Credit Report and Store Cards

davidmaiden18183

Hi All,

After a large financial loss I am trying to make my credit report appear as healthy as possible before applying for a new credit card in order to get the best credit limit.

I have two store accounts with Very and Debenhams. Do the values these allow for spending count to the total available credit on my report?

Is it a good idea to close them as I don't need them i.e. will this be a benefit to my report, or will the fact that two have been closed/settled within weeks of when i apply for a new credit card have a negative effect.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks

davidmaiden18183

anyone able to help?

Tixy

Yes the amount of credit on your store card will be included in your total available credit that a potential lender would consider if you make an application to them.

Whether its a good idea to close them or reduce the limit - there is no set answer, because it would depend on what else you have on your file and also on each lenders internal lending matrix etc.

If they have very large unused limits (eg I had a barely used debenhams account with a £7.5k limit a while back) then I would at the very least reduce the limit, if not close the account.

If these were the only open accounts you had on your file then closing them could be viewed as potentially a negative action.

KxMx

Debenhams let you cut the credit limit online via card management. I've done it twice no problem because they gave me a silly amount of credit!

davidmaiden18183

I have close them anyhow now as need to get it done so it pushes to my credit report for the start of next month.

I still have two 2 active credit cards, one is the first I ever applied for so hopefully ive not done the wrong thing!