Your Credit Score
Thinking about applying for credit? Check Your Credit Score for free, with no impact on your credit file.
Your credit score gives lenders an idea about how well you manage your finances.
There are three main credit reference agencies in the UK, each collecting information about you from public records, lenders and other service providers, before generating a ‘credit score’.
This number reflects how likely you are to repay anything you borrow, based on your track-record of using credit and managing your finances. The higher it is, the better your chances of being accepted when you apply for credit. Your score changes over time, just as your circumstances do.
It’s useful to know that you don’t have one credit score though. Each credit reference agency could hold different information about you, and has their own way of scoring.
Not only that, but lenders and other service providers do their own scoring when you apply for credit, looking at information from your credit record. They also consider other factors like affordability and any past account history.
Get a better understanding by watching a short video.
Each credit reference agency uses a different scale, but as a general rule, the higher your credit score is, the better your chances are of being accepted when you apply for credit.
It’s useful to know this could be different to what lenders and service providers see – they consider other factors, as well as information from your credit record – but it still gives you a quick idea about your financial position at any moment in time.
Below are examples from the credit reference agencies Halifax work with:
Excellent |
Very good |
Good |
Poor |
Very poor |
---|---|---|---|---|
Excellent961 - 999 |
Very good881 - 960 |
Good721 - 880 |
Poor561 - 720 |
Very poor0 - 560 |
Excellent |
Very good |
Good |
Poor |
Very poor |
---|---|---|---|---|
Excellent811 - 1000 |
Very good671 - 810 |
Good531 - 670 |
Poor439 - 530 |
Very poor0 - 438 |
Excellent |
Very good |
Ok |
Needs some work |
Needs work |
---|---|---|---|---|
Excellent628 - 710 |
Very good604 - 627 |
Ok586 - 603 |
Needs some work551 - 585 |
Needs work0 - 550 |
There are a number of things you can do, which might improve your credit score over time:
Credit scores are recorded by the credit reference agencies in the UK.