£5k barclaycard and £4.5k sainsbury's - Advice for closing

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

Dear All,

I have tried to research what I can about closing credit cards, but I don't feel I have an answer to my query.

I have two credit cards. £5000 Barclaycard and £4500 Sainsbury's. Neither have a balance and I went through a stage of using my Barclaycard weekly, sometimes clearing the balance immediately, other times the following month.

I fed both my cards to my pair of Huskies the other day. So stage 1, cut the cards up, or in my case chewed to the point of no return.

I'm now contemplating closing both cards on the basis I don't want access to credit cards and i'm trying to live debt free. (mortgage will take a while) I have plenty of disposable income so in my mind I don't need access to credit either.

I've been bankrupt so I have a mental issue with debt, despite my reason for bankruptcy.

I think closing the accounts is the right thing to do. I'm due to remortgage in January. Anyone able to offer their opinion from which I might be able to make a choice?

Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

If you wanted to maximise your remortgage chances, you'd keep at least one and use regularly.

However, if you think you will struggle to control your spending, close them.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

I have other forms of credit, is it really that essential for a mortgage company?

[Deleted User]

As long as you're demonstrating good financial behaviour, it doesn't need to be a credit card.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

That's a good point. It's strange why I'm nervous about closing a line of credit.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

Will the credit card company still report positive monthly data with a zero balance?

20aday

Yes they'd report a 'nil' balance to all three credit agencies.

I can see why you are cautious about debts given your history and there are other means of credit out there that can be reported back to the CRAs but (from a personal opinion) I'd keep one open in case you ever need to spend over £100 for Section 75 protection.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

Thanks for the advice.

The life game of credit balancing

20aday

No problem.

If you spent £X amount each month and repaid in full it would demonstrate to whoever you re-mortgage with you're more than capable of being responsible for your debts too.

Weybridge78

Agree with those saying to keep one open. I would close the Sainsbury's Bank credit card - their online interface is a joke compared to Barclaycard.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

thank you for all the advice.