V A N Q U I S

bradigor

Hi,

I have a Vanquis card and was informed I was getting a credit increase on the 6th September.

The letter had all the usual information about not going over your limit etc, etc. So I kept everything below the limit. Then one of my charges on the September 2nd statement (which didn't actually update and send until the 4th) had a slightly larger charge putting me £1.01 over my limit.

I called Vanquis and paid instantly to bring the account back under the limit, but that will take 3 working days to show. I asked if it would affect me getting the increase on the 6th (as I have kind of budgeted with that in mind for the month) and she said "It can affect it, but nothing showing at the moment to say it will".

Now the payment should clear by Friday at latest, but I am worried that I will now get refused the increase, despite taking action instantly to keep below the limit (which again was due to a slightly higher charge than I accounted for).

Has anyone got any experience of this themselves? Similar situation, did you still get the increase, or was it refused at the 11th hour?

I admit it is a bit stupid to budget on something that hasn't happened yet, but we had a month where car tax, insurance renewals and other things all came at once.

hughie278

Hi bradigor. I once went over the limit by £2 and, like you, acted straight away to bring it back within the limit. I should have got a charge for this as it was over limit for 2-3 days, but they didnt charge me. They knew about it as I found out in an unrelated call a few months later but seemed to be satisfied I had corrected it at once. It wasnt during a credit limit increase, but I hope they do the same for you.

I came here to tell everyone of my credit limit increase experience as many people ask questions then dont post the answers when they have them..
I have had my card for 1 and a half years. Started off with £250 limit, first card since bankruptcy in 2008. Due to a rogue payment in my bank(my fault really) I went over limit in January this year and got two or three charges which took two months to pay off and bring account back into order. They actually discarded some charges for me to help me get back into limit. Shock Horror!! Anyway this August I got the Congratulations letter stating the limit will be increased after 2nd Sep statement. No increase on the 4th so I rang them to check what date and they said it would be applied overnight on the 6th, and usable on the 7th. I just logged in to the account online today, the 5th, and it has been applied already. Not sure if me ringing them sped it up but thats what happened for me.

No need for lectures on using the vanquis card please. Judging people whom you know nothing about is pointless. (Thats for the haters, sorry)

bradigor

Spoke to them, they say it is still showing as pending.

The lad I spoke to said it is all fully automated and cannot be over-ridden. The annoying thing is, that I made the payment first thing Tuesday morning, so if that counts as a working day, then the balance will clear by Thursday, otherwise it will show on Friday.

So there will be a single day in it. Even more annoying is that my online account said statement would be produced on the 2nd and at that time I was in credit on the account. When it produced on the 4th it was taken over by the £1.01.

So annoyed with myself if for the sake or £1.01 and a couple of hours I miss out. I suppose fingers crossed the payment clears in time and counts the Tuesday as a full working day. Or that the system recognises a payment has been made.

He said all I can do is wait for a confirmation text and then to call back on Friday if nothing has shown (basically to confirm rejection).

I wonder if I could raise it further with someone there if need be. I don't even need the full £1000, basically just want to use it to do a food shop to get through to next payday and get some petrol in the car. I was originally going to reject it, but as I said this month had a bulk of extra payments I don't usually have.

Typical

laura_v

I have a Vanquis card and received a letter last month to say I'll be getting an increase after my statement on 4th September. However it didn't say when after my statement. What is everyone's experience of this? Do they tend to increase it quite quickly after the statement date, or does it mean I will get an increase at some point but it could be months? Thanks

TheGenerus1

JoshTine wrote: »

I was accepted for £250 but only pay minimum repayment each month. Is that bad?

Yes it is bad. Lenders may view this as debt stress if you are only paying minimum. Pay at least £1 extra so that the minimum payment marker is removed from your files.

Lenders tend to like to see that you are slowly paying down the balance and not stagnating on minimum payments and not getting anywhere.

Potsdamerplatz

I applied for Vanquis at the weekend and was accepted today. Was pleasantly surprised as my credit history is poor.

Back in 2005 a close member of my family went rogue with my Mastercard and chalked up a £6000 bill over the space of just a couple of months which maxed me out completely.

The next few years were a nightmare as I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I had no intention of paying them back and the bank wouldn't cancel the debt unless I disclosed the relevant information to the police on who had committed fraud with my account. Something I wasn't prepared to do as my parents would never have forgiven me. LOL

Eventually, after several attempts to recoup the money through various debt collection agencies, they gave up and the debt was written off. But my credit history was turned from white to black through no fault of my own. :eek:

So it's nice to have a card with a small £250 limit as it's been frustrating sometimes when US websites like Amazon.com won't accept my Maestro debit card.

Any tips for a newbie on what not to do with it?

(Apart from leave it lying around when a certain family member is around) :rotfl:

custardy

Potsdamerplatz wrote: »

I applied for Vanquis at the weekend and was accepted today. Was pleasantly surprised as my credit history is poor.

Back in 2005 a close member of my family went rogue with my Mastercard and chalked up a £6000 bill over the space of just a couple of months which maxed me out completely.

The next few years were a nightmare as I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I had no intention of paying them back and the bank wouldn't cancel the debt unless I disclosed the relevant information to the police on who had committed fraud with my account. Something I wasn't prepared to do as my parents would never have forgiven me. LOL

Eventually, after several attempts to recoup the money through various debt collection agencies, they gave up and the debt was written off. But my credit history was turned from white to black through no fault of my own. :eek:

So it's nice to have a card with a small £250 limit as it's been frustrating sometimes when US websites like Amazon.com won't accept my Maestro debit card.

Any tips for a newbie on what not to do with it?

(Apart from leave it lying around when a certain family member is around) :rotfl:

So they went unpunished?
nice......

Anthorn

JoshTine wrote: »

I was accepted for £250 but only pay minimum repayment each month. Is that bad?

No, it's not bad. It's a credit card after all and you really only have to make the minimum payment. But it's foolish because you will be paying a lot of interest and probably interest on interest and it will take a long time to pay it off. On the plus side if you're using your full limit and making the payment on time every statement you're likely to get a limit increase.

aimzrabbit

best place for a vanquis is scissors and in the bin

if you cant pay it off everymonth then dont use it

if you get to the "gold customer status" £3K limit and maxed out expect a mimum payment of around £150 a month with about £135 a month interest

the credit limits rise very quickly

ITYIYBMAB

aimzrabbit wrote: »

if you get to the "gold customer status" £3K limit

Do they still do this?

I have a standard Vanquis card and a 3K limit which gets pretty much filled and paid off every month as it is used for expenses. My experience is that my limit has increased rapidly, don't know if that is because I have maxed the card every month and paid in full (in the early days sometimes twice a month!).