Barclaycard reduced my credit limit by 97%!

jo5ephedward5

Thank you all for your input, I'm not taking it personally, I don't like the immediate change in the situation without warning, they tell people to plan and manage finances etc, but how can you when they change them without warning?   Keeping a card for bigger purchases or emergencies is sensible, you shouldn't have that facility removed without warning unless something seriously changed, and if it does you should have fair warning and be advised what changed so you can review your circumstances - is that what a responsible lender should do? 

k12479

jo5ephedward5 said:

Thank you all for your input, I'm not taking it personally, I don't like the immediate change in the situation without warning, they tell people to plan and manage finances etc, but how can you when they change them without warning?   Keeping a card for bigger purchases or emergencies is sensible, you shouldn't have that facility removed without warning unless something seriously changed, and if it does you should have fair warning and be advised what changed so you can review your circumstances - is that what a responsible lender should do? 

Yes. The opposite - saying "you have a limit of £xxxx until YYth of August, after which it will be reduced" is likely to result in some customers, particularly those least able to afford it, going and buying things they want while they still can. Those customers will then be complaining it was 'irresponsible' that they were allowed to do that.

Thrugelmir

jo5ephedward5 said:

Thank you all for your input, I'm not taking it personally, I don't like the immediate change in the situation without warning, they tell people to plan and manage finances etc, but how can you when they change them without warning?   Keeping a card for bigger purchases or emergencies is sensible, you shouldn't have that facility removed without warning unless something seriously changed, and if it does you should have fair warning and be advised what changed so you can review your circumstances - is that what a responsible lender should do? 

Do you hold other credit cards? 
A £9,400 limit shouldn't be neccessary for "emergencies". 

jo5ephedward5

Thrugelmir said:

jo5ephedward5 said:

Thank you all for your input, I'm not taking it personally, I don't like the immediate change in the situation without warning, they tell people to plan and manage finances etc, but how can you when they change them without warning?   Keeping a card for bigger purchases or emergencies is sensible, you shouldn't have that facility removed without warning unless something seriously changed, and if it does you should have fair warning and be advised what changed so you can review your circumstances - is that what a responsible lender should do? 

Do you hold other credit cards? 
A £9,400 limit shouldn't be neccessary for "emergencies". 

...I didn't say it was, the limit would be for the bigger purchases where I want the added security you get from buying with a credit card over debit.  £250 limit wouldn't cover most emergencies, if I need a room because I'm stuck somewhere even Travelodge costs in excess of £200 in most cities without pre-booking, last time I needed to be towed and a new tyre it was over £500 by the time it was sorted. 

jo5ephedward5

k12479 said:

jo5ephedward5 said:

Thank you all for your input, I'm not taking it personally, I don't like the immediate change in the situation without warning, they tell people to plan and manage finances etc, but how can you when they change them without warning?   Keeping a card for bigger purchases or emergencies is sensible, you shouldn't have that facility removed without warning unless something seriously changed, and if it does you should have fair warning and be advised what changed so you can review your circumstances - is that what a responsible lender should do? 

Yes. The opposite - saying "you have a limit of £xxxx until YYth of August, after which it will be reduced" is likely to result in some customers, particularly those least able to afford it, going and buying things they want while they still can. Those customers will then be complaining it was 'irresponsible' that they were allowed to do that.

Yeah, I can't argue with that logic. 

Seraphi

Thrugelmir said:

jo5ephedward5 said:

Thank you all for your input, I'm not taking it personally, I don't like the immediate change in the situation without warning, they tell people to plan and manage finances etc, but how can you when they change them without warning?   Keeping a card for bigger purchases or emergencies is sensible, you shouldn't have that facility removed without warning unless something seriously changed, and if it does you should have fair warning and be advised what changed so you can review your circumstances - is that what a responsible lender should do? 

Do you hold other credit cards? 
A £9,400 limit shouldn't be neccessary for "emergencies". 

Depends on the emergency. A colleague has a credit card with a decent limit and lowish APR in the event she needs to fly to India at short notice to look after her elderly parents. She recommended the card to me

Prior to COVID I can't imagine buying a same day plane ticket would have been cheap, and if you are flying out due to ill parents plenty of potential costs at the other end to contend with.

In short - everyone's circumstances are different. A £9,400 limit can absolutely be necessary for emergencies. 

jonesMUFCforever

OP if you are not happy and Barclaycard will not put the limit back to a sensible level - tell them to shove it, and apply for a new card from someone else - after all your credit score which nobody sees is magnificent.

Shakin_Steve

He has told them to shove it, sideways. 

wobblstar

I've had credit cards from both Barclaycard and Halifax with credit limits of around £9500 and £5500 respectively. I used them quite heavily at one point between leaving university for further education and my subsequent job. Unfortunately, while I was still able to maintain regular payments of the minimum payment they deemed my credit limit as being too high for my means as I was only paying off the minimum required payment. They subsequently (both) reduced my limit and continued to reduce my limit to keep me over the 80% threshold. This utterly destroyed my credit rating and after clearing my accounts took several months for my rating to be restored so that I could apply for a mortgage. While my mortgage adviser suggested that the credit score is only a small factor, it still sucked and the practice felt belittling to say the least. Now my credit score is lower than it should be because I stopped using them so I guess it may be time to cut loose - damned if you do and damned if you don't!

bris

With covid still very much hitting people hard in the pocket it's likely they are reducing peoples limits who need access to funds they may never be able to pay back. A broad stroke with no one in particular in mind just limiting their lending due to the current situation.