British Gas and AR marker arranging Direct Debit Payment Plan

badmemory

I do think Barclaycard regularly check the credit of their customers.  I do not think it is a coincidence that every time the credit limit on the other card I use goes up my Barclaycard limit goes down, not by as much but it does go down.

debitcardmayhem

badmemory said:

I do think Barclaycard regularly check the credit of their customers.  I do not think it is a coincidence that every time the credit limit on the other card I use goes up my Barclaycard limit goes down, not by as much but it does go down.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they adjust them if they see balance transfers / new cards .

mmmmikey

debitcardmayhem said:

badmemory said:

I do think Barclaycard regularly check the credit of their customers.  I do not think it is a coincidence that every time the credit limit on the other card I use goes up my Barclaycard limit goes down, not by as much but it does go down.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they adjust them if they see balance transfers / new cards .

It would certainly make sense in my view. If they did check the credit reference agencies, would that check show up on your record  - just wondering?

@badmemory when your credit limit has been adjusted have you been told in advance?

My interest here is that I have credit cards with limits that are "silly high" in relation to my current circumstances and wondering if I should pro-actively get them reduced to make sure it's done in a controlled way?

(OP apologies for jumping on your thread but I guess this is of interest to you too)

badmemory

mmmmikey said:

@badmemory when your credit limit has been adjusted have you been told in advance?

My interest here is that I have credit cards with limits that are "silly high" in relation to my current circumstances and wondering if I should pro-actively get them reduced to make sure it's done in a controlled way?

(OP apologies for jumping on your thread but I guess this is of interest to you too)

Yes always been told before.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the near future though as I have spent 3 times as much on my cards in the last month as my income, all planned & will be paid off in full.  But last time I did that one of them lowered my limit for a year.   For me that is a win-win as the money stays in savings over a month longer & I get cash back.

Bendo

badmemory said:

I do think Barclaycard regularly check the credit of their customers.  I do not think it is a coincidence that every time the credit limit on the other card I use goes up my Barclaycard limit goes down, not by as much but it does go down.

Interesting theory.  But if that was the case you would see the search in your history. The only time I ever see any if my card providers (including Barclaycard)  on mine is upon application or a when I request a credit limit increase. 

A responsible lender will reduce credit limits of a card isn't used for a period. They will also write to thr customer to notify them so the OP could just check and see at what point they were notified and put the whole thing to bed . 

badmemory

Yes I have also had the "you haven't used we are going to reduce" letter & have used & had the limit restored.  Never bothered looking at my search history as not that important to me.

MWT

principlecounts said:

Now had British Gas said or stated anywhere this would be marked adversely on my credit file I would have refused this payment, and found the funds to pay it. I'll be paying this in full tomorrow morning, and will be making a formal complaint. I'm not even a late payer, I'm making an agreed arrangement to pay it. I see I'm not the only one here, interested in hearing experiences. I'll keep people posted. 
 

It isn't 'marked adversely' it is just marked. 

Many things you do will end up on your credit file and those giving you credit will use those things to decide what they will do.

When you say 'I'm not even a late payer', that is precisely what you asked BG to let you do, to let you pay later than you were obliged to do. 

They agreed and they accurately recorded your request on your credit file.

Not sure what you'll get from a complaint that is based on them accurately recording the facility you asked them to provide... ?

born_again

principlecounts said:

la531983 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Do/did you use your Barclaycard  often?

This ^^^^

There have been numerous cases on this forum of Barclaycard reducing credit limits on cards that are barely used. This may all just be a coincidence. 

Interesting, I used the card regularly until recently where I did a balance transfer and now the card is empty. But all clues suggest this 'AR' marker was a trigger. I've been with Barclaycard for twenty five years.

Barclaycard are well know for dropping limits in such situations. But it will not be the AR, it will be the fact your did a balance transfer. So they are protecting themselves, as you had a very high limit & you moved the debt elsewhere.

principlecounts

Thanks for the replies everyone, that's brought some answers to my situation. The lowering of the credit limit is most likely due to the balance transfer, I was surprised it happened so quickly (and massively) without any notice. 

As for AR marker, I'm not entirely sure the implications on the credit file to the bill payer is made out fully before the repayment plan is setup. I agree it's there to solve a payment problem and i had aired that point, but then to not be clear about adding a marker to the credit file, I think is a bit disingenuous. My main rationale for the repayment plan it was a big payment to pay as I was already budgeting energy costs with Octopus and I would rather pay the amount over a 12 month period to keep costs close to this budget. Instead I think it was sold as a regular direct debit having no impact on the credit file, except to only have some warning message at the bottom of the email.

The odd thing with this is, Experian, Equifax report OK for the monthly repayments, but Transunion are reporting AR for July and August. From September I'm expecting as Account Closed.