Cancelled Cards & Credit Records

purt

I've had many credit cards, bank accounts and overdraft facilities with various lenders down through the years. Some I have cancelled, some that are still available to me. When I say cancelled, I do mean cancelled as I have written to the lender asking them to close my account and remove the credit facility.

I recently took a look at my credit files with Experian and Equifax. Some credit cards in particular show up as being settled - many of them a number of years back - others show up as being active (because I still use them).

My question is, how does a lender know if you still have access to that card, and can therefore wrack up a debt on it, if it only shows up on your credit record as being settled, but not cancelled?

I'm concerned that, given how many cards I've had down the years, some lenders will look at my credit report in future and see that I have £xxxx of credit at my disposal when, in reality, I have a lot less.

noh

Settled means that the account is closed.