Unexpected closing of major credit cards by issuers
A family member, in the last 3 months, has unexpectedly had 3 out of 5 credit cards canceled. All of them were in good standing, no balances , and no recent, if any late payments. He had not used them in at least a year because of dealing with our family’s major medical issues. One was a $10,000 limit, the other one was a $3,500 limit and both of them declined to reopen the accounts. Then yesterday (11/9/2020) a third account with a $10,000 limit sent a notice of closure stating “if recurrent bills are being paid from this account” to “make other arrangements”
What if anything can be done now or after the account has been closed? Is this common to see three major credit cards close down in such a short period of time? He has now lost $23,500 worth of credit. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Carole Smith
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Terry Says
Card issuers are being very “proactive” in checking credit reports, noticing medical debt — and getting out of the way of people turning to charge their living expenses on their credit cards. They have every right to do this–and medical expenses on your family member’s credit report probably triggered their review. Also many card issuers are proactively closing “dormant” cards that have not been used in a while.
This will be a big problem for your family member, but not much you can do about it. He/she could try applying for another card from another issuer –but it likely would have a higher annual fee and higher interest rate because they will see all of this on his credit report, as well. Check though, through www.CreditCards.com.
