Alicia Beautement will benefit from the Government’s proposal to force credit card companies to allow customers to pay off their most expensive debts first. This year, the 25-year-old account manager shifted a £4,500 debt from a Virgin Money card to an Egg card with a 0 per cent balance transfer option.

At the time it looked like a great deal. As Egg was advertising a rate of 0 per cent on balance transfers for 12 months, she hoped to be able to pay off most of her debt without paying any interest. However, she has used the same card to buy clothes and flights worth £300.

The minimum £100 repayments she makes each month are being used to pay off the interest-free part of her debt, rather than the money she borrowed for the clothes and flights. Therefore, she is being charged interest on the new purchases at 17 per cent. Ms Beautement can stop the monthly interest charges only by clearing all her original £4,500 debt, which she now fears she “won’t be able to shift for years”.

“The problem is Egg makes all its terms and conditions baffling, so I didn’t realise I’d have to pay so much interest when I used the card for purchases. Now, when I make monthly repayments, I am barely making a dent in my debt,” she said.

Ms Beautement welcomes the new proposals. “This will definitely help me and many other people get out of debt faster. If all I can afford to pay off is interest at the moment, I’ll be paying my debt off forever. Of course, there is then the worry that when my 0 per cent period ends, the rate will skyrocket and then I will be stuck owing far more money. I will probably be forced to get more credit to pay it off.”

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax