HELP NEEDED! Is applying for 2 credit cards helpful or damaging to credit rating?

wyebird1912

I recently got laser eye surgery and planned to pay this off with credit cards only to avoid interest as Optical Express only offer 10 months interest free. (and 11% on £4000 is no small amount!)

So I thought about getting a credit card with 0% on new payments for longer to bring down my monthly payments. I have done all the sums and know I can pay these off easily, won't fall behind on payments etc. as I don't want to put a bad mark on my credit rating.

Does anyone know if applying for 2 credit cards be harmful or will it be fine as long as I keep up with monthly payments as planned? I'm trying to be careful as well as my mortgage is up for renewal in October so do not want this to be affected.

I have been doing research but seem to be getting 2 conclusions: 1) applying too much is bad (does 2 credit cards count as bad?)
2) If payments are kept up then it would be useful

What I've done so far:
1) Asked my bank (Halifax) about what they have on offer. Before I knew it they told me I can't offer one (presumably because my mortgage with them is getting switched to remove my ex-partner) so I assume they put a mark on my credit rating when I was only asking what products they have, not applying yet! GRR :mad:

2)applied with Yorkshire but then it turned out you can't have a card if you don't have a branch near you (no one told me this when I first applied!) so I had to cancel this application, presumably leaving a mark again!!! So once more: :mad: why can these people not let you know what to do??

3) With the first 2 attempts being a waste of time (only 1 of which was meant to be an attempt thanks to the silly woman in Halifax) and most likely leaving a mark (although I'm not sure about the Halifax one!), I successfully applied with with Tesco and waiting for my card to come in the post.

So do I do a step 4 at this point for a 2nd card or not??

Anyone able to make it clearer or offer advice? It's all so complicated!

Sorry for the long winded explanation, thanks to anyone who has made it to this paragraph! :beer:

stator

Every credit search has a small negative effect but although they usually stay on your report for 12 months, in 6 months the effect will be so small that it won't matter.

I'm confused, you've been accepted for Tesco, is that a 0% card? Why do you want another one on top?

Also when applying for a mortgage I wouldn't want more than 2 active credit cards. Any you do have should be paid on time. If the credit limits are very high they might count against you, so make sure they are no more than you think you need.

jamesd

What you're considering is not bad and should not affect a remortgage significantly. There will be some affect on the remortgage for two reasons:

1. a small and negligible effect from the two applications that will be at least six months old by then.
2. the credit card balance. This will reduce the amount that affordability calculations will let you borrow.

To minimise the effects what could be done is using the Optical Express credit for 10 months interest free then after the remortgage getting a 0% for spending card and putting all possible spending on that card, paying off the Optical Express loan with the money you're not pending from cash because its' going on the card.

I also wonder why you want another card now you have the Tesco one.

wyebird1912

Sorry, putting in figures may have helped your confusion.

The eye surgery was just over £4000, I put down £1000 as a deposit, so have just over £3000 to pay off. Using only optical express this would be £322 per month for 10 months so want the credit cards so that the payments would be less per month but still at interest free.

As they are only giving £1200 this would mean I need 2 cards to pay off most of the £3000 still to pay

Thanks for the advice though!

stator

You may struggle to get another one. A lot of recent searches will make them think you are desperate for credit. Each bank will calculate your total maximum credit, so the £1200 CC from Tesco will count against you if you apply for another. But you might be successful, you never know. To maximise your chances pick a bank you have another account and possitive history with.

jamesd

A 0% for spending card should do what you need. The money you spend on the card will reduce your outgoings and that money can be used to cover the monthly payments on the Optical Express credit. The 0% deal will probably be longer so that'll give you more time to pay off the card part once the OE part is done.

Nebulous2

How do you know they are only giving £1200? This is often used as an indicative figure in illustrations. It may not relate to the amount you actually get.

Have they definitely told you your limit is £1200?

wyebird1912

Nebulous2 wrote: »

How do you know they are only giving £1200? This is often used as an indicative figure in illustrations. It may not relate to the amount you actually get.

Have they definitely told you your limit is £1200?

Yes, I can't get more from Tesco, so assuming it will be like this at other places

Nebulous2

wyebird1912 wrote: »

Yes, I can't get more from Tesco, so assuming it will be like this at other places

Not necessarily. Some companies give bigger limits than others. MBNA are often quoted as one of the better ones for giving bigger limits.

jamesd

How much you get varies a lot. Some places will also increase your limit just after giving you the card if you phone and ask. Some won't. No harm in asking.

Middlestitch

If you've not yet done so, have a look at https://creditcards.moneysavingexpert.com/

Also worth reading: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-2087839/Soft-checks-loans-credit-cards-Avoid-damaging-credit-score.html