CREDIT LIMIT FOR BT CARDS

struggledebt1

Hi.
I'm trying to find a  0% BT card to transfer a balance from my 2  existing cards as the 0% has run out and I'm being charged eye watering interest.
The problem I have is that I cannot find a card with a high enough credit limit. How can you check what credit limit you will get without actually applying, and impacting your credit score?
I've used the MSE eligibility checker and only 2 cards have come up, both with 10% chance of acceptance. I know its probably because I'm at the maximum credit I'm good for, but as soon as the balance transfer is made I will close one of the cards. Obviously the lenders dont know this.
I've never missed a payment.
Any suggestions please?

surreysaver

You can't. Some might give you an idea, but that's it. I've found when applying for new cards, they tend to offer a limit of round about what my current cards are

Ebe_Scrooge

As above, you can never know for certain until your application has been accepted and they're run your data through their algorithms.  Several cards will give you an indicative figure, which tends to be slightly more accurate than that provided by 3rd-party eligibility checkers, but even that cannot be guaranteed.

Ignore your score as it's not used, nor even seen, by any lender - they work purely from the data contained in your credit file.

If you apply for a card and are accepted, then transfer what you can.  Any amount that you can shift to 0% will save you money.  In this scenario, pay the minimum to the 0% card each month, and as much as you possibly can to the interest-bearing card.  On an "ordinary" card, paying only the minimum can be a red flag, as it suggests that you're struggling to service your debts.  But 0% cards are flagged as such on your credit file, so lenders will be less concerned by minimum payments, as that's pretty much expected behaviour.

Finally (and without meaning to sound condescending), this illustrates perfectly why, whenever you shift debt, you must always have a plan in place to repay in full by the time the promotional rate expires.  You cannot ever bank on being able to do another BT - and in any case, doing so doesn't address the debt, merely punts it down the road for a few months.

DullGreyGuy

ClearScore will show the "guaranteed" (obviously subject to T&Cs) limit on a few of the providers. From probably close to a dozen applications all have ended up giving the limit they stated, in two cases even though it was higher than the indicative limit offered by the lenders own pre-application check. 

Eye watering interest is what you get to pay if you dont clear the balance before the end of the 0% period... in the current situation it wont be a surprise to anyone that lenders are tightening lending criteria

pecunianonolet

Would check out the Santander 0% interest and fee card for 21 months. They have a soft eligibility checker on their site. I was shown a figure, applied and the limit they gave me was slightly higher.  

Sncjw

If your at the top of your limit it might be a struggle to get the same amount of credit as it's extra credit plus nothing to stop you from adding more debt to the card you already have. 

Get yourself on debt free wanna be and post a soa

[Deleted User]

pecunianonolet said:

Would check out the Santander 0% interest and fee card for 21 months. They have a soft eligibility checker on their site. I was shown a figure, applied and the limit they gave me was slightly higher.  

NatWest do the same in the app (albeit you have to be a customer for the fee free one)