Closing credit cards/reducing credit limits - an opposite view

Newone_2

i work for finance company, not in underwriting, but i have experienced dealing with the underwriters for decline appeals for new applications...im quite sure the closing and reducing of limits will not have had a negative effect on your recent applications. when looking at an appeal against a delcined application, the underwriters do look at the total exposure to credit (available credit left on credit and storecards and overdrafts if the limit is shown. If a customer has a lot of available access to credit, due to recent tightening of procedures following all the OFT and ICO interest in lending and limits, it is more likely you will be turned down. you need to make sure that the accounts are showing as closed on your file (this can sometimes take a few months to filter through) also, i know it may not appear to be many searches but the number could be causing question over why you need to keep trying for all this credit. mortgage application will still show and this could be a sticking point for them seeing as there is not an active mortgage on your file. i would check the number of searches recorde din last 12 months and try to let this reduce to only one or two before making any more applications. different companies look at number of searches in different ways, they will have differing opnions of when a person looks to be trying for too much credit.

loomysenior

Is it a really bad idea to apply for 2 cards simultaneously (a BT card and a cashback card)? I just applied for a cashback card (Amex) and need another to balance transfer to in the next month.
My last application before that for credit (successful) was 5 months ago.
I have an existing card with a decent life of balance rate (barclaycard 6.9%) which has nothing on it, but which has a poor credit limit of £1000. That was my first credit card - a Barclaycard "Initial" - which was upgraded to a standard type a few months ago.
They told me that I couldn't increase the credit limit on an Initial card because that was the max limit for that type of card, but they could change my card type to a standard BCard without it showing as a new application on my record because the credit limit was the same. I'm guessing that a credit limit increase on an existing card is a better proposition than an application for a new card, it's just that I'm worried that they won't increase the limit.

My available credit is £6200 in total and I'm using £600 (less than 10%) at present. I also have an available overdraft of £1000 which I haven't touched.
My current available credit limit is 17% of my salary.

lisyloo

Is it a really bad idea to apply for 2 cards simultaneously

It's very hard to come up with hard and fast rules because each lender makes their own mind up and has a different policy.

However I wouldn't have said it was a problem unless there were loads of other searches recently.

loomysenior

I was just wondering if there is a rule of thumb about number of simultaneous applications or the length of time to leave in between applications? Do applications show up instantly on a credit record or do they take a few weeks?

Just one other thing - when applying for an Amex Platinum cashback card, is it usual that I didn't find out whether I'd been accepted right away (internet application)? I have to wait until they write to me?

The_Boss

So another experiment from me. I have been with NatWest for 11 years and thought I'd apply for a loan with them as an alternative to credit cards since my long association with them would probably help and I only wanted £6k paid back over 3 years. This was two months ago, and they rejected me. Yet another rejection.My credit payment history is still flawless.

So today I thought I would try to undo some of the damage caused by reducing my limits and closing cards. This was in the form of phoning up and asking for an increase without a credit search. My results are as follows.

First call : MBNA - said they cant do it without a credit search. Bit of a bad start but then

Second call : NatWest - offered me an immediate increase from £3800 to £4700 without a search

Third call : Halifax - offered an increase from £2250 to £3950 without a search

Fourth call : Barclaycard - asked me to name my new limit. I wasnt sure so suggested £2500, an increase of £900, which they said they could do. I could probably have had more.

So based on internal systems, these guys are more than happy. But when it comes to credit searches, something is clearly wrong and I still cant work it out. Recent Equifax and Experian reports show nothing negative, only positive

JollyNolly

That sounds good, but what interest rate are those cards on?

Dylanwing

Jolly Nolly - Not relevant to the thread (Don't get me started on reducing credit card limits!!:mad: ) but I was just wondering something-

£2 coin savers club: £1.49

The_Boss

By the way, apologise for the rubbish formatting above. I did space everything out, but it keeps squishing it together!

My NatWest card is on 2% till September, then back to 17.9%. Halifax is 13.9% MBNA 1.9 till August then 11.9, and Barclaycard is 15.9

JollyNolly

Dylanwing wrote: »

Jolly Nolly - Not relevant to the thread (Don't get me started on reducing credit card limits!!:mad: ) but I was just wondering something-

I think it's relevant insofar as two cards on low interest rates have offered to increase their credit limit. Okay, only for a few months each, but could be worth doing.

Chris2000

JollyNolly wrote: »

I think it's relevant insofar as two cards on low interest rates have offered to increase their credit limit. Okay, only for a few months each, but could be worth doing.

I think you've missed the point of Dylanwing's post...
How can you have £1.49 in the £2 coin savers club???