Exceeded credit limit

ripplyuk

I use my visa for most day to day spending and pay it in full each month. I've exceeded my credit limit this month due to buying Christmas presents on it. I rang up the card company today, as soon as I realised, and the lady said I'd been charged £12 due to this but that she'd remove it for me.

I explained that I am still concerned about it leaving a 'black mark' or something on my credit file. She said it would leave a mark but it wouldn't be a problem as it wasn't like having a default. She said she'd email whoever deals with this and ask them if they are able to remove any mark on my credit file.

I'm still worried about it. I've never had any sort of 'mark' on my credit file in all my life and I'm so annoyed with myself. Is there any chance that the card company will remove this? How long will it stay on my file if they don't?

[Deleted User]

Not a big deal if you don't make a habit of it. It'll stay on your file for 6 years, with a quickly diminishing impact.

National_Debtline

You should ask the bank that if you were able to pay enough to bring the card back within its limit quickly would there still be a mark on your file. The banks will normally report information to the credit agencies at certain points within the month so if you brought the card back within its limit before it was reported to the referencing agencies you may avoid the mark altogether.


Laura
@natdebtline

ripplyuk

I paid the full balance as soon as I realised, so it's back at zero again. But I'm not sure what date they report to the credit reference agencies or if they already have. The lady said she'd ring me back before Friday so I'll ask her then. I'm really hoping they'll agree not to leave a mark on my file. I don't like the thought of having this on my file for 6 years. I've been using this card for 14 years without the slightest problem and it seems a bit harsh for one mistake.

JimmyTheWig

ripplyuk wrote: »

I paid the full balance as soon as I realised, so it's back at zero again. But I'm not sure what date they report to the credit reference agencies or if they already have. The lady said she'd ring me back before Friday so I'll ask her then. I'm really hoping they'll agree not to leave a mark on my file. I don't like the thought of having this on my file for 6 years. I've been using this card for 14 years without the slightest problem and it seems a bit harsh for one mistake.

To be fair, for one mistake you get one black mark.
Hard to argue against that.

For another credit company to decline you based on that one black mark (one mistake) would be harsh. Hopefully they won't. In which case that one mistake won't have cost you.
If you do get declined for anything in the next six years you'll never be able to know if it was this black mark or not. But I would have guessed that if it is due to this then you must have been close to the edge of their criteria anyway.

Incidentally, (other than going over the limit in the first place!) you've done everything right.

SnowTiger

Is it recorded by CRAs if a credit limit breach happens between statement dates?

ripplyuk

No one rang me back so I rang myself this evening. The lady said that they report to the credit reference agencies at the end of each month and since I've paid the full balance, there would be no 'black mark' sent to them.

I'm very relieved but I think I'll order my credit report from all 3 companies next month, just to be sure!

Superscrooge

Deleted_User wrote: »

Not a big deal if you don't make a habit of it. It'll stay on your file for 6 years, with a quickly diminishing impact.

I agree. From personal experience it is unlikely to make any difference as long as you don't make a habit of it.

I did something similar about 15 - 20 years ago. It was back in the days when your credit card statement was sent by post and you either put a cheque in the envelope or paid the bill by cash/cheque at your bank.

I had an expensive month on my credit card. Car repairs. New washing machine, on top of all the usual credit card spending which took me close to my credit limit. Received my statement in the post, Wrote a cheque for the full balance and posted it. Then continued my usual credit card spending.

What I hadn't realised until I got the following months statement was that it would take at least a week for the cheque to be received and credited to my account and therefore in the meantime I had exceeded my credit limit.

Didn't think any more about it. Just made sure I allowed time for cheques to clear and never exceeded the balance again.

Five years later there was one of these free offers to check your credit file. Never having done it before I sent off for my credit file and was surprised to see a brief entry along the lines of;

March 1997 (or whatever year it was I can't remember) - Exceeded Credit limit

Everything else about the credit file was fine.

I had been completely unaware of this entry, but during those five years I had opened bank accounts, always been accepted for any credit card deals. had no problems getting interest free deals with shops, catalogues etc. Credit card companies were always increasing my credit limit. In other words it had absolutely no effect on my life at all.

So even if there is an entry on your file I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't make a habit of it and you have a good credit history, it is unlikely to have any effect.

YorkshireBoy

ripplyuk wrote: »

I'm very relieved but I think I'll order my credit report from all 3 companies next month, just to be sure!

Don't rush! It's not uncommon for there to be a 2-3 month lag for information to find its way onto your CRA files. Lloyds were notorious for it, with delays often exceeding 3-4 months for my info. I'd probably wait until mid-late February, unless you're desperate to apply for credit before then?

And finally, either grab a free report or a £2 statutory report directly from the agency. Do not opt for a paid for subscription, premium service, or collated summary (and substantially 'thinned') report from the likes of checkmyfile etc.