Over Limit !! Help!!

Jman123

Hi, this months interest took me £1 over my limit and then i was hit with a £12 charge. I've since made my payment within a few days of the statement date (well before the due date) so it's only been over the limit for a few days... To be honest i'm not bothered about the charge, i'm more concerned about it affecting my credit file. Can anyone shed any light on this and what it means for my credit file? 

Edit - Looks like my provider reports balances on start of the month (for the month before) so potentially if that's the case the over the limit balance shouldn't be reported as such, as the interest added, along with my payment will take me over and back under again in the middle of the month. I'm just concerned if theres a 'marker' that gets reported because i went over the limit. does that makes sense?

bazzyb

It’s difficult to quantify what difference this will make but as a general rule of thumb if it was briefly over the limit and then brought back under it will make minimal impact, compared to being consistently over the limit for example. (Unless you’re applying for some credit right now and your credit report currently shows you being over the limit). 

The bigger issue is that if the interest put you £1 over the limit then it would suggest that your card is pretty much max’d out, and if that is a regular occurrence and you are often using a high percentage of your available credit that will certainly have a negative impact. 

Sandtree

From personal experience, rather than professional knowledge, banks report existing products once per month to the credit agencies and what they report is a snapshot/point in time position. In the past I have made a late payment or gone over the limit but as long as it was all square by the point of the next report then it never made it to the records (or at least not the ones I could see)... this was several years ago though and with improved technology and the whole Open Banking thing its possible things are quicker/more sophisticated these days.

At the end of the day if they report you went over your limit then thats fair enough as its what happened. Clearly you have the card almost maxed out anyway which would already be a point of concern to some lenders if you are considering applying for more credit.

Jman123

Thanks for replying. 
I was just concerned it was going to leave a bad 'mark' on there that will effectively take a long time to 'go away'. 
I could do with asking at what point in the month they report the balance etc. Hopefully it's not within the 4 -5 days I've been over.

yes i'm aware my credit utilisation will be a big negative factor on my file. 

no plays for any new credit applications in the short term thankfully so i have some time to deal with this, this is something i know i need to work on and prioritise. I just don't want anything else negative on my file.     

Malkytheheed

Never ceases to amaze me the people who panic over "scores" and "black marks" yet don't give two hoots about living off maxed out credit cards and being in perpetual debt. 

Priorities people! 

MinuteNoodles

Jman123 said:

Thanks for replying. 
I was just concerned it was going to leave a bad 'mark' on there that will effectively take a long time to 'go away'. 
I could do with asking at what point in the month they report the balance etc. Hopefully it's not within the 4 -5 days I've been over.

yes i'm aware my credit utilisation will be a big negative factor on my file. 

no plays for any new credit applications in the short term thankfully so i have some time to deal with this, this is something i know i need to work on and prioritise. I just don't want anything else negative on my file.     

Your credit record is the least of your problems. You're in debt crisis, you need to be posting on the debt free wannabe board, not here or the loans or credit record boards. The last thing you need is the ability to borrow more money.
You don't have "some time" to deal with this, this needs to be dealt with now. It's the "this is something I know I need to work on and prioritise" pontification month after month after month which has got you to the point you're at now. Rice and beans, beans and rice, sell stuff which you've bought and not used for several months or more. Use the money saved and generated to pay down the debt.

sourcrates

Why not pop over to the DFW board, we may be able to help you better budget your finances so the need for credit diminishes over time, and you can learn to live within your means.

D3xt3r5L4b

Well one would hope it would be reported as going over limit, therefore giving a factual representation of activity. 

cymruchris

As much as the OP might be needing to focus on getting the debt down - nobody has asked how it got there - there's a possibility that the credit limit was £1000 and the OP had a balance of £102 - and then went out and bought a TV for £899 taking them over the limit by a £1 - we shouldn't jump to conclusions  

I pay my cards off in full every month - but recently one of my cards went over-limit by £22 as I'd made a few purchases around the time a contracted payment was taken - but spotted it and paid it off the same day (along with the outstanding balance) - and nothing untoward was recorded on my files. If you've got your balance back under limit before reporting date, you should be fine. 

northwalesd

cymruchris said:

As much as the OP might be needing to focus on getting the debt down - nobody has asked how it got there - there's a possibility that the credit limit was £1000 and the OP had a balance of £102 - and then went out and bought a TV for £899 taking them over the limit by a £1 - we shouldn't jump to conclusions   

The OP told us it was the intererest that took it overlimit. I'm pretty sure they would have indicated if a large purchase contributed to that.

Jman123 said:

Hi, this months interest took me £1 over my limit and then i was hit with a £12 charge.