Aqua / Vanquis credit cards

MisterBaxter

Just because Experian are suggesting that your low credit limit on the card you have is a problem you can't be 100% certain that other lenders or credit providers will see it the same way. The problem as I see it with Experian is that they don't know how much you earn whereas lenders will look at income when assessing you for credit. They will also look at the ratio of available credit to used credit, the amount of credit you have available as a ratio of your income, your payment history and probably other factors.

In the same way the CRA's want to sell you your credit score they also like to sell you advice on how to improve your credit worthiness but there are some key factors they don't know and they won't know what the lenders you approach are necessarily looking for.

The common advice seems to be keep your credit utilisation below 50% (don't know where that figure came from), use your card regularly and as a minimum pay to terms but ideally clear in full each month. Don't pay for a CRA subscription, they are a waste of money, just get your £2 statutory report every now and then (at least once a year); it tells you all the important stuff and without the sales pitch.

I had a Vanquis card for 2 years, started at £500 (I think) after 6 months went up to £1200 and never went up again, but I didn't spend that much on it. My wife has an Aqua card, started at £500 and is now up to £5400, since she got a Santander 123 card she has hardly used the Aqua but they still up the limit every 6 months or so. The lenders will judge you by what they know about you and in line with their lending policies.

LplateSaver

Dakent89 wrote: »

I totally agree.
who can plan for car failure though?
Steering racks don't come cheap so ill live with the consequences of a small balance that may or may not have rolled over past a statement date, seeing as no car means no work...

This isn't the reason I'm here though.
my spending habits are totally fine I'm just doing what I can do to help for a mortgage application in the near future.

Thanks

That wasn't what snow tiger was saying, they were saying that if you pay the balance on the cc before the statement is produced then a balance of £0 will be reported to the Credit Reference Agencys and could make it look like you're not using the card.

Dakent89

Mister baXter. Thanks that's pretty useful.

Lplatesave, I understand that and will probably wait until statement date to pay now but my response was mostly in reply to the rest of the comment too

Cheers

David301

just to add to my earlier post, logged onto aqua today to pay my bill and they have jumped my limit from £250 to £900 without any contact.

Dakent89

Ah that's interesting,
I'll keep an eye on that I think

blessed31

Hi all
quite new to the forum and wanted to ask a question.

I got accepted for a vanquis card on 3rd May.. During the phone process I was asked to set up a DD. Do you reckon I should cancel it and would it affect me using the card? Would they block it if I cancel it? The thing is it hasnt arrived yet but been thinking long and hard about it because I wouldnt want them taking more out than what they're supposed to.
Thanks x

blessed31

sorry 5th May I was accepted. X

SnowTiger

blessed31 wrote: »

Hi all
quite new to the forum and wanted to ask a question.

I got accepted for a vanquis card on 3rd May.. During the phone process I was asked to set up a DD. Do you reckon I should cancel it and would it affect me using the card? Would they block it if I cancel it? The thing is it hasnt arrived yet but been thinking long and hard about it because I wouldnt want them taking more out than what they're supposed to.

You can cancel the Direct Debit if you wish.

As for them taking more than they're supposed to; there's the Direct Debit Guarantee if that happens.

Dakent89

We cancelled my.partners dd.
set it.up and they told us when the payment was due by
Never actually took the direct debit nor confirmed a dare making a near miss with a late first payment.

Cancelled it and pay it in full every pay day now which happens just after the statement date

blessed31

Thanks for advice SnowTiger & Dakent89.
I think I'll be cancelling it then and just use my Debit Card to pay any future payments. I dont trust them, especially after all the negative reviews I've seen from other people. 59.9 interest rate with 250 limit. This card will be used for emergencies only!