Sodding, sodding credit card companies...

[No1ErmaBombeckfan]

What the hell is a credit limit????

Sorry, with all the fraud and overspending going on, our credit card company have unilaterally decided to up our limit.

No probs, except it is now our responsibility to stay in the limit (or else they will just make more money off us!!) and if our card is stolen and illegally used we can't protect ourselves from overspending because if we want to do this, we have to sign up to their overpriced, useless card protection service!!!

The onus of protecting your money seems to be shoved onto the card holders and banks can charge and act with total impunity!!!

Also want to add that the self same bank increasing my limit were the same ones who refused me a simple savings account 12 years ago because I didn't have a UK banking history...

AARgghhhh!!!!!

They are idiots... scary that they give people more credit so easily and then the government et al moan that people are in debt - it ain't rocket science is it!!

they see it as their job to make vast amounts of money off their customers
didnt egg just get rid of alot of customers who pay in full on time recently?

though i agree with you it is very irresponsible
cant you say you dont want it?
mine is ridiculous level considering not working etc
i enjoy pissing them right off and paying up every month
am not tempted by credit though and certainly not at those rates
its legal loan sharking imho

You should be able to ring them and request your limit is put back to where it was. Wasn't it your responsibility to stay within your previous limit anyway, sorry that's confused me a bit!

Also, surely if you are a victim of card fraud/stolen card or whatever, you shouldn't be held responsible for anything that wasn't you? I'm not sure if that's the law or just normal but I'm sure you shouldn't be responsible for someone else's spending on your card if it's pinched or cloned.

I asked them to make sure the card didn't go over the limit - this was the response:

Thank you for your e-mail.

May I inform you that we do not have the facility where can be credit
limit set up for a set amount. It is the customer's responsibility to
keep within the agreed limit and if not then charges would be added to
the account.

I trust this information is of assistance

I make damn sure I pay up every month and I now have to pay extra to insure myself against fraud which the bank can and is unwilling to do...

You can't expect them to 'make sure' the card doesn't go over, how would they do that if you were to choose to take it over?

But they ought to be able to set credit limit lower if that's what you want, blimey that's a bit rubbish!
I still think you shouldn't be responsible if your card is stolen and someone else spends on it, without having to pay extra.

I understand this whole chip 'n pin is an underhanded way of making it harder for the bank customer to prove account fraud...

I don't expect the bank to prefect my spending, but surely if fraud is prevalent as the banks would have us believe, the banks should have some measures in place to protect the consumer...

If I can spend over hte limit, what is the point - is it just some arbitrary threshold where they can up bank charges...

interesting. The FSA site says that you can request a reduction in your credit limit

Money Made Clear

Is it definitely insurance against fraud, or is it payment protection insurance (different)? Will track down section dealing with issuer liability for fraud etc.

banks do have measures in place to protect against fraud. They record how you use your cards, so if you only use it once a week to buy a loaf in tescos then suddenly start spending £100's in harrods that should alert their systems, this is why cards often get declined in shops or refered to an authorisation centre. Same thing with credit limits. if the card is up to the limit the authorisation on a shops chip and pin should decline the card. its not to the penny but if you have a £5k credit limit you cant spend £20k

About credit card protection

credit card protection

This is mostly a peace of mind service (i.e enables "one stop shop" card cancellation and potentially £ to tide you over while your cards are frozen (e.g. if you are on holiday).

Thanks for all the info

Just had a look on the barclaycard website and for a mere £90+ a year, I can get full cover... protection against fraud, id theft and if I can't make payments (though being a SAHM....) it will be more depending on my cover preference...

It isn't compulsory at all, but wanting to cover all bases, it just is another thing on top of everything else ....