Credit card -your 'current' Debt/avail credit ratio- Question.?

Danny_G

In advance...Thanks for the time taking to read + answer this question,

Just a question about stating your Total Debt on credit card applications.. which is also on your credit file. Do the credit card companies use your value that you put on your application? - because anybody can write any number cant they?

example:
If you have credit cards + loan totals of £10,000 and from these you have used £4000, so you have £6000 available credit

so you have a debt ration of 40%....with 60% available to use.

Do they ask you for these figures, or what your debt value is on your credit card application?

if so, what if you dont state it too accurately (as i have had some large payments go out recently),,,,so that would affect/change the debt ratios on what they can actually see on my credit reports...then would they reject? saying that my value is inaccurate?.

If i put a wrong figure on my current debt ratio on my application compared to what the credit references show can they reject due to this? or look into it?

and also, i have misplaced some statements, cant find them of some older cards which i havn't used in 3-4 years...so dont know what available credit i have in total....(so just incase i enter the wrong amount on the credit card application)

or if i say to them I have a total balance of say £1000
...they wont look into this value any further on the credit files..as i have stated it?

or do they look into this value in my credit files?

Like i said, please can you give some guidence, and thanks in advance.

SimbaSimon

Danny_G wrote: »

In advance...Thanks for the time taking to read + answer this question,

Just a question about stating your Total Debt on credit card applications.. which is also on your credit file. Do the credit card companies use your value that you put on your application? - because anybody can write any number cant they?

example:
If you have credit cards + loan totals of £10,000 and from these you have used £4000, so you have £6000 available credit

so you have a debt ration of 40%....with 60% available to use.

Do they ask you for these figures, or what your debt value is on your credit card application?

if so, what if you dont state it too accurately (as i have had some large payments go out recently),,,,so that would affect/change the debt ratios on what they can actually see on my credit reports...then would they reject? saying that my value is inaccurate?.

If i put a wrong figure on my current debt ratio on my application compared to what the credit references show can they reject due to this? or look into it?

and also, i have misplaced some statements, cant find them of some older cards which i havn't used in 3-4 years...so dont know what available credit i have in total....(so just incase i enter the wrong amount on the credit card application)

or if i say to them I have a total balance of say £1000
...they wont look into this value any further on the credit files..as i have stated it?

or do they look into this value in my credit files?

Like i said, please can you give some guidence, and thanks in advance.

Yes they do LOOK at these figures but they won't ask you what they are. They will obtain the information from your credit reports so the information should be fairly up to date as each source of credit will report back to one of the credit report companies (equifax/experian/call credit). If your not sure whats your available balances are you should obtain a statutory credit report from the various agencies for about £2 each.

They will sum up your total income (which you will be asked) and cross reference this with a) how much credit you have available, b) how much credit your using of that available amount and c) how well you've look after your credit in the past to give you a yes/no decision and an idea of how much if any credit to provide you with.

Danny_G

SimbaK2K wrote: »

Yes they do LOOK at these figures but they won't ask you what they are. They will obtain the information from your credit reports so the information should be fairly up to date as each source of credit will report back to one of the credit report companies (equifax/experian/call credit). If your not sure whats your available balances are you should obtain a statutory credit report from the various agencies for about £2 each.

They will sum up your total income (which you will be asked) and cross reference this with a) how much credit you have available, b) how much credit your using of that available amount and c) how well you've look after your credit in the past to give you a yes/no decision and an idea of how much if any credit to provide you with.

Do they ask, 'how many other cards' do you currently hold?

if so, what the limits are?


Total income VS credit available VS How much of this you are using...
are there any threshold % they will consider Not giving you credit?

eg, if you have 40% of your TOTAL credit limits in use with you being 40% in debt (you are basically using 40% of your limit)

do they have for eg, 40% as as threashold limit to consider 'not accepting you' as you already have a burden of debt?

(or any other %? - )

Obviously if you were 85% of your limit in debt (85% used) then they will see you are in big debt.

but do they have a rough % figure?

CannyJock

Danny_G wrote: »

Do they ask you for these figures, or what your debt value is on your credit card application?

Like i said, please can you give some guidence, and thanks in advance.

No - why not try some "dummy" applications and see? You can go through an application process online and just close the window before it completes.

Take a look at your own credit report. They'll see what you see with the specific account names removed.

Danny_G

CannyJock wrote: »

No - why not try some "dummy" applications and see? You can go through an application process online and just close the window before it completes.

Take a look at your own credit report. They'll see what you see with the specific account names removed.

specific account names removed? what do you mean?

CannyJock

Danny_G wrote: »

specific account names removed? what do you mean?

They don't see the names of your credit providers, but they see everything else. Look at your credit report and it'll make sense

chattychappy

Not sure if this is the plan, but do bear in mind that if you say something that is not true you could be committing fraud and the attempt could be logged (if they spot it).

Danny_G

chattychappy wrote: »

Not sure if this is the plan, but do bear in mind that if you say something that is not true you could be committing fraud and the attempt could be logged (if they spot it).

Of course that aint the plan, infact i have been going through all my documents all evening...to find any old statements/balances etc.


but again...lets say, if you have 40% of your TOTAL credit limits in use with you being 40% in debt (you are basically using 40% of your limit)

do they have for eg, 40% as as threashold limit to consider 'not accepting you' as you already have a burden of debt?

(or any other %? - )

Obviously if you were 85% of your limit in debt (85% used) then they will see you are in big debt.

but do they have a rough % figure?

chattychappy

I can only tell you in my case I'm at about 40% and it hasn't stopped me getting credit. It's probably higher now than it's ever been, so lower figures haven't been a problem. I suppose the exact formula is a closely guarded secret.

Going out on a limb here, I'd guess the following are serious negatives for standard cards - though none insurmountable:

Fewer than 2 existing credit accounts greater than 6 months old
>75% of credit used
<20% of credit used - though perhaps you just get a low limit
High total outstanding (perhaps greater than £30K)
High total outstanding/declared income (perhaps greater than 0.5)
Low declared income (less than £15K)
Have taken cash advances recently
Only paying minimum balances (depends on cards concerned - only some report)
Not on electoral roll at address given
More than 2 recent searches
More than 1 missed payment
Saying you're self employed or unemployed

Just guesses on my part, I really have no idea. Should get a few others chipping in!

Danny_G

chattychappy wrote: »

I can only tell you in my case I'm at about 40% and it hasn't stopped me getting credit. It's probably higher now than it's ever been, so lower figures haven't been a problem. I suppose the exact formula is a closely guarded secret.

Going out on a limb here, I'd guess the following are serious negatives for standard cards - though none insurmountable:

Fewer than 2 existing credit accounts greater than 6 months old
>75% of credit used
<20% of credit used - though perhaps you just get a low limit
High total outstanding (perhaps greater than £30K)
High total outstanding/declared income (perhaps greater than 0.5)
Low declared income (less than £15K)
Have taken cash advances recently
Only paying minimum balances (depends on cards concerned - only some report)
Not on electoral roll at address given
More than 2 recent searches
More than 1 missed payment
Saying you're self employed or unemployed

Just guesses on my part, I really have no idea. Should get a few others chipping in!

Thanks, thats good stuff...and for some one who things the truth is a closely guarded secret, your answer seems good lol.

Danny_G

chattychappy wrote: »

I can only tell you in my case I'm at about 40% and it hasn't stopped me getting credit. It's probably higher now than it's ever been, so lower figures haven't been a problem. I suppose the exact formula is a closely guarded secret.

Going out on a limb here, I'd guess the following are serious negatives for standard cards - though none insurmountable:

Fewer than 2 existing credit accounts greater than 6 months old
>75% of credit used
<20% of credit used - though perhaps you just get a low limit
High total outstanding (perhaps greater than £30K)
High total outstanding/declared income (perhaps greater than 0.5)
Low declared income (less than £15K)
Have taken cash advances recently
Only paying minimum balances (depends on cards concerned - only some report)
Not on electoral roll at address given
More than 2 recent searches
More than 1 missed payment
Saying you're self employed or unemployed

Just guesses on my part, I really have no idea. Should get a few others chipping in!

can any body else confirm this please?

(credit knowledge experts/ bank workers) - or others please?

thanks in advance