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I just got a letter from AMEX the other day indicating they were cutting the limit due to lack of use. I'm wondering if this is due to the economy, fear that cardholders will run up bills they cannot pay. Is this par for them, or is it new? Anyway, does anyone know if any issuers are closing any cards? I don't care about the limit cut, but I sure don't want any cards closed due to age. I have a card that's hitting 30 years in a few months, and I have another that just hit 26. I'm just curious if this is going on and how to avoid it. I have several cards I use solely to keep around for age.

I think the most important thing you can do beyond what you've done is to randomize your security question answers on all your accounts. I've never understood why people give correct answers to those questions, given that anyone close to them might know a lot of the answers or could cull them from FaceBook or similar sites. If your answer to 'where did you go to high school?' is 'periodic table of elements' and 'your mother's maiden name?' is 'Ford Focus,' you've cut the number of people who can correctly answer those from potentially dozens or more to one. Use something like the notes features of RoboForm or LastPass to keep those questions & answers in an encrypted format.

Then I guess I'm ignorant, please explain. It's supposed to prevent someone from pulling my credit unless I unfreeze it. I don't apply for credit anywhere, so I have them frozen. So how did Vonage pull my credit?

Hi, I have security freezes on my reports, so I don't really check them that often, probably 18 months since I did. I just got my annual reports from Experian, TransUnion, & Equifax. I have zero inquiries that show publicly on any of them, but I have two listed under 'inquiries only you see' that I'm curious about. My TransUnion has an inquiry listed as 'permissible purpose: collection,' but it's actually an insurance company (HomeSite) I got a quote from. My Equifax has an 'account review' inquiry from Vonage on the day I opened the account. My question is how were they able to pull my reports at all? The Vonage one is particularly interesting, since they were not an existing creditor -- this was essentially a pull to check me out like any utility runs. I thought my freezes effectively prevented this sort of stuff. I can see how HomeSite could claim to be an existing account review, since I got the quote through Progressive, who already hold my auto insurance. Are freezes only effective if companies code their inquiries a particular way? One other interesting note is that I recently bought a car and test drove a few, and no car dealer was able to pull my credit.

Capital One is the same way. In fact, it seems impossible to get them to change from your physical address. I have always preferred to get postal mail only at my PO box, never at the house. And most banks make you provide a physical address but will use your PO box as your mailing address. Despite repeated attempts over the years, though, I've never gotten CapOne to use the PO box for mailings. They also reject my PO box zip code at gas stations that prompt your for the zip associated with the card. And they're the same way with email addresses. I changed my email on their website, but they still send monthly notices to the old account. It's like what goes down on day one with them can never, ever change. I called multiple times, I wrote... after about 5 years of trying to get them to use my PO box & new e-mail, I finally gave up.

Once Citi took over they closed mine after 4 years of inactivity. I never got any notice, just one day Yodlee no longer picked it up so I logged onto the Sears site and saw it was closed.

If you're out shopping for cars, you really should have your reports frozen so they cannot access it. Car salesmen lie.

Have you traveled recently? I've been opted out since 1994 or so, and I've never had to re-do it. Every time I take a vacation, I get multiple offers for travel-related cards. It's not just the credit bureaus selling your info.

I visit this board on occasion & he used to post (often multiple times) in just about every thread I ever read. I don't see him at all now... did he die, get kicked off, get tired of it? Anyone know what happened to him?

I just read your entire story, and I have to tell you that to me you come across as very irresponsible. You thought your husband was paying a bill and he thought you were and neither noticed until it had gone unpaid for 6 months? That's half a year. I struggle to see how that's even possible unless you both were in comas. And then when they stopped the auto-debits, it took you two months to notice that? It appears you check only your credit reports, not your actual bills and bank statements. You may take this as a personal attack, but it's not. It's an observation from someone who doesn't care one way or another -- exactly who would be sitting on a jury in any lawsuit, should one make it that far. I suspect your attorney won't do anything without payment up front. At this point, having heard nothing from them and only your slant on what happened, I'd rule for BOA. Do they nickel-and-dime people with fees and what can legitimately be called 'tricks'? Absolutely. But it was 100% your own action (or rather, inaction) that got this entire ball rolling. At some point you have to take some personal responsibility for your life.

I've never seen an insurance company claim it has anything to do with your driving abilities. They have found it has a correlation with your likelihood to file claims, which in the end is what they care about. I've seen anecdotal evidence of that just knowing those around me. My father has a tendency to back into people's cars -- mostly family members when we're visiting him. But he never files claims, he's pays for the repairs out of pocket. Excellent credit, no debt. I'm the same way -- I view insurance claims as worthwhile only for major amounts, over $10K. A guy I know who seems to live in hock up to his eyeballs and has refinanced his house multiple times in the past 5 years (that I know about), both for lower payments and cash-out refi (which he mentioned was for paying down credit card debts) got some hail damage to his car, which he collision on because he paid for it ($~5K) with a loan. Obviously you can get an idea of what's going on with him by looking at his credit. He didn't care about the damage, but he was thrilled to file the claim to get the cash, which he mentioned he was using to pay down debt.

same here, same dates.