Available credit. No wonder why people get into debt.

[Nanatokidsdogshampsters]

I have a Next account. My credit has just been increased to £3500.
I have lowered it to £500.
My credit card level was £15000 now down to £3000
I have another catalogue and that level was £5000. Ive put it down to £500.

I'm retired. Why does any company offer so much credit. Without checking if I could pay it back.

When people are desperate to buy presents for their children or to even buy food it's a slippery slope if you are not disciplined to pay it back before you get charged interest.

I’m unemployed, on disability benefits. Last time I checked I have £60k available to me in credit (obviously not utilised!). I completely agree with you. I think it’s immoral that this level of debt has been made available to me. It would absolutely ruin me.

Wow that’s insane. I guess, though, that they know most people will meet the minimum payment each month, which is amazingly lucrative for the lender. Imagine a return of 25% per annum on cash you lent, as a minimum. Money for old rope for them.

@Christmasapple oh my god. Please tell me that isn't just one lender...that's nuts.

You're right - we need better regulation on credit. Having a lot of debt (outside of mortgages) is seen as quite normal when it really shouldn't be.

Im on a good wage...my collective credit is over 90k. I pay any credit cards at end of month fully (i use them to keep credit score good)..i also have 2 isas and 2 saving accounts..so if i ever lost my job i could pay the credit bill for the month and owe nothing)..but offering large amounts to people who are struggling is irresponsible of the cc companies...oc some will use it and struggle to pay it back fully. Angers me actually. The cc companies are to blame here

Credit companies prey on specific groups to get their profits. It is the spend-a-holics, the low income and unemployed that cannot pay back loans early and accrue interest. The biggest crime is the lack of finance education in schools. Credit firms rely on fancy marketing ploys to lure people in (buy now, pay later), but some of the apr offers are hideous. If the target population for credit were better educated to read the small print then it may reduce the amount they actually take out. I work as a volunteer in debt management, and it amazes me how little understanding there is by some clients about interest rates, loan terms and so on. They are drowning in debt and have little understanding of how they arrived at such a bad situation as it slowly amassed over time.

I’m unemployed, on disability benefits and I could get £13,500 today from 3 lenders with no questions asked. Just paying the interest would bankrupt me.

It's interesting who is targeted. I'm on a reasonable income, but am offered less credit than some on here - ironically, I think, because bar the mortgage I've never had (needed) credit. I don't even have an overdraft, by choice.

So I'm not desirable.

YANBU. I have about £10,000 credit available to me. I am a single mum, I work full time but on a low pay and get UC as well.

I agree - financial education should be taught to ensure that people do not misunderstand the word 'credit'.

I have always understood that things on credit were 'debt' (on the never never) but now the implication is - look there is £5000 'credit' for you to spend. It can be assumed that it is theirs to spend now.

Like others I have 3 credit cards and savings - one card is solely for balance transfer from the card (low limit on that one) I use for online shopping.
The other card is for day to day expenses which I clear off every month so no interest is charged. My total available credit is £10K !

It is also the individuals who do not use credit cards sensibly that keep being offered more and more credit - if you pay debt off without incurring interest - they do not make any money off you.

Completely agree - we are a low wage family because we have a severely disabled child. We were both working when I had to become a ft carer and dh had to change his professional to support me and our child.

Eventually we fell into huge debt, sold up, cleared it all. Left with one credit card, we used it to buy essentials until it was up to it's 6K limit.

Now on a debt management plan, paying off credit card over 7 yrs.

We have a proper budget in place and everything is more manageable.

Credit limits are absolutely nuts and ruin people's lives.

It's scary. I'm a LP amd work PT. My credit card has a £1k limit for emergencies only. They wanted to raise it to £3k and I told them to put it right back down.

I've know a couple of other low earners who were terrifyingly blasé about £3-4k of debt.

I agree, OP.

I have a credit card that I rarely use. The credit limit when I took it out was about £1500, I think. It's now £5,500.

I haven't reduced it. I haven't reduced it because I'm not going tpo spend it but it is irresponsible.

Dh had 35 limit on barcley card when he wasn't even earning that amount. Got more credit while on a dmp. It's insane

I have about £30k over several cards - it was more but I cancelled a couple. Every time I log into my credit card they tell me I am pre approved for a loan of £25k.

It's mad - I guess technically I could just afford repayments but gives me no spare in my budget at all.

I disagree. It depends how you've been brought up. I'm of the era save and spend wisely. As is DH, and it's reflected in our children's relationship with money. They don't have credit cards because they don't need them, they have their own savings (eldest already has a small house elsewhere in the country deposit saved), so can buy anything they need, and they don't waste money on non-essentials, certainly wouldn't spend out on interest

That's not really the point though.

I only use mine very rarely for larger online purchases for the security. I don't actually know the pin so can't use it elsewhere. But even though spending has never come close to the original limit of £1500 (I think the most I've spent on it was for a new bed which I paid off when the bill came), they've still increased my limit to 5.5k.

You and I might spend sensibly and so might many others. Bit making it so easily available isn't good for people who don't manage their spending so well for various reasons.

It used to be so much more difficult to obtain credit for anything.

I can remember when you had to meet strict qualification criteria in order to be able to apply for a Barclaycard or, later, an Access Card. They certainly weren't dished out to everyone. I think you had to go and see the bank manager first!

Until quite recently (well, it feels recent anyway) the rule was that you couldn't use a credit card to pay for perishable goods: you could only buy items of lasting value (presumably so they could be seized by the bank if you didn't pay the bills). So you could never use a cc to buy food, like you can nowadays.

When we applied for our first mortgage, we had to have a meeting with the building society representative and show him all our bank statements, payslips savings accounts etc.

Our credit limit is currently about £50k total. We put everything on credit cards and pay it off every month, with no other debt. But I like knowing it's available in case of emergency.

It's definitely the case that the less debt you have the less credit you are offered.
I see that as winning at their nasty games designed to fuck up people's lives.