Q. What can we do about a credit card that's charging us 38.21% interest?

A. Exceptionally high rates like that are usually imposed on cardholders thrown into "universal default." It's the most costly penalty in most credit card contracts and the companies never warn you that they're going to double or triple your interest rate. The change just shows up on your statement.

It's usually triggered by a late payment, even a late payment to another creditor, or a decline in your credit score that indicates you've become a higher credit risk.

The first option is to contact your credit card company, find out why your interest rate is so high, and ask that it be lowered. "How to escape universal default" will help you through the process.

If your credit card company won't budge, or won't budge enough, consider transferring your balance to another credit card with a lower interest rate.

The better your credit score, the better your chances of moving your debt to a card that charges little or no interest for the first 12 months. A good place to start are our recommendations for the best cards for balance transfers.

You can also check out other deals on our credit card rate tables. There are many cards available for those with bad credit, and the rates run from 12% to 23%, but those are better than what you are paying, even with a 3% balance transfer fee.

Our balance transfer calculator will work out how much you can save with any offer.

If you own a home, you could try getting a home equity line of credit that allows you to borrow against the value of your property to pay off other bills. Or you could try a cash-out refinancing, where you get a new mortgage on your property for more than you owe and use the proceeds to pay off at least part of your debt.

Our debt consolidation calculator can help you decide if a cash-out refinancing makes sense for you.