Is there a way to get a higher limit?

I_am_a_robot

About 15 years ago our finances were a mess, yet credit card companies increased my limits all the time.

Worked hard to get 100% debt free, even managed to retire early (now we are both sensible with money).

So wanted a credit card, got offered a limit of £1,800 (some were £1,200).  Looked at some posts here, they recomended the credit club to see how I could improve my credit rating, problem is apparently I have a 999 on Expirian so that is not an option.

Relatvely low income, but savings and property.  Strange thing is my disposable income is far more than when I was paying all those interest charges!

Any thoughts?

blue.peter

Forget your credit rating. That's just a meaningless number. Lenders don't use it. They look at your credit history.

You haven't said who's issued your current credit card. From context, I'd guess that it's one of the lesser players in the market, possibly one specialising in what they see as higher risk business. The first thing you might try is to ask them if they'll increase your credit limit. Think about what credit limit you want them to consider: they might ask you how much you're after.

If I'm right about the type of card issuer with whom your current card is, you might try applying for a card from one of the mainstream banks, especially the big five. My experience is that they offer higher credit limits than the niche players. The other odd correlation I've noticed is that Visa cards tend to come with higher credit limits than MasterCards. (I've been using credit cards for about 45 years, and have had a wide variety of them from a range of issuers. My Visa credit limits have consistently been about 30% higher than the MasterCard ones. Having said that, the highest limit I ever had was from American Express, though that one started quite low.)

MorningcoffeeIV

I_am_a_robot said:

 Looked at some posts here, they recomended the credit club to see how I could improve my credit rating, problem is apparently I have a 999 on Expirian so that is not an option.

They don't mean the pretend CRA credit rating - but whether there is anything on your files that you should address or could improve.

Check all three of your files to see what appears. It may imply be your low income. Savings aren't considered.

born_again

I_am_a_robot said:

About 15 years ago our finances were a mess, yet credit card companies increased my limits all the time.

Worked hard to get 100% debt free, even managed to retire early (now we are both sensible with money).

So wanted a credit card, got offered a limit of £1,800 (some were £1,200).  Looked at some posts here, they recomended the credit club to see how I could improve my credit rating, problem is apparently I have a 999 on Expirian so that is not an option.

Relatvely low income, but savings and property.  Strange thing is my disposable income is far more than when I was paying all those interest charges!

Any thoughts?

A lot of people got caught out in 2020 with debt. Lenders are a lot more careful lending now. Especially with higer interest rates.

So your income to available credit you already have is a bit driving factor.
Saving & property are not taken into consideration.

Brie

I'd say don't bother with Barclaycard as they are tighter than the tightest of tight things. 

Are you saying that you have no line of credit anywhere?  No cards, no overdraft, no loan/mortgage/phone contract/car insurance paid monthly?  If you don't have any of those that might scare them.  If you do have some or all of those they may still be scared given your more distance credit history.  Age may also be a factor now or your source of income as it's all pension/savings rather than employment.

MrFrugalFever

Couple of things to consider here, firstly, why do you want/need a larger limit?

Why would you want to increase a limit on your current CC? Does it provide you with any meaningful benefit?

In my experience, American Express provides the largest credit limit (in recent times) prior to 2016, Barclaycard have been very accommodating.

Since COVID-19 nonsense lenders have tightened up ALOT and I think access to credit is harder for people as there's more data available for lenders to review, influencing their decisions on how much and who to lend to.

Check some of the big high street banks using their eligibility checkers, they'll normally give you an indicative credit limit too. You need to understand what you want to use the CC for, that way you can target the right lender to ensure you benefit appropriately.

prettyandfluffy

Seconding the suggestion above for Amex but be aware that their interest rates are high so make sure you pay it off in full every month.

lr1277

You need to know exactly why you want the higher credit limit especially if considering Amex.

Two things I have learnt from these boards:

1) Amex isn't accepted everywhere. If you are going to use your credit limit for spending, ensure the places you want to spend at accept Amex.

2) If you are going to put spending on Amex then Balance Transfer it off the Amex card, not all other cards will balance transfer from Amex to their own card. Do your own research.There are examples on these forums, thought I can't remember under which categories.

One thing I think I learned from the Head for points board:

3) Amex if they accept you, can be very generous with their limit. But this means your total available credit will go up much more than say if you got a Visa or Mastercard. Which may make you ineligible for further credit cards unless you reduce your available credit.

I_am_a_robot

Current address 5 years, previous 20 years.  Mortgage paid off about 10 years ago (bought current house cash, did it up moved in then sold the previous one).

No late payments or county court judgements.  Cheap sim only phone, with bank about 15 years, credit card similar (paid off every month).  Low debt to income ratio (only debt is credit card balance before being paid each month). "using quite a low proportion of the credit available to you".  Very few or less credit applications (cannot remember last one).

Not only did we clear our debts we kept up the good habits.  We save for anything we want, so cars, holidays, home improvements etc are paid for rather then paid by debt. 

I agree Amex is not for me, I like to travel and some countries it was almost useless when I had one in the bad old days of debt.

Would like about £5,000 limit, at the end of my debt period the limits added up to over £30,000, and I had never been refused a new card or a request to increase my limit! 

Current credit card has had issues, latest being spent about £800 with a major retailer, got given a code to confirm purchase then payment failed.  When I contacted them they said they put my card on hold because it was a large amount!  Why give me the code then?  What is the point of the limit if I cannot used it.  Anyhow paid with debit card.  The reason I had the card was it gave points to a loyalty scheme, but it stopped that.

daivid

As above, forget the score.

Have a look on credit club or the eligibility check on MSE's main site to get a quick idea of who might give you a card (always check the providers own before applying and remember lots of cards are missed by the aggregators). Echoing what has already been said, apply for a card with a mainstream provider with a good chance of success. Natwest group (NW, RBS & Ulster bank) have the advantage of telling you the limit you will get at the same time as the eligibility (so if it is no use you won’t create a hard search). Halifax group let you request a limit (but I'm not sure you get an indication of success before the hard search or not).

Ganga

I_am_a_robot said:

Current address 5 years, previous 20 years.  Mortgage paid off about 10 years ago (bought current house cash, did it up moved in then sold the previous one).

No late payments or county court judgements.  Cheap sim only phone, with bank about 15 years, credit card similar (paid off every month).  Low debt to income ratio (only debt is credit card balance before being paid each month). "using quite a low proportion of the credit available to you".  Very few or less credit applications (cannot remember last one).

Not only did we clear our debts we kept up the good habits.  We save for anything we want, so cars, holidays, home improvements etc are paid for rather then paid by debt. 

I agree Amex is not for me, I like to travel and some countries it was almost useless when I had one in the bad old days of debt.

Would like about £5,000 limit, at the end of my debt period the limits added up to over £30,000, and I had never been refused a new card or a request to increase my limit! 

Current credit card has had issues, latest being spent about £800 with a major retailer, got given a code to confirm purchase then payment failed.  When I contacted them they said they put my card on hold because it was a large amount!  Why give me the code then?  What is the point of the limit if I cannot used it.  Anyhow paid with debit card.  The reason I had the card was it gave points to a loyalty scheme, but it stopped that.

Well done on turning your financial life around ,hope you are never in that former life again.