Cancelling Credit - good or bad for credit score?

fruitybeetle

I have two credit cards - one I use all the time and pay off every month (barclaycard cashback) and one that I have had for years (MBNA platinum) which I virtually NEVER use - it has a £6000 limit. I got it years ago to get a [naff] free gift and I just never cancelled it.

In terms of credit score, is it better for me to keep the card and show "low credit utilisation" (ie: I can have cards and not max them out) or should I cancel the card, as I have heard it can negatively affect credit score to have available credit (because it's almost seen as a loan in itself anyway up to the maximum amount, and would affect the amount I could get for a large loan I really need).

I'm asking in terms of the implications on potentially getting a large loan (re-mortgage) sometime soon - I've seen different advice on this and it's completely contradictory.

PNPSUKNET

I have read about this for sometime, to be honest I think too much is too bad and closed are better as it showed you stuck to the agreement. Who knows

infinitym4ge

as far as i am aware, having too much credit at your disposal goes against your credit score so if anything it would only improve your rating.

CannyJock

It'll have some affect, but how significant is hard to say. From what I'm seeing, total credit is more significant than % credit used. If you don't need the card as a spare, then might as well cancel it.

It can take up to 2 months for the card to show as settled with the CRA's.