Barclays reducing credit limit

fazzy84

Hi all,

I hope this is in the right section. I needed advice on Barclaycard. I got out a new Barclaycard One pluse credit card in November 2007. Since then this has been my usage:

November £224.98 -Paid Fully before due date
December £442.93 -Paid Fully before due date
January £649.19 -Paid Fully before due date
February £659.59 -Paid Fully before due date

And now yesterday one of my transactions got declined at ASDA causing a lot of embarassment and inconvenience (as i was carrying no other cards and and no cash!!!). I logged online only to find that my credit limit has been reduced from £1000 to £260. After sending a complaint email enquiring this is what they have replied.

"I am very sorry to learn of the embarrassment and inconvenience you were
caused when your card was declined during a transaction.

The decision to reduce the credit limit was made based on the
information available to us about how you have managed your account in
the past. This includes your repayment history, spending patterns and
information received from credit reference agencies.

Unfortunately, we were not able to warn you in advance. A letter
regarding this has been sent to you on 11th March 2008, which you should
receive shortly.

We hope that you will understand our reasons and obligations to a
responsible lending policy.

We are unable to reinstate your previous credit limit at this time. We
will review your credit limit on a regular basis and you may become
eligible for a limit increase in the future.

Finally, I would like to add that it is not our intention to upset our
customers in any way and I hope you will accept my sincere apologies for
any inconvenience and distress our actions may have caused you."

Just wanted to know if reducing credit limits like that without a good reason or warning is legit and also is there anything I can do? I am already thinking of paying of the balance for this month and cancelling the card but just feel I should fight for the principles atleast???

nickmack

fazzy84 wrote: »

I am already thinking of paying of the balance for this month and cancelling the card

This is probably not a bad idea. If you've never missed or made a payment late and pay off in full each month, you're not making them much money.

If this is the case, it seems their decision is to subtly tell you, they don't really want your custom a la the recent MBNA CC interest rate rises.

fazzy84

seems so wrong to do that to people

mrcow

I wouldn't bother arguing about it........life's too short and even if you did get your limit back, would you really want to stick with a comany that would treat you like that?

Cancel your account and then apply for a Goldfish card through Quidco and get a free £41 in cash!:beer:

fazzy84

mrcow wrote: »

I wouldn't bother arguing about it........life's too short and even if you did get your limit back, would you really want to stick with a comany that would treat you like that?

Cancel your account and then apply for a Goldfish card through Quidco and get a free £41 in cash!:beer:

Done and Already used up my £41 from quidco :j And yes this will be my main card from now on. Lets hope they dont do the same to me too

I just wanted to argue for principles sake and then cancel card as you have stated noway do I want to stay with them.

nickmack

fazzy84 wrote: »

I just wanted to argue for principles sake and then cancel card as you have stated noway do I want to stay with them.

Make sure the card is actually closed and shown as settled. I had a nightmare with Barclaycard trying to get them to close an old account.

LondonTom_2

I have had EXACTLY the same problem this morning.

Four months ago i had a 6k limit with Barclaycard. I have been with then for 11 years, and apart from exceeding my limit a couple of times, and payment not being made once when i changed my D/D details, have a very good record with them.

Four months ago they slashed my limit from £6000 to £2850, without notifying me. Yesterday they reduced it from £2850 to £260.

This morning i was trying to purchase some flight tickets when i discovered.
I called them up and after being transfered back to the UK i spoke to a lady who was helpful. She said that there should be no reason why this has happened as i have an excellent record with Barclaycard, am on one of their best rates (12.9%), pay on time and have been a good longstanding customer. She said she will look into it and establish the exact reason.

I told her that it they did not want my custom i would be happier if they told me rather than treat me like this. I enquired as to whether this is how they treat all their longstanding loyal customers.

I am in the habit of maintaining larger balances for no more than a couple of months max, then pay off the balance in full. (I had 5.8k in December, paid off around 3k in December, and another 2.8k in Feb). This is because when i claim expenses back from work i pay it straight off. Maybe they are simply not making enough money from me.

She said that it may because i have lots of other cards. I only have one other card - with HSBC (8k Limit) whom i bank with. I have always kept the Barclaycard so that i have a Visa card as HSBC have only issued me with a Mastercard and have not offered both for many years now.

Will report back once they call me back.

Kind regards

Tom

WelshWoofer

Halifax did this to me last week.
I've had a £9000 limit on the card for as long as I can remember but the £2500 I owed them was reduced to £500 about a month ago when I paid a chunk off. I received a letter soon after telling me that my limit was reduced to £550 and then just a few days later another telling me not to use the card and that it was effectively suspended (or words to that effect) - I have made 1 late payment in the 4 years or so that I've had the card, never missed a payment and had a relatively low balance on it - so I just don't understand.

I rang them up and the chap I spoke with said that because I had, in theory, a £9000 limit plus an £8000 limit on my Lloyds TSB CC due to their new "responsible lending policy" they reduced my limit and suspended the card to stop me generating a "mountain of debt"!

Well the £500 that I owe them is being paid off ASAP and then the card cancelled - the can stuff it if they want to treat me like that after being probably one of their better behaved customers.:mad:

I just don't get it.......

Datasafe_2

Welcome to the credit crunch.

They are just reducing their exposure to "potential" bad debt. If you have such a big credit limit on the other card then use that. No problem. I don't see why so many people are coming on here crying about it.

cheerfulness4

My mum had her limit halved about 6 months ago...with no warning until her card was refused, too. The strange thing is that last week they have just reinstated her old limit with no explanation, just a letter telling her that her limit was now back to its original level.
She had just carried on managing her account as before. This was Barclays bank.

Chris2000

mrcow wrote: »

Cancel your account and then apply for a Goldfish card through Quidco and get a free £41 in cash!:beer:

But remember, Barclaycard are buying Goldfish.