what happens to old credit card accounts not used??

happyhero

My wife has an old credit card (GE Capital Bank) not used since 2001 and I have had the old statements etc on my desk for ages wondering what to do with this old rubbish, whether to keep it for a while for some reason I can't think of or dispose of etc.

What happens to an unused credit card account, is there a time when they close it or does it stay open indefinitely?

Shes doesn't really want to get her credit report and then cancel the service after a month if she can avoid it, but she will if she has to, we would just like to know that the account is closed.

Any ideas on unused accounts, any help appreciated.

happy_bunny_2

Try looking on a Noddle, searches call credit for free.

Have you moved in that time?

Sometimes they close dormant accounts as they cost money to run, but you should have got a letter I would have thought.

Nebulous2

I have an account that was in credit by 41p. The company was taken over by another and they said unless I confirmed in writing that I wanted to continue they would cancel the account. I ignored it, thinking it would go away, which seemed a simple way to get rid of it. They have kept sending me a statement every month however, I'm assuming because of the 41p.

Nebulous2

Well spurred on by this thread, I received my statement today and phoned up to cancel. The statement said credit limit of £11,000 with a positive balance of 41p. After going through all the ID checking stuff the woman said I haven't had a card since 2009 and they only kept sending statements because of the 41p. She offered to donate the 41p to charity, said that I'll get three more statements with a zero balance, and then they will stop.