Using your card after it's been cancelled..??

JustAnotherSaver

I want to check whether what i've been told is correct as it sounds a bit stupid to me.

I was told that if you cancel your credit card but you go to use it after it has been cancelled then it basically re-activates it & you can still use it.

Makes me wonder what the point in cancelling is then (if this is true). Or is it just nonsense?

stator

No, I do not think this is correct.
However if you have a pre-authorised recurring payment it will continue until you cancel it and you will continue to receive statements and have to pay them.

phona

It's true that continuous payment authorities will continue and can cause the account to be re-opened. I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to use the card after it was closed.

The point of cancelling it is it appears as settled on your credit report, reducing your available credit; and you don't have the overhead of maintaining the account eg checking statements are 0, getting a new card every few years, having to tell the lender if you move house...

Do what you can to ensure that there are no recurring payments and don't go around trying to spend on closed cards and you can close the account no problem.

bengal-stripe

You might confuse that with a CC being "closed" (for further purchases) to avoid an increase in interest rate. In this case, so I believe, you can still put a purchase through, be it by intention or by accident. If you do so, the new higher interest rate will get activated and will apply to the outstanding balance as a whole.

OIKY

In August I 'Closed' a credit card account with halifax.

Yesterday i tried to apply for a Halfiax Clarity Credit Card and was refused on the basis I already have a Halfiax Credit Card (i dont)

Turns out that Halifax will not let you apply for a new credit card until 6 months after your previous one is closed.

That doesn't answer your question, also it's not entirely true as i found out afterwards. last month I accidentally paid 25 into my closed halifax credit card account (slip of the finger on mobile banking), I got them to refund the money no problem. Anyway it turns out that now I can't apply for a new credit card until 6 months after the date of the balance being £0 regardless of it being 'closed' or not. ie. me accidentally paying in that £25 has renewed the 6 month waiting time.

I guess that doesn't answer the question either, but i thought it was interesting

1882

I cancelled my Sky/Barclaycard some years ago and a couple of months later I was told that my car insurance had been automatically renewed with it when I called to pay for it. I left it at that and ignored their statement, told them I'd cancelled the card and only heard from them once more.


I've had no problem with getting a car loan and new credit cards since.

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks for the information guys. Looks like i was told a story based on a misunderstanding then. True but also not true, depending