Will credit rating suffer stoozing?

Legacy_user · 26 April 2017 at 3:52PM

I'm tempted to have a regular saver and hold out on paying of 0% card till the end, but is it worth any credit rating penalty for keeping a high utilisation, and being slow to repay the balance and unprofitable? Or are banks generally cool as long as i haven't been late with the minimum payment?
I intend to take out a new 0% purchases card as soon as i close the old one

Thank you for advice ☺

nb0825 · 26 April 2017 at 3:57PM

don't max out your credit utilisation is the general advice. If you have £10k limit on all your accounts, don't go above 70% as a finger in the air rule (in this case £7k). Same goes for overdrafts

YorkshireBoy · 26 April 2017 at 7:53PM

nb0825 wrote: »

don't max out your credit utilisation is the general advice.

Did you forget this was the stoozing board? I'd have thought the objective was to maximise the earning potential of any free cash...isn't it? That's certainly been my objective over the last 12 years or so.

don't go above 70% as a finger in the air rule

I recently got a £12K BT card and immediately BTd £11.4K of debt to it. Are you saying I should have foregone around £3K of interest earning potential and transferred only £8.4K?

MallyGirl · 27 April 2017 at 10:31AM

It is all about your credit history - not a random number generated. As long as you clear down stooze pots before trying to take out a mortgage or something equally significant then it doesn't matter what the score has been doing along the way

nb0825 · 27 April 2017 at 2:12PM

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Did you forget this was the stoozing board? I'd have thought the objective was to maximise the earning potential of any free cash...isn't it? That's certainly been my objective over the last 12 years or so.I recently got a £12K BT card and immediately BTd £11.4K of debt to it. Are you saying I should have foregone around £3K of interest earning potential and transferred only £8.4K?

just because you have available credit, doesn't mean you should stooze every last penny of it and potentially scupper your credit rating. Some people my remortgage every 2-5 years and having a history of maxed out credit doesn't help, regardless if its paid off at the end of the promotion

YorkshireBoy · 27 April 2017 at 11:23PM

nb0825 wrote: »

Some people my remortgage every 2-5 years and having a history of maxed out credit doesn't help, regardless if its paid off at the end of the promotion

Is that your opinion or based on factual data/insider knowledge? Because it hasn't been my experience over the last 12 years.

If it is based on 'fact' could you provide a source please?

But it's not "maxed out" all the time is it? It starts at 95% of the limit and ends, say, 2 years later at 56% of the limit (using 2.25% minimums)...followed by clearance just before the (re)mortgage application. That shows good credit management doesn't it? It certainly has done for me over the years.

System · 28 April 2017 at 6:15AM

Ending on 56% isn't maximising though, and i would clear it all before mortgage application, but I'm wondering CC applications

At the moment i have an interest bearing rewards card that i clear each month keeping my utilisation lower, but if i got more cards it could exceed 70%

vacheron · 28 April 2017 at 7:06AM

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Is that your opinion or based on factual data/insider knowledge? Because it hasn't been my experience over the last 12 years.

If it is based on 'fact' could you provide a source please?

But it's not "maxed out" all the time is it? It starts at 95% of the limit and ends, say, 2 years later at 56% of the limit (using 2.25% minimums)...followed by clearance just before the (re)mortgage application. That shows good credit management doesn't it? It certainly has done for me over the years.

That has been my experience as well.

Whenever my main 0% purchase card begins to reach its limit I apply for a 0% fee / 0% balance transfer card and fill that with as much of the purchase card balance as it will accept.

The result of my increasing number of maxed out cards appears to be an increase in the credit limits I am getting on new ones!

This may just be for some, and it certainly appears to defy logic, but I can only speak from my personal experience.

nb0825 · 28 April 2017 at 9:20AM

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Is that your opinion or based on factual data/insider knowledge? Because it hasn't been my experience over the last 12 years.

If it is based on 'fact' could you provide a source please?

But it's not "maxed out" all the time is it? It starts at 95% of the limit and ends, say, 2 years later at 56% of the limit (using 2.25% minimums)...followed by clearance just before the (re)mortgage application. That shows good credit management doesn't it? It certainly has done for me over the years.

Here you go link

See section "How much of your credit limit you’re using"

YorkshireBoy · 28 April 2017 at 10:04AM

nb0825 wrote: »

Here you go link

See section "How much of your credit limit you’re using"

The OP is considering stoozing. They asked will this impact their credit rating.

Observations from that section of the link:

I've counted just one use of the word "will", and that's saying your credit score will be affected. As we all know, CRA credit scores are next to useless being as they don't lend money. So the fact (because they used the word "will") that this number will change doesn't bother me...or surprise me.

I've counted many uses of the words 'may', might, could, shouldn't, etc, which aren't the same as "will".

Like vacheron above, my limits have increased over the years because I've proven I can manage very high levels of both available and used credit. So much so I've currently £113K of available credit and am stoozing nearly £50K of it. I don't really do 0% on purchase cards, so all mine is the result of 95% BTs (as in the example I gave above). BTW, my salary is nowhere near £113K...and nor do I earn £50K. The last card I got...that took me to £113K?...that was a £12K limit Halifax card (and I already had a BoS card and 2 Lloyds cards).

In my case (and in vacheron's above) it wouldn't be true to say maxing credit facilities "doesn't help"

nb0825 · 28 April 2017 at 11:02AM

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The OP is considering stoozing. They asked will this impact their credit rating.

Observations from that section of the link:

I've counted just one use of the word "will", and that's saying your credit score will be affected. As we all know, CRA credit scores are next to useless being as they don't lend money. So the fact (because they used the word "will") that this number will change doesn't bother me...or surprise me.

I've counted many uses of the words 'may', might, could, shouldn't, etc, which aren't the same as "will".

Like vacheron above, my limits have increased over the years because I've proven I can manage very high levels of both available and used credit. So much so I've currently £113K of available credit and am stoozing nearly £50K of it. I don't really do 0% on purchase cards, so all mine is the result of 95% BTs (as in the example I gave above). BTW, my salary is nowhere near £113K...and nor do I earn £50K. The last card I got...that took me to £113K?...that was a £12K limit Halifax card (and I already had a BoS card and 2 Lloyds cards).

In my case (and in vacheron's above) it wouldn't be true to say maxing credit facilities "doesn't help"

Like you said, the OP's original query was their credit rating. All I'm arguing is, if you're concerned about your credit rating, don't max your available credit, that is all. From your view, yes you're foregoing a little bit of extra stoozing by not doing so, but if a potential mortgage application is on the horizon stick to the 75% limit Clearscore recommends.

Will credit rating suffer stoozing?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free