0% offer ending on high credit limit card

Joshtk

Hi all, 22 year old here, had credit cards since I was 18, no missed payments etc, currently on my second 0% offer credit card which I’ve most definitely taken advantage of. The offer is due to end in March at the end of the 21 month period, and I can pay off the remaining balance very easily, since I’ve managed to increase this cards limit from £2000 to £8000 over the period I’ve been using it, which of course is a very nice amount, I won’t be looking to close the account with HSBC, but every credit card I’ve looked into to get another 0% after this one to possibly buy a new car with, tend to say its unlikely I’ll be accept by them, my usage of the HSBC card is also going to go down rapidly after this period ends, as it also did with my first 0% card that I got with M&S bank that lasted for 25 months, but I still have a nice credit limit of £5000 as I try to use it every month for bits and bobs to spread out my money and have usage on all cards I have a good credit limit on. My most recent card I’ve gotten besides this HSBC 0% card is an AMEX platinum cashback card which netted me some sign up bonus as I used a colleagues referral code, and have earned a nice little bit of cash for purchases I would have made anyway, and pay it in full each month, but this card only has £1700 limit on it with no purchase offer or balance transfer. My question is, would it be a possibility to, in the near future when looking at purchasing a car from a dealer, contact HSBC and see about any offers for another 0% period on that £8000 credit limit, that would, of course, avoid me paying any interest like I would on a finance or dealer plan and allow me to take advantage of that hefty credit limit I’ve built myself.

Any additional advice on what I should do with my credit will also be super appreciated as I’m keen to learn more about finance anytime I can

Thanks all

funkycredit

Just a heads-up; you'll find the majority of dealers will only take a small amount (£500-£1000) on credit card. 

I just bought the wife a new car for Xmas from Ford and asked if I could pay with card for the reward points I'd get (£25k on one and rest on another). They politely said no but let me pay £500 by card for the s.75 protection. 

I just paid the rest on my debit card but thought I'd ask. They explained they can't charge a processing fee anymore so just don't accept large credit card payments as the hit is too great. 

MalMonroe

The problem is that most lenders are being very cautious with their lending at the moment. It's all to do with coronavirus. So the high limits are being lowered and it's getting more difficult for people to actually get cards, as you've discovered. In fact, I did a soft search the other day and the first question was - did I expect my income to be adversely affected because of coronavirus. 

Sadly, people are losing their jobs and incomes so naturally lenders don't want to be lending as much. Or as often. 

If you're in the position, as you say, to pay off your balances very easily, I'd probably not bother trying to live on credit for a while. 

As for buying a car, funkycredit's right in that many car dealers won't accept credit card payments because it costs them and they aren't allowed to pass the charge onto customers any more.  

What you could do in this period of great financial uncertainty is just carry on using the cards you've already got and, as Martin Lewis says, make sure you pay them off in full every month. 

[Deleted User]

You can always try an application anyway.
I had 3 cards - Sainsbury's for Nectar points, usually about 25% utilisation over the month (around £500/£2000 limit), a bank one which is maybe 12% utilised in a typical month (around £550 / £5000 limit) and a Barclays BT card which has about £4500 on it, limit I think is about £8000. I had a large bill to pay off in December and my NatWest app said I could try for a BT card so I did and got a £5000+ limit - that's now maybe 80% of my annual pay as available credit, had no issues getting the card, was approved instantly