Credit rating 861 - need help with credit card limit!!

seabass90

Hi all, i've just completed my first ever credit score check with Experian as i'm thinking about applying for a mortgage. I had 861 which puts me in the 'fair' bracket, just 20 points off 'good.'

There are 3 'negatives' pulling me down according to Experian, 2 of which are related as they refer to the low age of my credit accounts. However, the one I want advice with is this one:

"Your highest credit limit on a single revolving credit account is £750.00 or less".

I signed up for a Lloyds TSB credit card when I was a student but never used it until around 30 months ago; purely because I was told I would not have a good enough rating for a mortgage if I had never had one. I began using it for when I filled up my car with petrol each month. The limit of the card is £750.00. I have never used anywhere near that amount, I think my highest balance was about £40 as I only ever used it to pay petrol and paid it straight back for fear of forgetting to pay my balance each month!

On my Lloyds account there is a section where I can apply to increase my highest limit on my credit card. I'm thinking of doing this to try get rid of that negative about my highest limit being £750.00 or less. Is this the right thing to do? Wanted some advice before I do it!

[Deleted User]

Ask for a higher limit if it will be of use to you.

But don't solely do it to change a fictional number given to you by a company that doesn't lend money, and that no one ever sees.

Just focus on checking that the data is correct.

seabass90

Deleted_User wrote: »

Ask for a higher limit if it will be of use to you.

But don't solely do it to change a fictional number given to you by a company that doesn't lend money, and that no one ever sees.

Just focus on checking that the data is correct.

To be honest, it wouldn't be of any use for me at all as I barely use my card and certainly not for amounts over £100!

molerat

Using the card properly will probably help. Do not repay it as soon as you use it but wait until you get the bill then pay it off or better still set up a direct debit to pay off the full balance automatically.

seabass90

molerat wrote: »

Using the card properly will probably help. Do not repay it as soon as you use it but wait until you get the bill then pay it off or better still set up a direct debit to pay off the full balance automatically.

Thank you. Will make an effort to do this.

I also did a Mortgage Promise with Halifax yesterday online to investigate what sort of money they would lend me. It came back this morning as all fine and that I could lend £95,000. However I'm now worried that by virtue of me doing this this will hit my credit rating too..? Does this count as a 'hypothetical' credit search or something else? Thanks

[Deleted User]

seabass90 wrote: »

It came back this morning as all fine and that I could lend £95,000.

Ouch. 'Borrow'.

It should have said whether it was a soft search or not. A soft search won't have any impact on your credit file.

QuinnG

I had a poor credit rating before I started using my credit card, I use my credit card each month for food shopping and petrol, and have a direct debit set up to pay the full amount off each month, so I don't even have to physically do anything, it just comes out of my current account. I'm now just a few points off excellent, and that's just in the last 6-9 months, so it definitely helps actually spending money, and waiting until your bill comes in, like others have said.