A loan or
- Card at another bank
Stop spending on the card and increase your monthly payments
This helps your debt balance go down quicker.
Consider ways you could pay off this debt quicker
This could be:
- Moving the balance to a cheaper credit card
- Reviewing your budget to see if you could pay anything extra
How much of a monthly payment covers my balance?
A monthly credit card payment includes:
- An amount for interest and charges
- An amount to reduce what you owe
When you pay the minimum each month:
- Your payment mainly goes towards your interest
- Only a small portion of the payment goes towards the balance
- This means the debt takes a long time to pay
The more you can pay, the quicker you pay off the debt.
How long will it take to pay off my credit card?
This depends on:
- How much you can pay on top of the monthly minimum payment, and
- What the interest rate is
How do I pay off my persistent debt?
Use our online budgeting tool to:
- Understand your budget
- Find where to cut back on spending
- See where savings could be put towards debt
You may then decide to either:
- Pay the same amount each month:
- Choose an affordable amount
- Something above your minimum payment
- Stick with it
- Pay your minimum payment, plus a fixed amount each month:
- Paying a few extra pounds every month can make a huge difference
- Make one-off additional payments when you can afford them:
- Pay at least the minimum payment every month
- Make extra payments when you can
Make minimum payments to avoid breaching the terms of your agreement.