When deciding whether to give you credit, a bank or other organisations will often check your credit history by asking one or more credit reference agencies for information from your credit report.
Checking your credit report is free and it’s good to do so regularly as it won’t affect your chances of getting credit. Our guide explains how to check and why it matters.
What is a credit report?
A credit report is a record of your credit activity and accounts you hold, using information supplied by banks, building societies, local authorities and courts. This may include your history of applying for credit products (eg, a credit card) and your history of managing payments. Your report is one of the things banks or lenders will use to decide whether to lend to you or let you open an account.
In the UK there are four agencies that compile this information:
Experian
Equifax
TransUnion
Crediva
They’re known as Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs). Each CRA will have credit report for you although the information in each might be different.
What information is in your credit report?
Your credit report typically holds the following information:
A list of your credit products. This includes bank and credit card accounts as well as other credit arrangements such as outstanding loan agreements, current accounts with overdrafts or utility company payment records. They’ll show whether you’ve made repayments on time and in full. Items such as missed or late payments or defaults will stay on your credit report for up to six years.
Details of any people who are financially linked to you – for example, because you've taken out a joint loan with your partner.
Public record information such as County Court Judgments (called ‘Decrees’ in Scotland), bankruptcies, Debt Relief Orders and individual voluntary arrangements. These can stay on your report for up to six years or longer in some circumstances.
If you’re on the electoral register. This helps to confirm your address so registering to vote is an easy way to improve your credit score.
Any financial connections to past addresses or other names you've used, including people you’ve shared finances with, like a joint mortgage.
If someone has stolen your identity and you are a victim of fraud, this may be included in your credit report under the Cifas section. Find out more about what a Cifas marker means in our guide How to improve your credit score.
Your personal details such as your name and date of birth.
Your credit report doesn’t carry other personal information such as your salary, religion or any criminal record.
What’s the difference between a credit report and a credit score?
Your credit report is just the file held by each CRA that contains all the information above.
Your credit score is a number that offers a general indication of how likely it is that organisations might offer credit to you, based on the information in your credit report. Having a high score doesn’t guarantee any particular lender will actually offer you credit. This is because each firm uses its own criteria, which might vary depending on which credit product you’re applying for.
You can find out more about understanding and improving your credit score in our guide How to improve your credit score.
How to check your credit report for free
By law, all CRAs have to provide you with a copy of your statutory credit report for free.
You can check your credit report as often as you like, and it won’t affect your score.
It’s worth getting a copy of your credit report from all CRAs if you haven’t applied for it before or if you haven’t checked it for some time. That’s because they might have different information from different credit providers, although there is quite a lot of overlap between them.
You can get a copy of your statutory credit report online or order a paper copy by contacting the credit scoring agencies direct:
Check your Equifax credit report Opens in a new window
Check your Experian credit reportOpens in a new window
Check your Crediva credit reportOpens in a new window
Find out more about how to get a written copy of your credit report from the Information Commissioner's OfficeOpens in a new window
There are other providers that work with the CRAs to provide free regular access to both your credit score and credit report including:
Check your TransUnion credit score and report for free via the MoneySavingExpert Credit ClubOpens in a new window
Check your Equifax credit score and report for free via ClearScoreOpens in a new window
Check your Experian credit score only for free (your report is available separately)Opens in a new window on Experian
Paid options may also be available with added features.
Who looks at my credit report?
When you apply for credit, you’ll usually be expected to give your permission to the credit provider to check your credit report.
The term ‘credit provider’ doesn’t only include banks and credit card companies. It also includes, for example, providers of mobile phone services if you have a phone contract (but not if you’re on a pay-as-you-go deal) or companies that want to check your ability to make payments on time, such as energy providers.
Employers and landlords can also check your credit report. However, they’ll usually only see public record information such as:
electoral register information
insolvency records
Court Judgments (called ‘Decrees’ in Scotland).
What’s the difference between a hard search and a soft search?
A ‘soft’ search isn’t visible to anyone but you and the credit reference agency (CRA) so it doesn’t affect your credit score at all.
Examples of a soft search include you checking your own report, a credit provider checking your report to do an ID check, or an eligibility calculator checking the likelihood of you being accepted for a credit product.
A ‘hard’ search is visible to credit providers and will happen when you apply for a credit product such as a loan, mortgage or mobile phone contract.
A hard search will affect your credit score and lots of hard searches in a short space of time can make potential lenders think you rely too much on credit and might be higher risk.
Hard searches can remain on your credit report for up to two years, which is why it’s good to apply for as few credit products as possible in a year and use soft search eligibility checkers where possible before you apply.
Find out what you can do if you’ve been declined credit in our guide What to do if you’re refused a loan or credit card.
How often should I check my credit report?
It makes sense to check it from time to time to make sure there are no mistakes, or you haven’t missed any payments without realising it.
You can check your credit report as often as you like and it won’t affect your credit rating as it counts as a soft search.
If you’re thinking about applying for credit
If you’re shopping around but not yet ready to apply, then make it clear and ask for a quotation, ‘quotation search’ or (‘soft search credit check') or use an ‘eligibility checker’.
This is where a lender searches your credit record – either to decide whether you qualify for credit or to provide a quote – but without it affecting your credit report.
If you’re applying for credit
It’s a good idea to check your credit report first, especially if you haven’t looked at it for some time.
If your credit score is low or you’re worried about being eligible for credit you should look at ways to improve your credit score first.
If you’re applying for something important like a mortgage, you should try not to make any other credit applications in the six months before.
If you’ve been rejected for credit
Being rejected for credit can be disheartening but checking your credit report can help you understand why you might have been rejected. However, only the credit provider will know the reason for refusing to offer you credit so you may want to ask them to tell you this, although they don’t have to tell you why.
It is possible to be refused credit with an excellent credit history because credit providers look at a number of things when deciding to lend, including whether they think you can afford to take on another credit commitment.
Check your credit report for mistakes, update old addresses and make sure you’re registered to vote to help improve your credit score.
You can also use our free tool to give you an action plan to improve your chances of being accepted in the future What to do when you’ve been refused credit.
