annie46:

OK, another tip. Think about avoiding a credit card from an issuer that either you have savings with or bank with. Something called "set-off" allows the bank to dip-in to your other accounts without your permission in certain circumstances to recover money.

Think about an issuer eg M&S Money where you don't have other accounts.

Fret less about your income. It may (or may not) be relevent but you can't change it, however make sure you understand the outgoings questions and assumptions on an application.

Thanks for your help. I have an Experian account (it came with my Alliance and Leicester current account) and it is fine. I started the process of applying with A & L last night but they asked what my income was and then mentioned whether I had an Abbey account which I don't although, as you will know, they are both under the Santander umbrella now. I thought I would probably have the same problem with Santander once I mentioned my income. I didn 't try renegotiating with Egg, My orginal email to them regarding the matter was replied pointing me to the online method of applying, no real person involved.

Thanks again

annie46:

Are there any other steps I can take?

Firstly, your savings are irrelevent. Given a good credit history, and I'll come back to that, the amount of credit granted will be an "affordabilty" assessment mainly based on the income and outgoings declared in the application but also the issuers policy.

Did you try negotiating a lower figure with Egg, say £5000?

If you are travelling you would be better off with another card anyway. My suggestion is to apply elsewhere. The limit granted will be a better indication of affordabilty in a card issuers eyes. Avoid a 0% balance transfer card as they have stricter eligibilty criterion.

But before you go further, if you have not already done so recently I would strongly recommend you check your credit report from either Experian or Equifax to ensure it is complete and accurate and doesn't list unused available credit that you are unaware of.

Hi, I wonder is someone could help me with this. I have an Egg credit card with no outstanding balance on it as I tend to use it for big purchases then pay it off in full. I asked Egg to increase my limit of £2500 to £6500 as I wanted to pay for business flights to Australia and was refused. Obviously they asked what my income was and based it on that. They know nothing about how much I have in savings. It was an online request screen that I used. If I try another credit card provider they will obviously also want to know my yearly income and the request I made for the limit to be raised was to an amount equal to a quarter of my yearly income. I don't want to pay for these flights by debit card in case anything goes wrong. I would pay off the card balance entirely when it became due from savings. Are there any other steps I can take?

Thanks

Ann