Hi Debbie,

why not try and rebuild your credit rating - If you have missed a few payments on your credit cards its not the end of the world because because you are only in arrears on your account but you havent defaulted. yes - you will incur late payment charges but you still stand a chance of repairing your credit rating.

That said - another consideration you might want to take into account is this. - why would you want to take a unsecured loan (credit cards etc) and turn it into a secured loan by borrowing £20k against your house? (which is effectivly a consolidation loan ).

If you have a poor credit rating you are less likely to get a bank to let you remortgage and if they do you will be paying stupid APR as well as having increased your repayments on your mortgage.

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George

The fact that you appear to have plenty of equity in the property doesn't detract from the fact that you have little income, and yet you have been spending well above your level. Your credit rating is poor, because you clearly cannot manage your finances, and you really expect a mortgage company to take you seriously?

Your 'release some equity' plan just means you want to increase the debt on your property, to clear other debt! Unfortunately your husband has no income except his pension to support a higher morgage repayment plan. I suggest that if you are no longer able to pay your debts, because you cannot control your spending, then you need to visit your local CAB.

I am 49 and my husband is 67. We currently have a mortgage on our property owing approx 55k. Property value is approx 200k. Term tajen over was 15 years. We are wanting to release some equity to pay off loans and credit cards. My concerns are my husbands age and the fact that he is retired, although he does receive pension weekly, and that I have a poor credit rating due to late payments on my credit cards. We have never missed a mortgage payment or been late. I need to borrrow approx £20k. I have approached the bank we currently have the mortgage with but they said they can't help as they can't take my husband's income into account, although his name is on the mortgage now. Do you think we will be able to get a mortgage from anywhere else?