Should I increase my credit limit?

Tia-Lewise

Hello, I'm new here and after some advice. I've had a Capital One card, my first credit card, for a bit over a year, it will be 2 years in May next year. The limit is £200 a month and I've never had any issues with repayments, every payment has been done on time and in full - apart from one which bounced as I was getting paid the next day, but for whatever reason this didn't come up as a debt or a missed payment. My current score is 382 out of 700 according to Clearscore (Equifax), not that I really know what that means.

Anyway, me and my partner want to get a mortgage at some point in the near future and I'm thinking my low credit limit might hinder this - I read as much on the Money Advice Service site. I would love some advice on whether I should apply for an increase or move to a different card altogether. I'm not all that clued up on credit stuff so I really do apologise if I've made myself sound a bit stupid!

[Deleted User]

From a Personal Experience...

Rebuilding your Credit History / Score takes time.

Realistically, 3 - 4 Years from the last Bad / Poor Credit or Missed Payment or Defaulted Account.

There is no such thing as a Quick Fix i'm afraid.

Steer away from applying for too much Credit.


Continue using your Card as normal, ensure no Missed Payments and ask for a Credit Limit Increase Review every 6 Months.


3 Years ago i was struggling to even get a Mobile Contract in my name... and now i have 3 Credit Cards with a total of £20k Limit plus a Car on Finace.


It's a waiting game, but you are doing good so far.

It may also be worth having some other form of Finance / Credit in your name...ie Mobile Contract etc..

Tia-Lewise

Thank you, I'm not sure what you mean by "quick fix" though as I'm only building, not REbuilding.

[Deleted User]

In that case then, building up your Credit Score should hopefully be quicker and lot less hassle free.

Make sure that you are registered on the Electoral Roll aswell, that can make a significant difference too.

Good Luck

Tia-Lewise

I'm on the register made sure to do everything I should

tomxlisa

I am in a similar situation to you, if you have had your credit card that long I would of thought you would of had a increase by now but I guess this is capital one were talking about they can be slow at increasing limits, if there is now bad things on your reports now it shouldn't take that long to build a good credit history up, a year maybe 2, I guess it might help to build it quicker if you have more than one credit account on your reports, also don't take any notice of the score they give you, it isn't gonna make a different between a yes or no, just make sure everything on your reports are paid on time etc and don't apply for too much credit all at once especially if you keep getting rejected, (something I have done myself but regret now).

20aday

Tia-Lewise wrote: »

Hello, I'm new here and after some advice. I've had a Capital One card, my first credit card, for a bit over a year, it will be 2 years in May next year. The limit is £200 a month and I've never had any issues with repayments, every payment has been done on time and in full - apart from one which bounced as I was getting paid the next day, but for whatever reason this didn't come up as a debt or a missed payment. My current score is 382 out of 700 according to Clearscore (Equifax), not that I really know what that means.

Anyway, me and my partner want to get a mortgage at some point in the near future and I'm thinking my low credit limit might hinder this - I read as much on the Money Advice Service site. I would love some advice on whether I should apply for an increase or move to a different card altogether. I'm not all that clued up on credit stuff so I really do apologise if I've made myself sound a bit stupid!

If you looking to apply for a mortgage in later than six months' time you could use the MSE "Soft Search Tool" here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/

Whilst it's not a cast iron guarantee you'd get accepted with another lender in terms of a Credit Card it doesn't go against your credit files as a 'hard search' (which is viewable to potential creditors) so it won't harm you to have a look.

In terms of your Capital One credit card if you do go ahead and apply for another product elsewhere keep the account open for emergency purchases as you'll have nearly two years' worth of positive reporting to your credit files.

It might also be worth your time applying for your £2 stat. report from Experian and your free credit report from Noddle (Callcredit) to make sure everything is correctly marked on your reports.

As tomxlisa points out ignore your credit 'score' as the credit agencies are not lenders and any potential creditors use their own calculations when you apply for a product with them.

mrsammyp

Forget about the credit score, this is irrelevant.

Focus on making sure that you continue to pay the credit card on time and in full, request a higher limit if you are comfortable with managing your finances (as you have been doing).

Set up a direct debit for the minimum payment, just incase in future you do miss a payment by accident.

If you apply for an alternative credit card, keep the capital one as a back up as its presumably your longest history of credit.

Learn from the mistakes we have all made on here. Good luck with the journey to buying your first home.