Change Nationwide credit card limit more rapidly

garyMorin

I've been a bit stupid, I don't use my credit card much, there as a small amount owing on it, £50, and I forgot to pay anything off for a couple of months and now Nationwide have slashed my limit down from 10k to £500.  I'm working on a building project and I could really do with the limit reinstated.

I have contacted them and they say I will have to wait six months, does any one any suggestions on how I can speed up the process?.

PS. I have now setup  a standing order so it won't happen again.

CliveOfIndia

There's not a lot you can do to change Nationwide's internal policies.  All you can do is to use credit responsibly, gradually repair your credit history, and see what happens in 6 months.

You could look around for a different credit card - start off by doing a few eligibility checks, ideally on the lender's own website rather than a third-party aggregator.  A couple of missed payments is obviously less than ideal, but some lenders may view it less harshly than others - and it does depend to a large extent what the rest of your credit history shows.

But if you can't get another credit card then just pay cash.  If you don't have the cash available, then you need to think carefully about how to fund the project - sticking large amounts on a credit card with no means to pay it off at the end of the month will cost you a huge amount in interest.  Unless you can get a 0% promotional rate - and even then, you still need to be able to clear it when the promotion comes to an end.

To your last point, a Direct Debit is better than a Standing Order.  A DD will allow the lender to take the full balance (which is what you ideally should be doing), whereas a Standing Order is just a fixed amount, so it's not really ideal for paying a credit card where the amount outstanding will typically vary from month to month.

As a slight aside, what does the building project entail?  If you're buying materials from a supplier then you can probably use a credit card for that.  But if you're thinking of paying builders, plumbers, electricians, any tradesmen, check whether they'll accept a credit card - many won't.

Mark_d

I don't believe you can get the limit reinstated.  It's common that credit cards only consider reviewing limits at most once in 6 months.

You now have a black mark on your credit file so I doubt you'd get a limit as high as £10k with anyone now. 

garyMorin

CliveOfIndia said:

There's not a lot you can do to change Nationwide's internal policies.  All you can do is to use credit responsibly, gradually repair your credit history, and see what happens in 6 months.

You could look around for a different credit card - start off by doing a few eligibility checks, ideally on the lender's own website rather than a third-party aggregator.  A couple of missed payments is obviously less than ideal, but some lenders may view it less harshly than others - and it does depend to a large extent what the rest of your credit history shows.

To your last point, a Direct Debit is better than a Standing Order.  A DD will allow the lender to take the full balance (which is what you ideally should be doing), whereas a Standing Order is just a fixed amount, so it's not really ideal for paying a credit card where the amount outstanding will typically vary from month to month.

Thanks for the reply.

It's not really my credit history I'm worried about, the credit card is more convenient for one off big items I need for the project. A standing order is fine for me, as I tend only to use it for the odd big item.

garyMorin

Mark_d said:

I don't believe you can get the limit reinstated.  It's common that credit cards only consider reviewing limits at most once in 6 months.

You now have a black mark on your credit file so I doubt you'd get a limit as high as £10k with anyone now. 

Thanks for tor the reply.

Wonderful, so annoying it was a little amount, hence the reason I ignored it. I don't need the credit card it's just convenient. 

Brie

garyMorin said:

It's not really my credit history I'm worried about, the credit card is more convenient for one off big items I need for the project. A standing order is fine for me, as I tend only to use it for the odd big item.

This doesn't make much sense to me.  If you only use it occasionally then set up a DD.  A SO will push the same amount to the CC every month whether you use the card or not so even when you don't owe anything. 

Most cards have the facility to take a fixed amount DD instead of the minimum payment or the full balance.  So if you buy something for £500 and only have £100 a month available to pay it off you could set £100 as your DD and that's all they will take.  The only times this would change is when the minimum payment is more than £100, in which case they would take more, or if the balance on the CC was under £100, in which case they would only take that amount.  

Superhoopza

Mark_d said:

I don't believe you can get the limit reinstated.  It's common that credit cards only consider reviewing limits at most once in 6 months.

You now have a black mark on your credit file so I doubt you'd get a limit as high as £10k with anyone now. 

What black mark? For carrying a balance and not paying off in full?

CliveOfIndia

Superhoopza said:

What black mark? For carrying a balance and not paying off in full?

This black mark :

garyMorin said:

there as a small amount owing on it, £50, and I forgot to pay it off for a couple of months

It's not clear precisely what the OP means, but the implication is that they failed to make even the minimum payment for a couple of months.

PixelPound

CliveOfIndia said:

Superhoopza said:

What black mark? For carrying a balance and not paying off in full?

This black mark :

garyMorin said:

there as a small amount owing on it, £50, and I forgot to pay it off for a couple of months

It's not clear precisely what the OP means, but the implication is that they failed to make even the minimum payment for a couple of months.

As bank wouldn't slash credit limit for not paying the full balance, but might if had a couple of missed payments as it would flag as account that could default. 

garyMorin

CliveOfIndia said:

There's not a lot you can do to change Nationwide's internal policies.  All you can do is to use credit responsibly, gradually repair your credit history, and see what happens in 6 months.

You could look around for a different credit card - start off by doing a few eligibility checks, ideally on the lender's own website rather than a third-party aggregator.  A couple of missed payments is obviously less than ideal, but some lenders may view it less harshly than others - and it does depend to a large extent what the rest of your credit history shows.

But if you can't get another credit card then just pay cash.  If you don't have the cash available, then you need to think carefully about how to fund the project - sticking large amounts on a credit card with no means to pay it off at the end of the month will cost you a huge amount in interest.  Unless you can get a 0% promotional rate - and even then, you still need to be able to clear it when the promotion comes to an end.

To your last point, a Direct Debit is better than a Standing Order.  A DD will allow the lender to take the full balance (which is what you ideally should be doing), whereas a Standing Order is just a fixed amount, so it's not really ideal for paying a credit card where the amount outstanding will typically vary from month to month.

As a slight aside, what does the building project entail?  If you're buying materials from a supplier then you can probably use a credit card for that.  But if you're thinking of paying builders, plumbers, electricians, any tradesmen, check whether they'll accept a credit card - many won't.

I wanted to use the card primarily for materials, generally large single payments.  The large single payments are why I don't want DD, without the DD I have control of when I went to clear it. (although generally I will clear the card straight away).   I can pay using my debit card, the CC just give a bit more protection and flexibility.

garyMorin

nic_c said:

CliveOfIndia said:

Superhoopza said:

What black mark? For carrying a balance and not paying off in full?

This black mark :

garyMorin said:

there as a small amount owing on it, £50, and I forgot to pay it off for a couple of months

It's not clear precisely what the OP means, but the implication is that they failed to make even the minimum payment for a couple of months.

As bank wouldn't slash credit limit for not paying the full balance, but might if had a couple of missed payments as it would flag as account that could default. 

I didn't pay anything off for at least two months, i think it was around £40 - 50 mark, I knew it was on it I just forgot to make the payment.  I go the Nationwide app and you see all your accounts listed with various amounts of money in, the credit card was one and because it was a small amount I just ignored it ... yes stupid me