Credit Score + Card Advice

Ady87

Hi all,

I’m struggling to get my head around my credit situation and I’m hoping people here may be able to give some insight. I’m essentially thinking out loud here…

I’ve had a Halifax Credit card for some time, I bank with them. Limit is currently £7k and utilisation peaked at about £4k by the time the 0% rate was up. In March 2024 in advance of the rate expiring, with approx 930 score on CheckMyFile, I used a MSE credit card checker and applied for a Barclaycard with the ambition to balance transfer, pay in full and then use the full balance for 0% purchases. I was accepted and the card turns up a few days later with a £300 limit. It wasn’t what I asked for and when I rang up to try and reverse this they said the damage was done. I purchased something for £300 and cleared it. Fast forward to early 2025 and my Halifax rate ends so I pay it in full.

My credit utilisation is now £0 out of £10k and my score dropped 30 points when I paid off the card. The rest of the £10k is made up of ‘creation consumer finance’ which I thought was an old car finance provider but it shows £3k limit and £0 usage.

I want to book a couple of holidays, I can pay cash, but I want to apply for a mortgage this year and I don’t know what will help or make things worse.

Should I close down the £7k Halifax card or will that exacerbate the situation? How about the now £400 limit Barclaycard? How do I apply for a credit card and avoid getting another laughably small limit?

I’ve been in and out of the family home for 38 years, I applied to be on the electoral roll when moving back here to care for my mum and it’s still not on my credit file. I’ve been advised to email the council which I’ve done.

I also have a £14 missed payment to Vodafone in July 2019. Should this drop off soon?

Should I not do anything until electoral roll updates and Vodafone payment issue drops off, at which point, what do I do about the existing credit cards in order to maximise efficiency?

Thank you if you got this far.

born_again

Forget about the score. If is a meaningless figure made up by the CRA. Never seen by lenders, they have their own internal scoring.

Missed payments will have a effect on getting credit.

Lenders look at income against your available credit & factor in affordability.

Getting rid of any would be barclay one given the limit.

Brie

I wouldn't worry about 1 missed payment from nearly 6 years back.  It's all the made on time payments since that will mean something.  

And yes your score is meaningless as only you see it.  A bit of a marketing scam in my opinion if you need to pay for it.

Banks/card companies are looking at 2 things mainly.  Your income.  And how much credit you can afford. 

It doesn't matter if all your cards were paid off in full.  If you have credit limits of £10k on them all that means that you could go out tomorrow and spend £10k.  Likewise they will look at the other credit you have - like any available overdraft even if you have never used it.  And what other credit are you actually using?  Phone contract?  Contract for Sky or similar?  Paying for your home or motor insurance monthly?  Those are all credit agreements and will be taken in to account.  If there's any way you could not have any of the monthly contracts then that will help.  

And I would certainly look at getting rid of the tiddly Barclays card.  And do you need the creation finance account?  That is much like having an overdraft.  If you feel comfortable about it you could have the Halifax card limit lowered.  But that depends on your use - sometimes it's a good idea to have credit available for emergencies and holidays.  Booking a holiday on a card will give you a bit of extra protection should things go pear shaped. 

As for the electoral roll being noted on your credit file.  Councils are probably the slowest to update credit records and most, as I understand it, only do update a couple of times a year.  Unlike banks that normally do them monthly at a minimum.  Even then it can take 3 months for things to show on your record.  

Ady87

Thanks for the advice.

I’ll find out what the Creation finance is and report back. Like I said, I thought that was for my car but it doesn’t come under loans like my current car finance agreement does. Creation was settled but it reports a £3k limit and shows as ‘IN’ on check my file which I think suggests the 3 agencies don’t agree on or are reporting different info. I’ll speak to Creation.

For further info in case it helps, I earn about £85k per year, have a £1k unused overdraft with Halifax and have a loan agreement for my car which is £29k balance currently. I pay car insurance annually apart from 1 year, last year, I did it monthly, back to annually this year. I have a Barclays finance agreement for iPhone via Apple, an EE agreement for my SIM and BT agreement for internet. Having taken over my Mum’s house, I’ve now got energy, water etc in my name but they don’t show on credit file yet and no idea on the impact in the context of me wanting a credit card.

Like I said, I want to get a mortgage this year so maybe closing the small Barclay card off, closing creation account down, waiting for Vodafone July 19 issue to drop off, waiting for electoral roll to update and just paying for my holidays in cash would be best.

I understand the risk and credit profile side of things, I have friends earning £25k
-£30k with tons of ‘debt’ that can get a £5k credit card with a click of their fingers - a bit frustrating but think I’ve just not been playing the game right.

Ady87

In light of above info - would reducing my £7k Halifax limit be useful or counter productive?