Credit Score Concerns

jude1979

I always considered myself to have a good credit score, and have been doing the 0% card thing for just over a year and a half, however recently i applied for a capital one 12mths 0% card which was invitation only and wanted to balance transfer 5.5K, when they go back to me they said they could only offer me 3k at 0% for 6 months, so i signed and returned the forms and whrn the card arrived they had reduced the limit to 2k for 6mths 0%!! this week i applied for a loyds tsb 9mth 0% card and i have been turned down all together! i am now really worried that i've ruined my credit score and am afraid to apply for any further cards incase i do any further damage. i earn over 40k a year gross and have recently been approved for a 12k car loan at 5.6% and a £1200 0% computer loan for 10mths so i really don't know what to make of all this credit card nonsence as although i do have debt i feel in control of it and have no plan to add to it! any ideas?.......

deemy2004

They look at your total credit limit available

So if you have numerous cards with x amount of limits that all add up to a substantial amount of available credit. Thus they are less likely to throw more credit at you.

Walletwatch

Hi Jude

I do remember having read somewhere that the screening process at Capital One for their credit cards is stricter than the industry average, resulting in a reduced percentage of approvals (inspite of their fairly aggressive marketing campaigns for their credit cards). That might explain the reduced limit at Capital one.

On the Lloyds TSB, the only thing that comes to mind (assuming that status quo has been retained on other aspects of your credit score) is the possibility that your credit files have been accessed too many times in the recent past as a result of your having applied to different forms of credit.

nh

Do you have any other Lloyds cards (Texaco, Accucard)? This can affect your ability to get a Lloyds card.

Don't worry too much about being turned down. We all get turned down eventually after applying for lots of cards/loans in a short space of time.

I think three or four at a time is normal. Wait four/five months and apply for a credit card again and I'm sure you will be fine.

In the meantime, check your credit files with Experian and Equifax just for peace of mind.

I am sure there will be nothing adverse on them.

jude1979

thanks for the advice everyone, no i don't have any other loyds related cards, but i do have 5 other cards, 2 i use for spending which are paid in full each month each with 8k ish limits and now including capital one 3 further cards with 0% balances one of which is a 0% forever barclaycard the balance on which actually belongs to my fiance. I guess the too many recent applications is quite a factor so i wont let it worry me, the whole thing just put the wind up me as i've never been turned down for anything before!