Accept new credit limit?

chelseablue

I had a letter at the weekend from Lloyds saying they are going to increase the limit on my credit card from £4,500 to £9,500.

I don't actually use the card as I got it for the long 0% balance transfer offer.

I am going on holiday in December to Australia so am planning on applying for the Halifax clarity card in October or November.

Would having a lot of available credit hinder an application? Not sure whether to accept the increase or not

Lloyds isn't the only card I have

[Deleted User]

The answer, as always, is 'it depends'.

Neither your current nor new limit is particularly high - but if you have another 30k of limits and a low income, it could count against you in terms of getting further credit.

Consider what other cards, debts and limits you have and then decide the best course of action.

eskbanker

Why not just apply for the Clarity now?

chelseablue

eskbanker wrote: »

Why not just apply for the Clarity now?

Because I've only just applied for a new card last month with Virgin, so wasn't sure if another application close together would make them say no

chelseablue

Deleted_User wrote: »

The answer, as always, is 'it depends'.

Neither your current nor new limit is particularly high - but if you have another 30k of limits and a low income, it could count against you in terms of getting further credit.

Consider what other cards, debts and limits you have and then decide the best course of action.

My salary is £36,500

I have the following cards:

Barclaycard (Balance is £0 and limit is £13,000, I could lower this if necessary)

Lloyds (Balance is £3,900 and limit is currently £4,500 until 11 September when it'll then be £9,500)

Virgin (Balance is £10,500 and limit is £10,900. Got this in July and moved all card debt and car loan onto it. Its 0% for 30 months)

Craig1981

£28400 limits and 14,400 used. if you lower the barclaycard, your usage would increase, which i believe would count against you

i believe ideally you should be under 50%, which you close to at the moment. i would not lower barclaycard limit, IMO

being accepted would come down to your file history, and utilisation of current credit. any particular reason for the Clarity one? quite a few travel cards out there to compare...have you used the card eligibility checkers on Money Club, Noddle and Clearscore? that may give you some info on the probability of being accepted based on current circumstances

Nasqueron

Given your salary, the available credit is already very high, you could be looking at over 100% of salary available as credit which could result in a less useful credit limit on the clarity if you are accepted. The large debt you have (even on BT) will also count against.

chelseablue

Craig1981 wrote: »

£28400 limits and 14,400 used. if you lower the barclaycard, your usage would increase, which i believe would count against you

i believe ideally you should be under 50%, which you close to at the moment. i would not lower barclaycard limit, IMO

being accepted would come down to your file history, and utilisation of current credit. any particular reason for the Clarity one? quite a few travel cards out there to compare...have you used the card eligibility checkers on Money Club, Noddle and Clearscore? that may give you some info on the probability of being accepted based on current circumstances

I read the article on here and the Clarity seems to be the best one, I did the eligibility checker and it came back with 95% chance of approval.

Credit history is excellent, never missed a payment on anything.

Actually before this year I usually paid everything in full each month, or over a few months max.

earlywormgetsthebird

This poster would take the following view, based on his own experiences. Of course YMMV (e.g., if you are a compulsive spender, then definitely forget what follows):


"It's better to accept the offered credit, which you don't need, than try to look for it, should the day ever come, when you do."

sparkey1

Never reduce your limits. Its an indication of credit risk, it raises your utilisation levels and when it takes you above 30 and 50% utilisation affects your ability to get credit.

You will always struggle to get them back again.

Its a myth that lots of available credit will stop you getting more. Using it to much will, but not using it wont.

Trust me, I have a lot of high limits!

Emily_Joy

chelseablue wrote: »

Because I've only just applied for a new card last month with Virgin, so wasn't sure if another application close together would make them say no

Check all three credit files - it might be the case that your new Virgin Card has not been reported to CRA yet. Then apply for Clarity ASAP. It is generally better in cases like that to apply for cards "in bunches".

Another option would be to negotiate with Barclaycard their Barclaycard Platinum Travel Card. You need to call them and ask if they can swap the card you have for the Platinum one. If you just apply, they are likely to refuse the application as they wouldn't want you to have two of their cards.