Those affected by the elimination of Barclaycard credit cards 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 income information, and others who cannot.
For the first group, it’s pretty straightforward if they want to try and keep their Barclaycard limit. They can write to the bank and explain why they think the decision should be overturned and their old limit returned to them.
However, there is no guarantee that 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 have been told they can appeal the decision to reduce their credit limit if they send proof of income
If they want to go elsewhere, the best thing to do first is to either wipe their Barclaycard balance or transfer it to an interest-free balance transfer agreement, with terms of up to 29 months. However, there is a charge for transferring a balance.
The best deal available in our guide, Virgin Money, charges 3% of the amount of money transferred.
If someone wants to apply for a new card, they should first check their chances of being accepted.
Companies like ClearScore and Experian offer this service, which allows applicants to see how accepted they would be for a card without making a formal request that appears on a credit report.
Experian also offers a service for certain card providers that allows applicants to see if they will get a credit limit high enough to cover their balance transfer. Considering what happened with Barclaycard, this may be worth checking out.
Sara Williams, debt advisor who runs the Debt Camel blog, added: “So many clients have had their limits reduced that Barclaycard does not appear to be specifically targeting people in financial difficulty.
“But some affected people will struggle. If this is you, this is a good opportunity to talk to a debt counselor like StepChange about your options – freezing interest on credit card debt could take the pressure off significantly.
She added: “If your limit had been stupidly high before and this has caused you a lot of trouble over the past few years, you might have good reason to file an affordability complaint and ask for the interest you paid back. you paid. ”
