I wanna increase my credit card limit

jelockwood

I am at the time of life to be in the fortunate position of having literally zero debt having paid off my mortgage in full on a £1m plus house and having no other loans or outstanding balances.

I have a reasonably large salary although not mega bucks but I do also have substantial savings.

I am therefore intending to treat myself by buying a very expensive vintage watch. I would like to do this via a credit card to gain consumer credit card protection and due to the fact that this being a vintage watch it is available mostly via specialist websites which of course want a credit card for payment.

Unfortunately despite having 999 out of 999 credit score according to Experian, American Express are only considering my salary and not my mortgage free status nor my savings.

It also seems that even the agencies like Experian themselves do not look at savings or owning a house outright and merely look at debts e.g. current mortgage, or having to pay rent. They seem to purely look at bad aspects and not at good aspects of a persons financial state.

Is there any way to get the credit card companies to look beyond salary and realise I can easily afford to spend the amount of money I want?

[Deleted User]

No. But you can apply elsewhere to cards who may give higher limits.

Your pretend Experian credit score will never be seen by lenders so isn't a factor. It's the lender that make the decision based on their lending criteria.

If you have a solid history of managing several cards well, you should be able to find lenders who will offer decent limits, if you have the income to support it.

If on the other hand you have limited card history, you may struggle.

Nile

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.

I’ve moved your thread from the ‘I wanna’ board to the ‘Credit Cards’ board, where it is better suited.

Regards

Nile

Sncjw

I’m curious in how you can get a mortgage and afford to pay off a £1 million plus house but you can’t get a simple credit card. You say you don’t earn megabucks again I’m curious of the above due to this

[Deleted User]

Savings don’t form a part of credit lending so why would it be any bother to Experian?

If you apparently have such a good history and money lying around just see if the seller will take a part payment by credit card and the rest as cash.

You’ll still be covered by S.75 protection.

Assuming the Amex card is a Credit Card and not a Charge Card?

Also we’re aware of such extravagant posts during the school holiday periods so don’t expect people to take this with 100% of their serious side.

Terry_Towelling

Why would a credit card company consider your lack of mortgage when deciding your credit limit? You can't exactly pay a credit card debt with a house can you? Your lack of mortgage is factored into the equation by the extra disposable income you have as a result of having paid it off.

Anyway just pay a deposit by credit card and the rest out of your substantial savings to get S75 protection - as long as your very expensive vintage watch is not costing over £30K. If it does cost over £30K you don't get any S75 protection and many might consider you to be a bit of a burke.

Exactly how many websites are trying to sell the watch you want? You implied there were several - are they all selling the same watch for the same price?

Finally, take care not to appear too boastful when posting because that is a classic sign of deceit and no one will take you seriously as a result. You learn these things in adulthood.:)

jelockwood

Sncjw wrote: »

I’m curious in how you can get a mortgage and afford to pay off a £1 million plus house but you can’t get a simple credit card. You say you don’t earn megabucks again I’m curious of the above due to this

Actually I currently have two credit cards and I have always paid off the balance in full every single month. Also when I originally bought my house it cost no-where near £1m, its current value is however somewhere north of that.

My problem is that neither credit card would agree to increase the limit to the level I am seeking which admittedly is high but as explained well within my ability to pay - even in a single month.

jelockwood

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Why would a credit card company consider your lack of mortgage when deciding your credit limit? You can't exactly pay a credit card debt with a house can you? Your lack of mortgage is factored into the equation by the extra disposable income you have as a result of having paid it off.

Anyway just pay a deposit by credit card and the rest out of your substantial savings to get S75 protection - as long as your very expensive vintage watch is not costing over £30K. If it does cost over £30K you don't get any S75 protection and many might consider you to be a bit of a burke.

Exactly how many websites are trying to sell the watch you want? You implied there were several - are they all selling the same watch for the same price?

Thank you for your comments. I was presuming they were trying to judge my ability to pay off the amount which having funds available logically should have more relevance than hypothetical future earnings.

The £30K limit in particular you mention is particularly helpful as I was not aware of that. In this case it is below that level. Much above that level I suspect you would mainly have to deal with major auction houses and even if I could afford to go that far I have no interest in doing so.

The different specialist sites generally have different selections although often of similar models and ages depending on availability. Being websites they may or may not have the flexibility to allow payment via more than one method - hence a preference to do it all on a single card.

[Deleted User]

Do they not offer a telephone sales line you can call?

PixelPound

What limit have they given and what is the watch costing?

If these vintage watches are only available on some specialist sites and they offer limited payment options, I would be very wary.

How do you know you are not greatly overpaying - several specialist websites could all be linked to the same company or related companies so judging the price on these might not be best.
Are the websites overseas, you get many sites selling supposed genuine items that turn out to be fakes.

chattychappy

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Finally, take care not to appear too boastful when posting because that is a classic sign of deceit and no one will take you seriously as a result. You learn these things in adulthood.:)

Wow! His post didn't appear that way to me.

I sympathise with the OP's position entirely. A lot of people are "of a certain age" and are in this situation. My mother is an example - she bought a house which stretched her 40 years ago following a divorce. Mortgage paid off in the 1990s so she started saving. House now worth around £500K. She is self-employed and working less now. So she has plenty of savings, a valuable house, little credit history and a modest income. Except for the mortgage many years ago, she has never borrowed much.

To me she is a safe bet: good savings, valuable property, steady income, decades of meeting liabilities on time and prudent management. She would expect to get good credit, but doesn't of course. Most of what normal people see as relevant information (as opposed to people on here) doesn't get considered. That's not because it's not relevant, it's just the history of how regulation has developed.