Amex Slashed Credit Limits

netwalk

CopperPlate wrote:

I take it these limit reductions are being given the "30 days notice of change" or whatever AMEX is required to give? They're not instant are they?! I'm only thinking about those people who have a balance on their card and pay it off each month, only to find the limit reduced and they're suddenly over the new limit?

No notice has been given at all! I only went online this morning to print off my online statement that was generated yesterday and noticed the slashed limits then. I am in exactly the position you describe in that transactions I made over the weekend but that have not yet appeared online will take me over my reduced £1,800 limit (down from £9,000).

None of this makes sense as while I pay the balance on my Amex Platinum in full each month by DD over the last 12 months my maximum balance has been £4,269 and my minimum £1,133. A limit of just £1,800 with this spending pattern doesn't make sense. (BTW, I don't actually spend that much personally as my work expenses are charged to my Amex Platinum and then reimbursed by my employer.)

Hopefully as exel1966 reckons this is a technical mistake. Otherwise I too will be taking it as an insult and pursing their complaints procedure as far as it will go. Banks cannot be so high handed and arrogant.

CopperPlate_2

That is terrible. Assume that the computers will automatically generate default letters if you breach the "revised" limits. A nightmare in the making :eek:

netwalk

Nothing in the post today from Amex to explain these cuts to my credit limits. I'm working away from home for the rest of this week so if they have written to inform me I won't receive their letter until Friday evening at the earliest. Where do I stand if I continue to use my Amex Platinum over my "revised" credit limit if they have not informed me? I would imagine from the T&Cs of the account they need to give me at least 30 days notice in writing.

2. CREDIT LIMIT We will decide, at our discretion, your Credit Limit from time to time and inform you what it is. We may vary these limits from time to time.

22. VARYING OR TRANSFERRING THIS AGREEMENT 22.1 We may vary any of these Terms and Conditions for any valid reason including those set out in 22.2 below. We will notify you of any variation in writing. We will notify you of most variations at least 30 days before we make the variation. If a variation is to your advantage we will notify you within 30 days of making the variation. We will notify you of any variation of interest rates at least 7 days before we make the variation.

A number of my hotel stays over the next few nights are secured against my Amex Platinum. It will be interesting to see what happens when I check in. Julian

nrsql

Sounds a bit like a mistake but you never know.
Someone needs to give them a call and find out.

netwalk sounds like a good candidate.
If this is correct (and from your description I doubt it) then they will probably give a temporary increase in limit at least until the next statement.

Doesn't make sense that they would reduce the limit below the normal monthly spend for someone who clears their account every month (unless you have some dubious dealings elsewhere).

exel1966

I called AMEX today and they confirmed the worst ! It isn't a mistake. As soon as I started to mention the problem the c/s representative said they had been inundated with calls.
Thousands of accounts are being reviewed and credit limits drastically cut without reason. Prior credit history, payment history, customer loyalty doesn't mean a thing. When questioning the lack of notification the response was that they are perfectly entitled to do it without explanation. It's all within the T&C's though I haven't checked them myself.
I'm furious and the whole situation stinks, so will be lodging a formal written complaint though I'm realistic enough to know this will not reverse the decision.
It seems that being a good loyal customer who has managed my account pefectly has caused this problem. I dread to think what they do with customers who have problems repaying their debts.

If anyone else wishes to write the address is :-

American Express UK
Executive Office
AMEX House
Dept.333
Brighton
BN88 1AH

Maybe a letter to the Head of AMEX UK, James Crotty would be in order too.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

M_Thomson

I just spoke to a guy at Amex, who has told me the same as above, they have taken thousands of calls on this. He said, whilst he notices I have an excellent payment history, that the computer reviews accounts every so often, and that they take into account internal and external factors. He told me that the system Amex use is quite to use his words "Paranoid". He apoligised lots and he said I can complain if I want too. My limit reductions were not as bad as some. I had £7500 on my Amex Platinum and £1200 on my Amex Blue. These have been reduced to £6400 and £500.

xycom1

To beat you all, I had my card cancelled. :laugh:

I recently balance transferred my entire Amex balance to HSBC in September (don't know whether this was a factor) but then a few days ago, received a letter informing me that they were closing my account and that I had to start making repayments to clear it. Luckily I just had my cashback credited this month, have sent them a demand for a IMO unfairly charged £25 overlimit fee and paid off the last remaining £8 balance. Was going to cancel after I got my cashback anyway so looks like they've just saved me the hassle. :laugh:

M_Thomson

xycom1 wrote:

To beat you all, I had my card cancelled. :laugh:

I recently balance transferred my entire Amex balance to HSBC in September (don't know whether this was a factor) but then a few days ago, received a letter informing me that they were closing my account and that I had to start making repayments to clear it. Luckily I just had my cashback credited this month, have sent them a demand for a IMO unfairly charged £25 overlimit fee and paid off the last remaining £8 balance. Was going to cancel after I got my cashback anyway so looks like they've just saved me the hassle. :laugh:

I don't get part of your post. You said I recently transferred my entire amex balance to HSBC, then you say you had a letter saying you must start making payments to clear it?

Bisoy

It looks like people who have perfect credit history are being targeted and probably not those who aren't paying their balance in full monthly.

Having read this forum I checked my Amex Platinum immediately and thankfully my credit limit were unchanged. I would be devastated if it happens to me and would definitely close it straight away. This is also my day to day card apart from shops that don't accept Amex wherein I used Egg money.

xycom1

M_Thomson wrote:

I don't get part of your post. You said I recently transferred my entire amex balance to HSBC, then you say you had a letter saying you must start making payments to clear it?

Yep, I cleared the balance and then got the letter. Which makes it look as though my action of clearing the card out triggered the letter... However it's complicated by the fact that I also sent a letter asking for my overlimit fee back - which I expected would cause them to close the account anyway so it's nothing that I wasn't expecting.