Catalouges and credit cards

angelrach8

Hi, hoping someone may possibly know the answer....

I have held a Littlewoods account for 8 years or so which I opened when my credit history wasn't perfect. At the time I wasn't eligible for any credit cards as I had been a bit silly when I was 18.
My credit limit with Littlewoods has gradually increased to £9600. Always paid on time.

After building a good credit file with both Aqua and BC Initial I now have a couple of prime credit cards (MBNA & Virgin).

I want to either close the Littlewoods account or at least cut my credit limit to around £500/£1000 as I am worried such a high available limit will affect how my current credit cards view me i.e. too much available credit, leading to no increases etc.

If I cut the limit with Littlewoods will this have a negative impact on me?

[Deleted User]

Assuming you're not carrying balances, then no. I would close it altogether and buy regular priced items from elsewhere.

angelrach8

Thanks for the reply. I think I will possibly end up closing it when the outstanding balance is cleared in January.
If I were to keep it open but Lower my credit limit will this be viewed negatively?

grumbler

angelrach8 wrote: »

...
If I were to keep it open but Lower my credit limit will this be viewed negatively?

It depends on other limits, balances and income.

Reducing any limit increases used/available ratio that is believed ideally has to be below 50%.

angelrach8

Hi Grumbler currently have a £31k income with the following limits

Aqua - £2100 limit £0 balance
Barclaycard - £1600 limit £500 balance
MBNA - £3100 limit £900 balance
Virgin - £2000 limit £1500 balance

All balances on 0% longest being with Virgin until October 2017.
No other credit or outgoings.

grumbler

Well, 2.1+1.6+3.1+2.0+9.6=18.4
18.4/31.0=59% - this one is believe to be worth keeping below 50% too.

As (ignoring Littlewoods balance that we don't know) used/available is well below 50% and remains pretty small after reducing Littlewoods limit or cancelling it altogether, we can guess that doing this can have only a positive effect.

Even if your APR is 0% at Littlewoods, don't get fooled by this. AFAIK their prices are much higher than you can find by shopping around.

angelrach8

I know, their prices are ridiculous. It served a purpose when I moved into my first home a good few years ago and didn't have much spare cash.
Luckily now I have the CC's the catalogue no longer serves a purpose.
Balance on it is £200 left from sofas we bought a couple of years ago at 0% which will be paid by January.
Thanks for all the advice, been a great help.