When and What to apply for? Advice from those who've been there

Simon7685

Hi guys

So my situation is as follows;
Been with Halifax for 4 years, in July 2011 they approved me for a current account, which I now have. I have an overdraft facility on that account for £100 (which I asked for) although I have never used it and hopefully won't but if I screw my accounts or forget about something it's a buffer, I also have a cheque book on the account. I recently called into the bank and saw that on the screen it said that I had a maximum od available of £1000 (SCARY).

I also have a Vanquis Granite for 6 months and a limit of £250,
Aqua Card for 6 months they have just increased my limit to £500
and a Capital One Classic with a limit of £200, which I have had for 4 months. I spend on each card every month and clear in full when I receive the statement without fail.

I have no CCJ's against me anymore but one default which is 5 years old, that is the only negative on my credit report. I would like
ditch the Granite card because they have me on a 59.9% APR & 69.9% for cash withdrawals. Now although I always clear in full, so the APR doesn't really matter, if I ever was in a situation of needing to carry a balance, I don't want to pay their APR's.

So I was wondering what would be the best mainstream card for me to apply for and should I wait a bit longer before doing it and allow all my green ticks to build up further???

I had thought about trying for one from the Halifax as it is my own bank.

Any advice on what to go for and when would be appreciated.

Thanks

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Simon7685 wrote: »

I had thought about trying for one from the Halifax as it is my own bank.

Good move. They know you better than anyone else.

Just remember that if you ever did get into financial trouble (not saying that you would) Halifax could raid your current account to offset the credit card bill.

skintdad

If default is more than 5 years old then Barclaycard has a couple of cards than are possible for you. I've got 5 year old CCJ and got their gold card 19.9%. Orange card is 18.9% and says for those with fair credit history in summary box (same as gold and initial). Customer service poor tho and Indian call centre

Simon7685

I decided to have a go for the Halifax Clarity card, unfortunately it turned me down but it did say that it was only because my payment history didn't meet their criteria. This is what it said;

Thank you for applying for one of our credit cards. We’ve carefully considered your application, but unfortunately it’s not been successful on this occasion.
When we first get an application, it’s reviewed using both credit scoring techniques and a credit search. This helps us work out whether an applicant is suitable for unsecured credit. The search also lets us view someone’s previous payment history on their other finance agreements. If the payment history doesn’t meet our criteria, we have to turn down the application. As this is what’s happened in your case, we can’t offer you a credit card right now.

So maybe the positive thing to take out of this is if I keep doing what I am doing and letting the green ticks keep building on my credit file, maybe in another 6 months I might get a different answer. I guess it was just a bit to early to apply which I thought it might be.