Egg card Time to cancel ???

Motorisedman_2

Hi,

I have recently purchased a property in need of refurbishment and am looking to raise approximately £30,000-00 to complete the project as cheaply as possible ideally with as much of it as possible on 0% purchase cards.

I have recently applied for and received today an M&S card with 10 months at 0% and a £5,500-00 limit.

I have held for a number of years an Egg credit card (the green one not the Egg money card) with a £13,000-00 limit and currently have no balance on it. They have unfortunately stopped offering me the Anniversary 0% balance transfer rate and my question relates to this card.

I wish to apply for a further 0% purchase card and want to know if by cancelling my Egg card would this realistically increase my chances of obtaining a higher limit on another purchase card. If I was to follow this course how long would you recommend I wait after cancelling before applying for the new card.

Finally is there any value in keeping the Egg card to use the 13K limit to somehow obtain funds at a rate cheaper than current average loan rates.

Many Thanks in advance.

IWantToBeFree_2

£30k on credit to renovate a house? Are you mental? I would do what most sensible people do and only spend what you can afford, especially in the current climate.

Motorisedman_2

Sorry,

Perhaps I should have explained the house was a cash purchase in a run down state which I intend to mortgage when it is completed and the value therefore maximised. The 30K is required to complete the renovation and would be paid off following the property being mortgaged.

But then again maybe I am mental :rotfl:

mark55man

I guess the concern is can you guarantee completing the work and getting the mortgage before the cards run out and you are at 18% interest

Motorisedman_2

I take your point and Yes I am confident it will be completed within the 10 months however if the worst came to the worst it would only require a 30K mortgage to pay off the debt with the property being worth substantially more than that as it stands. I just dont want the hassle of mortgaging now (with all the associated fees) and then re-mortgaging again (more fees) at the end.

never-in-doubt

Motorisedman wrote: »

I take your point and Yes I am confident it will be completed within the 10 months however if the worst came to the worst it would only require a 30K mortgage to pay off the debt with the property being worth substantially more than that as it stands. I just dont want the hassle of mortgaging now (with all the associated fees) and then re-mortgaging again (more fees) at the end.

Valid points - fair play to you for playing the game. In answer to your original question though, yes cancelling this card with such a high available credit limit will help you as banks look at available credit. i.e. they may want to give you a card with 15 grand limit but if they see you have a card with the 13 grand limit, even at 0 balance, you could spend it if you got skint thus reducing the new lenders chances of getting any money back.

Do you follow....?

I'd consider asking egg to offer you a 0% or even close it then reapply for the newer card on a 0%

Virgin and Tesco give high start limits so could be worth a go......

Innocent_Guy

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Valid points - fair play to you for playing the game. In answer to your original question though, yes cancelling this card with such a high available credit limit will help you as banks look at available credit. i.e. they may want to give you a card with 15 grand limit but if they see you have a card with the 13 grand limit, even at 0 balance, you could spend it if you got skint thus reducing the new lenders chances of getting any money back.

Do you follow....?

I'd consider asking egg to offer you a 0% or even close it then reapply for the newer card on a 0%

Virgin and Tesco give high start limits so could be worth a go......

Remember there is a credit crunch and card providers are not offering the limits they used to..... It may be worth asking your own bank for a personal loan?

Also If you close your egg account you may not be able to re apply to them for 6 months

Paulgonnabedebtfree

I have found Egg to be more flexible than most when giving good deals to existing borrowers. I am on a 6.9% LOB deal even though I had been with them for years when they offered it.
Maybe phone them and try a low LOB deal rather than a time limited 0%er ?

Milarky

If I was to follow this course how long would you recommend I wait after cancelling before applying for the new card.

A few months at least - giving time for the 'settled' status to appear on your CR file. These things are updated with the agencies perhaps once a month...