Not happy with your new limit? You can ask for it to be reviewed
It’s important to note that having a lower credit limit isn’t necessarily a bad thing – in some cases it could reduce the risk of you spending more than you can afford. So before taking further action, it’s worth questioning whether you really need a higher limit, and making sure you’re only borrowing what you can comfortably pay back.
However if you’re confident you can afford to borrow more and don’t understand why your limit has been cut, then you can ask for your new limit to be reviewed. If your limit’s been cut, you should have received a letter from Barclaycard informing you, and this should have included instructions on how to provide evidence of your income for Barclaycard to review. It’s worth trying this if you believe your limit’s been set too low, though there’s no guarantee Barclaycard will reverse its decision.
If Barclaycard won’t rethink its decision, or has but your credit limit still isn’t sufficient, you could consider applying for a different credit card – though ONLY do this if you’re sure you can afford it and it’s for a needed, planned, affordable one-off purchase (eg, replacing a broken fridge). Other lenders currently offer interest-free spending for up to 21 months – see full help and top picks in our 0% Credit Cards guide.
We’re checking with Barclaycard whether any customers could have had their credit limit reduced below their outstanding balance and will update this story when we hear back.
Unhappy that your credit limit was set too high? You can complain
If you think your credit limit was set too high in the first place, and you believe you were negatively affected as a result, it could be worth contacting Barclaycard to complain, setting out how you were affected – for instance, if you were unable to pay certain bills because you were struggling to keep on top of your credit card debt.
If you’re unhappy with how Barclaycard responds to your complaint, you can escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman – see full help in our Financial Ombudsman guide.
It’s worth noting that last October thousands of Barclaycard customers were told they would receive rebates of £230 on average, after the firm admitted it had failed to meet “expected standards” for assessing some customers and “may have” set their credit limits too high – though Barclaycard says this is unconnected to the latest wave of credit limit adjustments.
