If you used your credit card unwisely then it’s likely the reason why your credit limit is lowered. However, this can even happen if you have responsible spending habits because low usage can also cause a decrease. Thankfully, you have 45 days before any fees are charged to your account in case you go over the limit during this time.
Responding to a Lowered Credit Limit
The first thing you want to do is call the company’s customer service representative and find out why this happened in the first place. It may be something different than you expect since it’s not always clear how lenders operate. Afterward, simply ask if you can get it increased back to the original limit. While it may not be possible, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
If the change was due to a decrease in credit score, make sure to check this immediately, especially if you don’t understand why this happened. Dealing with fraud or any errors should be taken care of as soon as possible. Also, you just want to get a better idea about what goes into your score. Make sure to at least get your annual report from now on.
If the credit score is lowered simply because you’re not using the card, try linking it to some subscriptions that you automatically pay off every month. This includes purchases such as streaming services, online book subscriptions, or software that you use. It’s an easy way to make sure that it’s getting used for something. If it was lowered for bad spending decisions, make sure you consider what you need and try to develop better financial habits.
While there aren’t too many things you can do to immediately get your credit limit back up, it’s important to take care of what you can control. This will help prevent this problem in the future and hopefully make you pay more attention to your overall finances.
