How much is your highest limit on your credit cards?

Candyapple

What a random thread.

How much is your highest limit on your credit cards is like asking how long is a piece of string.

All the posts are irrelevant because just stating e.g. my highest credit is £10k and leaving it at that is pointless. What is that limit in relation to your salary? To your debt to credit ratio? Is that the limit you first received when you took out the card or has it been increased gradually/merged with other limits over x-amount of years? Was the card issued before the recession when credit was freely given? And so on and so on.

There’s no point being impressed if someone has a £10k limit on one card which they took out 10 years ago when they were earning a higher salary and had no debts but now they are unemployed and up to their eyeballs in debt and if applied for the same card probably wouldn’t get it in the first place or be offered a miniscule limit.

In the UK we don’t have a universal credit score. It is based on factors not limited to such as how long you have lived at your address, your employment and salary details, past credit history and if you repay on time, length of time with companies etc. Each lender has their own criteria and just because you may earn £50k per annum, it doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a high limit on a certain card you are applying for, you may even be declined depending on what is showing on your credit files because you may have no credit history in the UK, not been on the electoral roll for long enough, no details of past repayment etc.

fred246

I've applied for loads of cards over the years. I have never paid any interest or other charge. Go for 0% purchase and pay it off just before the end. I find the credit limits totally random. I've asked for limits to be increased when I have got to the max through normal spending. They seem to refuse this. Just easier to get another card. Max £20K Fluid MBNA. Just had £5k off Lloyds. Random number generator. There's no logic that I've spotted.

Deru

My highest card limit is £5000 on my Amex cashback card. Other cards 1K-2.5K.

Lowest is about £500 from a Vanquis credit builder card so it also depends on card type.

Salary around 23K PA but only one missed payment but otherwise always pay on time, in full.

Mags_cat

The first card I had was a Lloyds Bank MasterCard. I'd never had a card at all until I was 40 years old, but I applied for that one as a back up for a long holiday across Russia, just in case of emergencies. That one had a limit of one month's take home pay. They offered me four times that amount as a starting limit but I only wanted it as a back, up, so asked just for one month's salary.

I hardly used the card (never paid any interest on it, either) and moved accounts about a year afterwards.

Now I have a Nationwide Visa card which in combination with their Flex account gives me both debit card cash withdrawals and credit card purchases with no fees when I'm abroad. I travel quite regularly, so for me the packaged account is worth the £10/month for that and the added insurances.

My limit now is 1.3 times monthly take home salary - it was what they offered when I applied and it was more than enough. It's also a cash back card, so I buy *everything* on it and pay it back straight away. Still haven't paid any interest �� And currently in line for a £70 payout in December.

planteria

i understand Candyapple's point, but i've found it interesting/useful over the years to understand the experiences of others re. CLs.

once i got Barclaycard playing ball they came alongside MBNA as being the best two providers to 'work with' as a stoozer. suggested that the third way to go is RBS-stable, with whom i've had a variety. stuck on £2,400 with a Mint card for a long time, and then they offered me £9,700 straight off on a NatWest card.

whereas Co-op Bank, Post Office, Sainsbury's Bank all seem to be far more cautious. as are Amex, ime, and that of others, but worthwhile as spending cards as the benefits and CS are second to none.

Nasqueron

planteria wrote: »

that was generous from Amex!!
i have always found Sainsbury's Bank to be similarly cautous..
"a BT for a purchase".. you don't mean that? an interest free period for purchases?

Nah I meant I wanted to buy something expensive and wanted a long period to pay it off and the 0% purchase cards weren't that long (plus I have an old Halifax CC which gives cashback so I could buy it on that and then BT it) - as it was I ended up with a few things added on and BT so my BT card started with about £4k on it, paying it off well over the minimum every month so it should be pretty much cleared at the end. I was in the fortunate position that I have excellent credit (no missed payments, no debt etc) so I could get the 33 month deal with BC and the limit I needed. I suspect when it ends I will close it, leave it a bit and apply for a new one if I need to do another big purchase

Puddylove

I have credit limits of approx £35k in total across 3 cards, with the highest being about £15k.

I have never defaulted on anything in my life - and missed one payment once 20 yrs ago when I was admitted to hospital as an emergency.

Truth is, I'd like to reduce the balances or close them.

P x

slopemaster

My total available credit (across 6 cards) is scarily close to a year's income.
(But all are paid off in full in month.)

cydney65

I bring in £1200 a month. Was in a lot of debt back in 2008 but always paid on time so no defaults. I now have £7000 in credit available, with the highest limit of £3500 which is plenty large enough. I am paying minimum payments on a 0% from HSBC which ends in 2017 which will be cleared just before it ends as I have the money sitting in a 6% savings account.

Halifax are the most generous I have found. If you spend on their card and pay minimum payments they just seem to up your limit. Wonder why

PasturesNew

I've not got a credit card. I've never needed one. I'm from a generation where they were ususual, so I've never needed one, so never got one.

So mine's £0.

I pay cash (on a debit card) for everything. If I've got the money, I buy something; if not, I don't.

It'd be so easy to slip up and miss a payment, or c0ck it up, or something like that.... so I'd be too afraid of getting it wrong to get one that gets paid off every month ....

It just doesn't make sense to me and for the stuff I buy. I don't buy things over £100 more than once a year (max), e.g. I bought a fridge-freezer last year .... so coverage/insurance is not of particular concern. I also never travel, so any free travel insurance is of no use.

Cash .... if you run out, you stop spending. A simple concept that's kept me debt free and worry free. I know that what's mine's mine.