Best credit card for emergency use

AMC1888 · 4 August 2018 at 11:55PM

Hi All

Looking for some advice, can some body tell me what the best credit card would be to have for sort of emergency use only. I have money in the bank and im paying several bills mortgage etc all fine. I’ve never had a credit card before and would like to have one for any type of unpredictable situation for some support.Bearing this In mind this is something i may never use for years so a deal that might be appealing within the next year might be pointless, so confused with it all !!!128583;!!!8205;!!!9794;!!!65039; The best thing if its possible would be a card with a fair amount of time to pay back the money without getting charged at all as i am full time employed and the money will always get paid back eventually. I’m just trying to plan for any worst case scenario where by my bank account gets emptied !!!128514; I also like the idea of the protection buying with a credit card online gives you as i do this frequently.

Any help would be appreciated as there is so many different types of cards and deals i dont have a clue!

Thanks in advance

eskbanker · 5 August 2018 at 12:26AM

If you've never had a credit card but do have other credit facilities then I'd suggest starting out by looking at your credit files, to assess how you may be seen by lenders: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

You also have the option of using the MSE eligibility checker to see which cards you'd be most likely to be accepted for: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/

You may need to just take what you can get to start with, such as a sub-prime card with a low limit and a high APR (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards/), but if you use it regularly and always pay off the balance in full every month then you should eventually have access to better cards with lower (or zero) interest rates and larger limits.

AMC1888 · 5 August 2018 at 1:50AM

Thanks for your help will look in to it!

tastyhog · 5 August 2018 at 2:45AM

the problem with having a card for emergency use is as you've said most purchase offers are time limited, 12 / 18 / 24 months etc from account opening, so next to useless for a long term option

but credit cards are fairly cheap to borrow on anyway, even for a mid range card at around 18% apr, its about £15 in interest monthly after the up to 50 odd days interest free, for a balance of 1k, not really much to pay for peace of mind to have something to cover unexpected costs.

personally if it's for emergency use and you wont be carrying a balance that often then i'd just eat the interest rate and chalk it up to the cost of having access to a useful line of credit, but there's nothing stopping you getting a 0% balance transfer card at a later date to transfer any emergency spending to should you need to.

glennevis · 5 August 2018 at 6:59AM

Quote "this is something i may never use for years".

I had a CC I kept for 'emergency use only', so I never used it. After probably a couple of years the bank advised me they would cancel it due to non use so I started using it regularly, paying the balance off in full by DD every month.

Craig1981 · 5 August 2018 at 7:03AM

as esknamker said, check a few eligibility. chances are, you will end up with a low limit high APR card to start off with. use it small does and pay off in full to build some history on your file... if doing so , APR doesn't' matter for the time being. and in an emergency, 34% ARP is so much lower than a bank overdraft or payday loan!

IMHO, an Aqua mastercard is a great starting point, provided you apply or are accepted for their Advance card like i have done in the past. (they have a few different cards)
it starts at 34.9% apr, but this reduces over three years, by 5% each year. so in three years time, you down to 19.9%, 1% higher than high street lender cards.
plus, 0% fees on purchases abroad! (reason why i still keep mine around)

but, like mine, if you stop using it regularly after the 3 years, then interest may go up to 24.9%...

worried_jim · 5 August 2018 at 7:17AM

Just ask your bank for a credit card, you can probably do it now through your online banking right now. I would make a point of using it every couple of months as the bank will cancel it if unused as it costs them money.

DCFC79 · 5 August 2018 at 9:54AM

Just make a payment on it each month, say a weekly shop or a petrol top up just to keep it active.

2ilent8cho · 5 August 2018 at 11:52AM

The problem is it may get closed before you actually use it due to inactivity. So you need to ideally change habits and start by putting some of the everyday spending through the card, maybe just fuel?

If you can get it, i would go for one of the Low APR cards both Barclays and Tesco offer at 6.9% APR which means in this emergency you are paying very little interest. It could also double as an emergency instant loan as the both offer money transfers to your bank account with these cards, Tesco all the time, Barclays when the offer is showing.

Barclays have an eligibility checker if you want to see how good your chances are , Tesco credit cards appear on the Money Saving Expert credit club eligibility checkers .

takman · 5 August 2018 at 12:07PM

AMC1888 wrote: »

Hi All

Looking for some advice, can some body tell me what the best credit card would be to have for sort of emergency use only. I have money in the bank and im paying several bills mortgage etc all fine. I’ve never had a credit card before and would like to have one for any type of unpredictable situation for some support.Bearing this In mind this is something i may never use for years so a deal that might be appealing within the next year might be pointless, so confused with it all !!!128583;!!!8205;!!!9794;!!!65039; The best thing if its possible would be a card with a fair amount of time to pay back the money without getting charged at all as i am full time employed and the money will always get paid back eventually. I’m just trying to plan for any worst case scenario where by my bank account gets emptied !!!128514; I also like the idea of the protection buying with a credit card online gives you as i do this frequently.

Any help would be appreciated as there is so many different types of cards and deals i dont have a clue!

Thanks in advance

It's definetly good to get a credit card and use it regularly as other posters have said. This will build up your credit history and also give you section 75 protection for purchases between £100 & £30,000 which makes the card company equally liable for problems.

But if your worried about your bank being emptied then you should open an account with another bank right away. Look on here for high interest accounts which you can open and put your savings into to use in an emergency.

lolcaz · 5 August 2018 at 11:03PM

If you want a credit card open as an emergency, you could put a small subscription on it to keep it active, with a direct debit to pay off in full. Something like a Spotify or Netflix subscription.

Best credit card for emergency use

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