Help!!!! Barclaycard have reduced my credit limit without telling me first!!!

loobylou2

Hi

Hope someone can help with this, Barclaycard have just reduced my credit card limit without telling me. Can they do this and is this legal?? I've been making regular payments of more than the minimum balance because I wanted to clear the outstanding debt but was planning on using my card to hire a car this weekend and now won't be able to do this. I checked my credit limit 2 days ago and it was fine but now they've halved it without telling me and its going to cause a real problem. Any advice/help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

cifpower

Yes they can do this and yes it is legal. Barclaycard have been doing the same thing to a lot of customers it seems.

RobertoMoir

Well I'd suggest ringing them to discuss it and maybe they'll put it back up.

But
- of course they can do this.
- of course it's legal.

They offer you credit, it's up to them how much they offer you.

Andy_Ches

Hmmm...Barclaycard are also doing it alot to their SkyCard customers aswell.

nickro59

Yes it's legal. Lots of banks are doing it to recoup the millions that their employees lost gambling over the last few years, in their search for even bigger profits.The general public suffer because of the banks greed.

Moggles_2

Everyone should have at least one back-up credit card, IMO, especially if you travel away from home frequently.

No credit card is 100% reliable and sadly there's the ever-present possibility of fraud, which means your card could be blocked temporarily through no fault of your own or the provider. What's more, if your lender changes your Ts & Cs or cuts your limit without warning, you have an alternative to hand.

From a credit rating point of view, it makes sense too. Most find it easier to get the credit facilities and terms they want, having operated two credit cards for a bit and built up an unblemished payment history.

SwissLe

Odd, my Barclaycard limit shot through the roof this month. A letter arrived a few days after I saw online.

sarah_smurf

Mine shot up & I never even noticed til my dad spotted it on my statement. Yet oddly my other card, diff company name on card but still managed under barclays was reduced in amount.

dwjohnno81

mine did the same, but i did miss last months payment due to me losing my job!! i had 1700 limit and i have just paid off 1400 now it has been reduce to 450. i just wish they had give me more notice, but as i see it, it is a good thing as i cant rack up another debt i dont need.

bluffer

Barclays and the other cards they run ( but are branded with other names which are quite a few ) are being run through a reassessment program to check if people should get the same or lower credit limits. And yes it is legal.

loobylou2

Thanks for the replies guys, I understand what people are saying and whilst it might well be legal I still think that to change or reduce someones limit without notifying them first is not on. I work in a company where we handle a lot of direct debits and if the amount of payment we are taking from a customer changes we have to give them at least 7 days notice in writing first before we take the payment!!! Seems wrong to me that Barclaycard can just do this and get away with it even though obviously they don't want people running up debts and then being unable to pay. Once I've paid them the outstanding balance on my card I'll be closing my account with them because they've behaved disgracefully as far as I'm concerned and I don't think they deserve my business anymore. God knows I've paid them enough money in interest over the years. Am absolutely furious!!!