Credit Check Websites?

[bitchstewie]

Does anyone have any suggestions on the simplest way to check my credit score please?

There seems to be a whole industry selling monthly subscriptions (seriously that's a thing?!) and offering ways to "boost your credit" and I have no interest in that as I don't have any issues there (at least that I know of!) I'm just curious what my credit score actually is.

[Beckles888]

There's a few free ones out there these days:

Clear score
Credit Karma
Totally Money

Just to add: https://ukpersonal.finance/credit-ratings/

Edited by Beckles888 on Sunday 5th March 14:06

[Sarnie]

bhstewie said:

I'm just curious what my credit score actually is.

Why?

You do not have a singular credit score.

Your "score" would be different with all three of the main credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax & Transunion) based on the data provided to them.

An industry has been created by the credit reference agencies and giving you a numerical "score" has turned people completely paranoid in a lot of cases. They will attribute you a low score if you aren't showing on the electoral roll for example. A high score if you make all your payment on time.

The reality is that the number means very little in terms of being able to successfully obtain credit. I've had clients apoplectic when they've failed a mortgage credit score because "My score is 999 Liam!" when they are at 95% of their credit utilisation on their credit cards which caused the decline.

Lenders apply their own scorecard when assessing your application with variables being included that do not make up part of your credit file such as length of time in current employment, salary etc etc.

In short, don't worry about what the actual number is......make sure you are on the electoral roll, don't miss any payments and try to keep your credit usage low in relation to the limits.

[bitchstewie]

Both, thanks

Sarnie, appreciate the explanation.

Honestly just curiosity. I'm on the roll, good job, don't chop and change banks etc. never missed payments, no concerns, just found myself wondering as I'm someone who doesn't actually use credit much.

The fact there seems to have been a whole industry spring up about it and advertising on TV means perhaps I'm not as immune from the adverts as I thought

[Sarnie]

I have lots of clients who state similar to you but are then seemingly offended when their "score" is low...........which is often because they've hardly ever used credit, therefore the amount of data on your file is low, ergo the score they give you is low.

You don't get any "credit" or points for never having needed to use credit.....

[bitchstewie]

Sarnie said:

I have lots of clients who state similar to you but are then seemingly offended when their "score" is low...........which is often because they've hardly ever used credit, therefore the amount of data on your file is low, ergo the score they give you is low.

You don't get any "credit" or points for never having needed to use credit.....

Thank you that makes a degree of sense even if it does seem a little bit chicken and egg.

Certainly not offended and I guess very little I can do about it if I don't need debt

[mattybrown]

Try checkmyfile it cross references multiple credit check agencies.

[bitchstewie]

^^ That's the kind of thing I'm on about.

I assume some people are in the poo enough to benefit from it but how many people really need to pay £15/month on an ongoing basis to check this stuff?

[TriumphStag3.0V8]

You don't need to pay anything.

I use Clearscore, it is free and updates monthly. I generally use it to check for any unexpected accounts being opened or reference searches being done.

[Rick101]

bhstewie said:

Sarnie said:

I have lots of clients who state similar to you but are then seemingly offended when their "score" is low...........which is often because they've hardly ever used credit, therefore the amount of data on your file is low, ergo the score they give you is low.

You don't get any "credit" or points for never having needed to use credit.....

Thank you that makes a degree of sense even if it does seem a little bit chicken and egg.

Certainly not offended and I guess very little I can do about it if I don't need debt

Same boat and had a similar conversation with Sarnie pre application a few years back.
Understand his nonchalance but I'd always prefer to be informed.

I keep a very sharp eye on my finances, have little credit but still get an annual or bi-annual report just to check no issues or red flags.
I'd rather be aware and sort anything I need to well before any credit application.

[Sarnie]

TriumphStag3.0V8 said:

You don't need to pay anything.

I use Clearscore, it is free and updates monthly. I generally use it to check for any unexpected accounts being opened or reference searches being done.

Which is fine, but only to a certain extent as they only receive data from Transunion. If someone opened a credit account with a provider that only reported to Equifax or Experian, you'd never know......

[Ed Moses]

I had a play with the main credit reference sites about 18 months ago as we were doing some major changes to our finances due to pension availability and paying off our mortgage. I found my score went down as we no longer have a mortgage - owning our house outright does not fit as we no longer have this type of credit, which they seem to use as a positive marker on the standard system - go figure.

[Sarnie]

Ed Moses said:

I had a play with the main credit reference sites about 18 months ago as we were doing some major changes to our finances due to pension availability and paying off our mortgage. I found my score went down as we no longer have a mortgage - owning our house outright does not fit as we no longer have this type of credit, which they seem to use as a positive marker on the standard system - go figure.

I get asked about this a lot.

Having a mortgage on your credit file is the single biggest thing you can do to enhance your profile, followed by getting yourself on the electoral roll at your current address.

And conversely, mortgage arrears are the biggest thing you could have on your file to torpedo your score.

[spikyone]

TriumphStag3.0V8 said:

You don't need to pay anything.

I use Clearscore, it is free and updates monthly. I generally use it to check for any unexpected accounts being opened or reference searches being done.

This will only give you part of the story though, as someone else has mentioned. Not all lenders report out to all credit check agencies. Using the ones that Beckles mentioned will confirm that the three largest ones have no incorrect or problematic information:

Beckles888 said:

There's a few free ones out there these days:

Clear score
Credit Karma
Totally Money

ETA: I think you'll actually need to add another to cover off Experian - the Moneysaving Expert Credit Club does that.

---

Rick101 said:

Same boat and had a similar conversation with Sarnie pre application a few years back.
Understand his nonchalance but I'd always prefer to be informed.

I keep a very sharp eye on my finances, have little credit but still get an annual or bi-annual report just to check no issues or red flags.
I'd rather be aware and sort anything I need to well before any credit application.

Nobody - including Sarnie - is saying "don't look at your credit reports"; the advice is simply to ignore the number ("score") that they each give you, which is little more than a tool to sell you their products.
You absolutely should be looking at your reports and checking that there is nothing untoward on them and nobody would advise against that. I don't know what you mean by getting an annual/bi-annual report though, there's an implication that you're perhaps paying for something there? The free sites above update your report on a far more regular basis.

It's worth checking them more often than every 6 months - after a proper review when you set them up it will only take ten minutes to look through all 3 and check that the information they hold is correct. It could take considerably longer to fix any errors.

Edited by spikyone on Monday 6th March 08:08

[Sarnie]

spikyone said:

Nobody - including Sarnie - is saying "don't look at your credit reports"; the advice is simply to ignore the number ("score") that they each give you, which is little more than a tool to sell you their products.
You absolutely should be looking at your reports and checking that there is nothing untoward on them and nobody would advise against that. I don't know what you mean by getting an annual/bi-annual report though, there's an implication that you're perhaps paying for something there? The free sites above update your report on a far more regular basis.

It's worth checking them more often than every 6 months - after a proper review when you set them up it will only take ten minutes to look through all 3 and check that the information they hold is correct. It could take considerably longer to fix any errors.

Edited by spikyone on Monday 6th March 08:08

Great post.

And yes, that was exactly my point, don't get obsessed with the number, if you are going to monitor your credit files then do it with all three agencies other you can miss something.

D0 it once or twice a year.

Ultimately, don't miss payments and keep your credit usage down and you'll be fine.

[Rick101]

My 5 yr fixed term is up next year so will be having a full check towards the back end. Not expecting any issues. Hopefully not too much more damage with increased rates. Something beginning with a 3 would be nice. If my current lender doesn't wow me I may well be back in touch.

[anonymous-user]

Surely you just know if you have a good credit rating?

Mortgage, on the electoral roll, credit cards at a low percentage of the limit, never miss any payments = Excellent credit rating

Not on the electoral roll, credit cards near the maximum, history of missing payments = Poor credit rating

I have not had a loan of any sort in over 20 years and I don't even have a mobile phone contract. I have one credit card which I barely use but is always instantly paid off and I know my credit rating is still excellent. Not having any credit other than a mortgage over the last two decades made no difference to mine.

My MBNA has a credit score built into the App, it is currently 677 out of 710, utterly pointless if you ask me.

[Jockman]

The Martin Lewis website offers a free credit score. Again, just be aware of its limitations.

[spikyone]

Jockman said:

The Martin Lewis website offers a free credit score. Again, just be aware of its limitations.

Yes, as mentioned already. It links to your full credit report, so ignore the score and it's still very useful for checking the data is correct. It's called the Moneysaving Expert Credit Club IIRC, and links to Experian.

There are 3 main credit reference agencies (CRAs) in the UK: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The vast majority of lenders will check one of those three (potentially more than one) before providing credit, so it's worth having a free account that's linked to each. The free providers are:

Experian - Moneysaving Expert Credit Club
Equifax - Clearscore
TransUnion - Totally Money & Credit Karma

Each of the free providers can show your full report from the relevant CRA; all accounts that are recorded with them, balance, and payment history.

[bitchstewie]

So from the sounds of it there isn't a one stop shop that will use them all?

How has this turned into such an industry?

I remember when you could write to Experian and get your credit report for about three quid and you didn't do it for the sake of it - it certainly wasn't a thing that was a £15 monthly subscription