My credit limits are nowhere close to my annual salary! I must be doing this credit thing wrong 
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Iām the same, I donāt particularly want to have a card with Lloyds but itās my oldest one at 12 years, and I seem to have been grandfathered in to a 1% minimum payment which is useful to combine with the constant balance transfer offers the card has to reduce committed outgoings should I need to do a transfer again in future. I figure having the credit there just in case makes more sense than closing accounts and then needing to open something fresh in 2-3 years.
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My limit is Ā£15,000 over two Amexās and Flex roughly. I canāt see me needing more but itās not even close to my salary 
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I have at least a couple of credit cards that I took out when they gave you ridiculous credit limits like Ā£15k as a new customer! The other reason Iām keeping them is to have some age to my accounts (to hopefully show some stability) now that the mortgage is paid off.
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I earn Ā£27500 roughly a year but I have an Halifax account with Ā£5K and Monzo flex of Ā£1500 and Monzo overdraft of Ā£2K. But to be honest I only ever budget myself to Ā£500 spend a month on credit as that is all I can budget for to clear balances off. Anything more and it would take a few months to clear. Itās great having a massive limit but realistically itās just unrealistic if itās never going to be utilised for big spends. I also only ever use 30% of my limit as thatās meant to be better for the credit score lol
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Thanks @ndrw . Itās true I just worry about these things and the old news on Monzo closing accounts really didnāt help and always been in the back of my mind. I love Monzo app and the features they have but always in the back of my mind the account will just suddenly be non existent. I do get anxious as itās happened to me before where an account I got paid into suddenly closed and for a few weeks was super stressful. I did switch to Ulster and got the Ā£200 bonus but I think I should just be happy with one bank and start my long term journey with a bricks and mortar bank 
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I think the thing here is that Monzo donāt just close accounts for no reason. No one whoās been using their account for a dodgy reason is going to admit to that.
No, theyāll just whinge āMoNzO ClOsED My aCCount for no reasonā.
My Monzo account was dormant without issue for over 12 months until I closed it. My FD one remains dormant and my NatWest one had been dormant for over four years.
So youāll be fine.
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I remember about 6 months after opening my first direct credit card I asked for a credit limit increase, which had to be reviewed by underwriters and included a hard search (FD credit limit increases all have a hard search). I got the limit I asked for but I was asked many probing questions about why I want this new limit if I already have X cards with Ā£X limits as shown on my credit file. A fair question when asking for more credit but it was a bit intense! I know FD are quite particular in their approach to lending.
With this in mind, has anyone had experience of similar questioning during a mortgage application? Has anyone with a high combined credit limit had their application impacted, perhaps being viewed as higher risk?
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All you can do is be as honest as possible and find a good advisor who can do the rest. If they can see youāve been responsible and can afford the repayments and have a full picture of whatās what you should be fine*
If you were to, for example, start opening a load more credit files, accounts, ask for increases etc this will almost certainly raise flags.
*Iām not a mortgage advisor.
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Available credit wonāt usually affect a mortgage, a mortgage is a more senior debt secured on your home.
Mortgage applications are usually all about income level. If you have, say, Ā£400 a month of debt payments they may take that against the amount you can pay back each month. But unused short term credit wonāt be relevant - my mortgage advisors have never even asked about how much money I could borrow.
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HSBC/FD are quite particular about lending, I wish they would also give you an indication of likelihood of getting it.
HSBC shut my joint account in error and while they have finally reopened it, the overdraft went and I have to apply again. Lloyds for example allow you to step up the overdraft or credit and itāll show you the chance it will be accepted. I donāt want a hard search just on the off chance.
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Iām not sure about using Flex for credit building, we donāt really know how lenders see it and the maximum limits are quite low. Also, to build a credit score the general advice is to use about 25% of your limit paid back in full and on time - thatās going to be difficult to manage in a way lenders recognise on Flex.
Much as I love Flex Iād say using a credit card is probably still better?
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Yes Iāve noticed this. On my clear score my flex account doesnāt show so itās clearly not reporting to all credit agencies. I love the concept of flex and had found it useful but I recently closed it as I also prefer main stream credit cards which are recognised by all agencies and also get cash back rewards.
It also doesnāt always show in the same way across the various credit agencies. That being said Iāve a Ā£3,000 limit which would be sufficient for building credit ratings up. Itās just not managed in the same way.
Then again I have a hard limit to my monthly repayments with Flex so in reality I donāt go over a certain balance (or if I had to, then Iād be looking at doing it over longer than 3 months).
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I donāt think I get charges like that pop up, only instant spend notifications.
I didnāt know you could get 3k on flex!
I guess what I meant was, for credit building people suggest clearing the balance each month, if thereās a regular standing balance - itās more difficult to say what effect that will have on somebodyās score. Also credit companies rate different types of product / lenders differently - no matter the terms a Wonga loan would have hammered your credit rating. I donāt think we know how lenders rate a Monzo buy now pay later account or what effect it will have on other credit applications, so if building is the main goal (not actually accessing credit) the standard and well tested credit card approach seems better?
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Monzo wouldnāt give me more than Ā£1k for Flex and also refused limit increases. I suppose thatās fair enough given the massive amount of credit I have already. I could easily afford repayments on a much higher Flex limit but Monzo seem to be the most responsible lender Iāve dealt with and err very much on the side of caution.
Given that I can easily afford the repayments I donāt actually need Flex but it really did look like something that could replace my credit card usage at one point. Iāll stick with Amex/Barclaycard Rewards and earn a bit of cashback instead.
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@mikez yeah itās really bizarre how credit works. Monzo have really trusted me as they gave me a Ā£2K overdraft which no main steam bank have offered me as they declined me and Iāve also been given a Ā£1.5K flex limit. I do have a Halifax of Ā£5K but other credit cards start me off under Ā£1K which is so strange. Hats off to Monzo though but I am moving away from challenger banks now and sticking with bricks and mortar banks as not all companies / sites I use recognise Monzo or starling when accessing/linking info
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believe 6k is the max you can currently get.
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Cleared my Monzo loan off last month, filtered through to some of the credit agencies today. Gained 4 points in Credit Karma, dropped 89 in Clearscore 
Iām quite sure last time I cleared a loan it bounced back after about a month, but again interesting how the different agencies take a completely different view on clearing a loan.
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