Understanding credit card balances

crystal_pixie_2

Sorry for delay in replying.

Jimmy - the limit of the card is £700 - so very close and yes it has had an affect my credit rating because Experian notified as such. I don't take too much notice of the score but as someone who has just come out of a difficult debt situation then I am conscious of trying to keep the rating as clean and as up to date as possible.

If you look at my spending pattern on this card it is between £100 and £300 deliberately paid off each month. This balance was out of this pattern - hence the reason for asking the question. So when you look back over the past 12 months it shows this. Then all of a sudden it goes up to £641 - it was like (what on earth?)

Thanks for all the replies and imputs on this. It did give me the impetus to go and apply for another card (Lloyds was my only credit card I had at the time). I was immediately accepted with a £2k balance. So I have cancelled the card.

crystal_pixie_2

Also - sorry I just thought about this. I think the crux of the problem reading Jimmy's reply is the fact the balance on this card is so low. So technically you could show that you are over your limit even though your aren't at all!

I am hoping that by having another card with a higher limit this should solve this problem.

JimmyTheWig

crystal_pixie wrote: »

I think the crux of the problem reading Jimmy's reply is the fact the balance on this card is so low. So technically you could show that you are over your limit even though your aren't at all!

No, you've not quite understood.
At the point in time before you pay your statement balance in full you will owe them more than any single statement balance will show.
And if that amount is over your credit limit then you will have exceeded your limit and have problems.

For you, as you say, the higher limit should sort it. But it is worth remembering for the future.

WannaBLoaded

I had the same trouble as the OP, when i saw that only 12 pounds had been paid to my cc i thought the direct debit had messed up or something.

I have a 250 limit, pay in full every month. My payments are taken on the 28th of every month and a statement is issued on the 3rd of every month.

So when i only had to pay 12 quid even though i owed 230 it was because from the date of my last payment to the 3rd of october i hadn't used it.

It's complicated the way they work it out, it was for me anyway. They seem to do it in such a way as to confuse people or make them use the card more.

chappers

You really are worrying about nothing, any future lender that looks at your credit report is only going to be interested in your history and whether you have kept up payments on any credit accounts.
When working out affordability 600 odd quid isn't going to make any difference.