Is there a need to keep credit cards with £0 balance

rhodevans

Hi All, I am a credit card switcher following my divorce, and I'm paying off credit cards from before the divorce by transferring the balance to 0% transfer cards as and when the time comes. I do not spend on these cards, it is purely to pay off the balance which I am also making overpayments on. My question is, if I close the account of the outgoing credit card, will that ultimately harm my credit rating or am I better to keep the accounts open with a £0 balance. I made the mistake of requesting a lowering of the credit limit once and my credit rating hit the floor.  I apologise if this has been asked numerous times before but I have had a look and not quite found the answer.
Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Deleted User]

Your credit rating isn't important as it's not used by lenders.

But you do need to think about how you appear to lenders. If you already have a reasonable number of well managed accounts, you could afford to close one. However, there is generally no need to unless you have spending control issues.

Sandtree

I fully agree with @Deleted_User comments but would add the other consideration that if you do close them then you may become eligible for new customer benefits/bonuses again in the future (many cards its after 6 months, some its never) whereas you wouldn't be if you keep the account open.... as usual opposing forces that you need to strike your own balance on.

rhodevans

@Deleted_User and Sandtree, thank you so much for taking your time to comment. Sometimes its as you hoped but just needed some advice from others.
Thanks again

born_again

Just remember that to keep checking the accounts you are not using. As unchecked & unmonitored accounts are a higher fraud risk.

The_Fat_Controller

If you do use them again and have previously set up Direct Debits to pay, make sure those DD's have not become dormant.

I got caught out 6 years ago by neither the card provider or my bank advising the DD was dormant, so when I used the card after 14 months of inactivity for £10 the DD was not taken and I had a missed payment on my credit file until a month ago.

Asghar

The_Fat_Controller said:

I got caught out 6 years ago by neither the card provider or my bank advising the DD was dormant, so when I used the card after 14 months of inactivity for £10 the DD was not taken and I had a missed payment on my credit file until a month ago.

Did it state on the statement that the money would be taken by DD?

The_Fat_Controller

@Asghar, yes, no indication at all that the DD had gone dormant.
The DD showed on my bank account as normal too.