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Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Borrowing over a longer term can mean paying back more in total.
Persistent credit card debt is an FCA term for a specific pattern: over 18 months, you’ve paid more in interest, fees and charges on a card than you’ve repaid of the amount you originally borrowed. It usually happens when only minimum or low payments are made for a long period, so most of what’s paid is servicing the debt rather than reducing it. UK card providers are required by the Financial Conduct Authority to identify this and step in with help.
How persistent debt is defined
The FCA’s rules, set out in its Consumer Credit sourcebook, focus on the relationship between what you’ve paid in interest and charges and what you’ve repaid of the actual balance. If, after 18 months, the interest and charges paid outweigh the capital repaid, the account is treated as being in persistent debt, regardless of whether payments have technically been made on time.
| Situation over 18 months | Generally treated as persistent debt? |
|---|---|
| Paying only the minimum each month on a card with a balance | Often, yes |
| Paying more than the minimum and steadily reducing the balance | Usually not |
| Balance cleared or nearly cleared within the period | No |
| Missed payments alongside a growing balance | Assessed under the provider’s arrears process as well as persistent debt rules |
What must happen at 18 months?
Once an account has been in persistent debt for 18 months, the provider must contact you, explaining the situation and encouraging you to repay more quickly if you can afford to. This is meant as an early nudge rather than a penalty, and it’s worth taking seriously, since the letter should also explain that the card could ultimately be suspended if the pattern continues without change.
What must happen at 36 months?
If the persistent debt pattern is still there after 36 months, the provider must offer you a way to repay the outstanding balance within a reasonable period. If you can’t afford that repayment plan, the provider must show forbearance instead, which can include reducing, waiving or cancelling interest, fees or charges on the account. Exact offers vary between providers, and we can’t quote specific figures here, but the underlying requirement is the same across the industry.
Why this matters even if you’ve never missed a payment
Persistent debt can build up quietly. Because the account looks fine on the surface, payments made on time, no arrears, no default, it’s easy to assume nothing is wrong. The FCA introduced these rules precisely because minimum payments alone can leave someone paying a card off very slowly, or effectively not at all, for years, without the account ever showing as a problem in the usual sense. Our guide on credit utilisation explains a related idea: a high balance relative to your limit can also affect how a lender views your file, separately from persistent debt itself.
What are your options if you’re in persistent debt?
- Increase your monthly payment, even by a modest amount, if your budget allows, since more of each payment then goes towards the balance rather than interest.
- Ask your provider about a repayment plan before 36 months if the debt already feels unmanageable, rather than waiting for them to contact you.
- Get free advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange or National Debtline, who can look at your whole budget rather than just this one card.
- Consider whether consolidating the debt makes sense, either through an unsecured route or, for larger amounts, a debt consolidation remortgage, though the second option secures the debt against your home. Our guide on whether you should remortgage to pay off debt sets out that decision in full.
Does persistent debt affect a mortgage application?
Not directly as its own category, but the underlying balance and monthly payment do. A card with a large, slow-reducing balance is still a committed outgoing that a lender includes in an affordability assessment, and a high balance close to the limit can affect your credit score too. If the card is later defaulted because the debt became unmanageable, that would show as a default in the usual way and stay on your file for 6 years. Our page on remortgaging with missed credit card payments covers what happens if payments are missed on top of a persistent debt pattern.
Does persistent debt on one card affect other applications?
It can, indirectly. A card in persistent debt is generally still being paid on time, so it shouldn’t itself trigger a missed payment marker, but the balance and the slow rate of repayment feed into the affordability picture a lender builds when you apply for a mortgage or remortgage. Where several cards are all showing similar patterns, a lender may look more closely at your overall budget, in the same way a persistently used overdraft can prompt questions. Our guide on overdrafts and remortgaging covers a related pattern of revolving credit that lenders also watch for.
What this means if you’re remortgaging with adverse credit
If you’re already dealing with a CCJ, defaults or a low credit score, a card in persistent debt adds an extra outgoing to your affordability picture without necessarily showing as a separate problem on your credit file. Tackling it before you apply, even partially, can make your monthly outgoings look clearer to a lender. If the balance is large enough that consolidating it into a remortgage is realistic, weigh that against keeping it as unsecured debt and clearing it over a shorter term instead, and see our page on remortgaging with a low credit score for how lenders generally view existing card debt alongside other adverse credit.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if I'm in persistent debt?
Your card provider is required to monitor this and should write to you if you meet the FCA's definition, generally paying more in interest and charges than you've repaid of the borrowed amount over 18 months. You can also work it out yourself from your statements, or ask your provider directly.
What will my card provider offer if I'm in persistent debt for 36 months?
The FCA requires the provider to offer a way to repay the balance within a reasonable period. If you genuinely can't afford that, they must show forbearance, which can include reducing, waiving or cancelling interest, fees or charges. Exact offers vary by provider.
Can my card be suspended for being in persistent debt?
It can be, generally as a step if you don't respond to the provider's contact or agree a way to repay more quickly. This is meant to stop the debt growing further rather than as a punishment, but it does mean losing access to that credit line.
Does persistent debt show differently on my credit file?
Not as a separate marker. What shows is your payment history and balance on the account as normal. However, if persistent debt leads to a formal repayment plan, reduced payments, or eventually a missed payment or default, those would show in the usual way.