The Sub Prime Credit Thread - Part V

Zack1

Just brought something for over £400 on my Aqua card... logged in to see how much I had left on the card... £535.... nice of Aqua to up my limit to a grand without me asking!

My ISC has been blocked, I keep emailing them to get them to unblock/reset it (so I could request my own increase), and they never did.... at least now they have done it off their own back I look better for not requesting it, and may have saved myself a search.

I think I got the card last May - had £250 then with an automatic increase to £500 in August and now £1000 in March... doesn't seem to be any pattern to that so I guess it's just as and when they feel like it?

big_Daddy_Dave

woohoo my experian rating has gone from 26 to 158.

still terrible, but im going to try and get the late payments off my file, ask them to do it as a good will gesture or whatever

James129

Experian score is beyond a joke. Its meaningless number that has no bearing on your credit worthiness.

Just to give you some perspective, Experian gave me 959 when I had very little history as I am from states. But still I couldn't get any credit card or current account for that matter of fact despite earning over 30k and been in employment for over a year.

So I had to start with Barclay Initial and Cap progress and after running these cards well, I have managed to get a current account.
Also I have never been on electoral roll either. So filled out a form last month and sent to my council who replied that they will register me from May.

Tesco_Tom

Just thought I would give some feedback and let everyone know how things are going. After applying and being (surprisingly) accepted for Cap One Classic and Aqua cards back in August 2010, I have consistently spent on them and paid off in full every month except for one month where I purposely left a small balance.

Capital one was issued with a £300 limit and is still there.

Aqua was issued with a £450 limit and this month when I logged in, it had been increased to £1050.

I think I will continue with these cards throughout the rest of the year (clearing in full each month), before applying for a prime card.

Zack1

Cap1 are a joke with increases.

Was that Aqua limit increased between the £450 and £1050? Or did it just jump straight up? Hoping they will continue to increase mine - but surely there is a cap on automatic limits, especially as I'm a student and don't earn much (as far as they know anyway).

Tesco_Tom

Zack1 wrote: »

Cap1 are a joke with increases.

Was that Aqua limit increased between the £450 and £1050? Or did it just jump straight up? Hoping they will continue to increase mine - but surely there is a cap on automatic limits, especially as I'm a student and don't earn much (as far as they know anyway).

Straight jump from £450 to £1050 with no request from me ! it seems they issue limit increases based on you payment history

Zack1

Wow that's a good increase.

I've now had a letter from Aqua saying my limit will go up to £700 in 40 days from the date of the letter (30th March). Don't understand that at all as it's 1k already

Rek88

Never posted on here before but would just like some advice. I have had an aqua card for 8 months now as I had no credit history (only a phone contract) so was trying to build some up. I have had an increase in my credit limit which is good but I want to know what to do next? My credit file has all greens but my lack of history has put me off applying for anything better? Should I wait longer to apply for a more mainstream card or apply for another sub-prime card to get even more greens on my file? What is my next step to improve my credit history?

The thread is really useful, found out so much info from you guys.

Zack1

You could try Sygma, if accepted they've been known to give a lot of people a 1k starting limit... but I have an epic £200 from them.

Either way, if you're accepted it will help you build history 8 months may be a little too soon to go looking to the banks for cards. Do you have a bank account at all?

ElkyElky

Good evening everyone.