RohanSix:

There are several issue here but any credit history problems make it very difficult to get a 0% balance transfer card.

What size of fee did you want to avoid paying for your credit rating? Each lender does their own rating however it is well worth obtaining you credit report and checking it for accuracy. You can pay £2 for a statutory paper report, more for an online subscription or "free" if you remember to cancel. Look at Experian/CreditExpert and/or Equifax. Make sure your current residency and electoral roll information is accurate and there is address history for at least 3 years. Make sure you agree with all the account and search information recorded.

An attempt will be made to sell you a "credit score". Up to you but "credit score" takes no account of earnings (mainly account conduct, debt and available credit). Overrated in my opinion.

Don't know whether it's up and running but Barclays have just announced a "no credit search" way of identifying a suitable card product. Might be worth following that up.

At the end of the day, its possible you have been declined on affordability grounds. In that case, while there are low credit limit products available, the best strategy IMHO, is to play a longer game and attempt to pay down one or other of the overdrafts by regular payments that you are comfortable with and revisit the 0% BT in 6 months.

Hi,

Apologies if this is well trodden ground, but I'm desperately in need of some financial advice to claw myself out of the little hole I seem to have dug myself into.

I've never had a credit card before, but I have two overdrafts (both current, one used to be a student) currently overdrawn at 1k and 1.75k respectively. I also have a large student loan which is being paid off incrementally through my salary.

I want to apply for a credit card so I can use the 0% grace period to pay off some of the overdraft balance so I don't keep getting stung with interest charges every month and in this period attempt to clear as much of the debt as financially viable. I have a couple of questions:

1) Does balance transfer apply to overdraft balances or just credit card?

2) I bank with Natwest and applied for a credit card through them. I was promptly declined. Is this is purely because of the state of my accounts with them? Will other provides factor this is in when processing my application?

3) My credit history has not been the greatest. I had a CCJ against my name at University and was quite late with a few phone bills. Is there any way I can discern my current rating without paying a fee?

4) What credit card would you recommend for a person in my position?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks