Those affected by the Barclaycard credit card cull fall into two categories. There are those who have been told they can appeal the decision if they provide the bank with up-to-date information about their income, and others who cannot.
For the first group, the matter is quite straightforward if they wish to try and keep their Barclaycard limit. They can write to the bank and explain why they think the decision should be reversed and their old limit given back to them.
However, there is no guarantee this will be successful.
For the latter, they can either accept the decision and keep a card with a lower credit limit, or go elsewhere.
Some Barclaycard customers were told they could appeal the decision to cut their credit limit if they sent in proof of income
If they wish to go elsewhere, the best thing to do first is either to clear the balance off of their Barclaycard or transfer it to an interest-free balance transfer deal, with term lengths of as long as 29 months available. However, transferring a balance does incur a fee.
The best available deal in our guide, from Virgin Money, charges 3 per cent on the amount of money being transferred over.
If someone wishes to apply for a new card, it is first of all worth checking their chances of being accepted.
The likes of ClearScore and Experian offer this service, which allows applicants to see how likely they would be to be accepted for a card without carrying out a formal application which shows up on a credit file.
Experian also offers a service for some card providers which lets applicants see if they’ll get a high enough credit limit to cover their balance transfer. Given what has happened with Barclaycard, this may be worth checking out.
Sara Williams, a debt adviser who runs the blog Debt Camel, added: ‘So many customers have had their limits slashed that Barclaycard don’t seem to be targeting people in financial difficulty specifically.
‘But some people affected will be struggling. If this is you, this is a good opportunity to talk to a debt adviser such as StepChange about your options – getting the interest frozen on credit card debts could take a lot of the pressure off.’
She added: ‘If your limit had been stupidly high before and this has caused you a lot of trouble over the last few years you may have good reason to make an affordability complaint and ask for a refund of the interest you have paid.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk