Closing old accounts - good or bad?

PGD

I'm in the process of paying off several credit cards and have my debt firmly under control but over the years i have built up 12 accounts, 8 of which i haven't used for years but i have around £15,000 in unused credit sitting in them.

I have read on the Experian site that closing old accounts is a good idea as it limits the amount of credit you can access, making lenders keener to offer you mortgages because they know you won't go out and run up credit card debt on top of their debt if the accounts are closed.

I have now read (on another site) that closing credit card accounts is a bad thing to do because your credit score will then be dented due to it looking like lots of your credit has been removed and the lender may think there's a bad reason behind this.

I only know who these companies are that i have credit card accounts open with. I have no idea of the account numbers and can only give my address and credit limits on each card to the lender. How do you go about closing an account that you just can't remember any details of, other than those given to you by Experian?

All of this is with the aim to apply for a mortgage in 2013 so i'd like to act now to sort this out. I don't know if this has been covered already, i just don't have time to trawl through the pages sorry but any help on this matter will be welcome.

spikeybunny

I'm sorry that I can't answer your question as I too would like to know the answer to this. I have a catalogue account that I have paid off and the available credit is £3,600! I desparately want to close it but dont know what the best action is to take.:D

Ben8282

How about writing to the company stating your name and address and any other details which Experian provided you with and trust that with a name and address they will be able to locate the account? Or at least give it a try ...

mgarl10024

I'd also like an answer to this.

I get the 'lots of ready credit and you could do a runner' argument, but then I also see the 'has had a credit card for many years with unblemished history' argument.

pheonixrising21

As ben8282 says, write to them, give your name and address (including previous addresses back to the time you started with them). Experian/equifax should also have the last few digits of the account numbers on the report, so that should help too.

Also (in my opinion) having a card sat with zero balance that you never use will not enhance your credit report at all. Other lenders will see the available credit limit, but as you don't use it will not see how good you at paying back. They will be able to see 6 years of history anyway (5 years by the time you apply for the mortgage)

PGD

I tried writing to them but i get no reply from some and others say they can only close accounts if i send full details of the account numbers etc. which seems like a desperate bid to keep the account open on their part.

I did find a way around it though, i rang them up saying i had an account years ago and am keen to spend money on that card. I had a new card through the post within days so i had the account number that i could now close the account with!

DebtFreedom_2

No, that's not right. Call them, and if the call centre can't help, ask to speak with the manager and so forth. If they still won't, why do t you say that you've lost your card and then they'll have to send you a new one anyway. At least you'll have a number then!!