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I am a resident of Scotland, and have a credit card issued by my bank in my name only. I recently received a letter stating:

Your credit limit is increasing

We have good news for you. We wanted to thank for being a $BANKNAME customer, and after careful consideration, we've decided to increase your credit limit from $X to $Y on the 05 August 2018.

This amounts to a ~30% increase!

The letter goes on to say that I can decline this increase or request that it takes effect earlier.

What it fails to say is what effect, if any, this increase will have on my credit rating or ability to obtain credit elsewhere. My credit limit is already higher than I intend to use - due to past unrequested increases! - so I am not concerned by accruing additional debt above my current limit.

Other QAs (eg If I increase my credit limit will my credit score go up? or Is there a "catch" on my "increased credit limit"?) suggest that if I was in the US this shouldn't have a negative effect on my credit rating.

What is the situation in the UK? Would an unrequested increase in credit limit effect a credit rating and/or effect one's ability to obtain credit?

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  • I am happy to add additional relevant details if needed, please say if so. I have searched about this, but most results relate to: someone requesting a credit limit increase, situations in the US, or both. – bertieb Jul 11 '18 at 14:52
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    In the US it would likely increase it slightly (because utilization goes down). Not sure if the same applies to the UK. – Kevin Jul 11 '18 at 20:46
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Depending on your exact circumstances (other borrowing, other credit facilities, income etc) it's unlikely to have any measurable effect on your credit rating.

Having a credit facility that you aren't using can actually be a positive thing, as long as the amount is not large compared to your income. For example if your income if £10k annually and you have a credit card with a £10k limit other lenders may see that as a bit of a barrier to lending you on top of that.

But even in that case if you aren't using the facility it is better than if you are using it.

Assuming the limit isn't excessive this isn't likely to have any impact on your credit rating and it could be positive.

If you want to know for sure then sign up and get your credit rating for example here:

https://www.clearscore.com

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  • Thanks for the answer. So, "as long as the amount is not large compared to your income"... therein lies the rub I suspect! Possibly worth a separate question, but how is the provider you linked able to give a credit score for free without the access itself affecting the score? – bertieb Jul 11 '18 at 15:19
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    It most likely only does a soft pull. There are many free services for checking your credit details without impacting said score. Also, it seems like almost every bank and credit card member portal now has a feature for viewing your score. – Helpful Friend Jul 11 '18 at 19:42
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    I popped into my bank, and while they couldn't access my global credit file from there, their own view of my credit was unaffected by the increase in limit. – bertieb Jul 13 '18 at 8:56

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