Advice on keeping my credit rating high

ricky43_2

ok guys, I've only just got to the position where I have a favourable credit rating. I obviously want to keep it this way.

I have 4 CC's

Card, Limit, balance, account open for
Vanquis, £3000, £0, 60 months
Luma, £2750, £0, 30 months
Aqua, £1500, £0, 10 months
Barclays 0%BT, £8000, £5200, 1 month

As you can see, I've just BTd all the cards to my BC.

Do I close the others, or keep them and use like £50/month and pay it off?

One of the positives in my report is the length of time I've had my credit accounts.

Can I just lower their limits which will then assumably lower the amount of credit available to me making me a lower risk?

Any suggestions welcome

Thanks!

Ricky

[Deleted User]

I'd suggest just closing one of the sub prime cards. But don't add any more debt to the cards, as your debt to limit ratio could become a little high.

solentsusie

Perhaps close the one with the highest APR?

You also currently have over 15K of available credit, how does that stack up against your income if you want to apply for any further credit in the future?

Also settled accounts with no problems look fine on your file.

ricky43_2

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I just checked my Equifax report and I have a default on there which defaulted on the 31/01/2009.

Will this drop off my report next month?

ricky43_2

solentsusie wrote: »

Perhaps close the one with the highest APR?

You also currently have over 15K of available credit, how does that stack up against your income if you want to apply for any further credit in the future?

Also settled accounts with no problems look fine on your file.

Thanks,

I don't know how it stands up... Is there a calculator? £15k is roughly 25% of my annual salary. That seems high to me. Maybe I should close one.

Tixy

I would definitely close one of the cleared cards, possibly 2.

Keep at least one open for occasional use (paying in full) / for emergencies.