Credit Card Blog

A few years ago I remember hearing from loads of people that if you check your credit report, the actual score would go down! Honestly, it put me off signing up and seeing what my credit score was, and how my history looked. Well, I’ve done a bit of research and here’s what really happens. 

a) Checking your credit report does NOT affect your score

b) When companies run a search on you, they leave a footprint. Basically – every company that checks your score (considering whether or not to lend to you etc) gets noted down. 

c) Only people that you specifically allow can run a credit search on you. (If you apply for a loan with a company the terms and conditions authorise them to run a credit search on you) 

Credit Expert say the following:

“We include searches on your credit report so you know who has looked at your information. Lenders look at credit searches to help them spot unusual activity. For example, a large number of credit applications may indicate financial difficulties. Searches also help lenders to prevent fraud. ”

d) Companies can refuse you credit / loans if they see something in the footprint which concerns them – for example if they see that you have authorised 10 credit car companies to run a search, then it may suggest that you have financial difficulties. 

Another point of this footprint is that it allows you to see who has asked for information about you and when. Following so far?

Again – Credit Expert say “This ‘footprint’ will show the date of the credit check (known as a search), the name of the organisation you applied to and the type of credit you applied for“.

Now if you go and check your score anf have a look at your own report, you don’t leave a footprint – so nobody (the lenders especially!) will realise you have checked it.. so it can’t count against you. 

This has got a bit long… sorry. Basically, people running a search leave a footprint. Some companies will look at this footprint and this can influence their decision in lending to you. You don’t leave a footprint when you check it because you’re not running an actual search.

If you want to check your credit score go to Credit Expert - for a 30 day free trial.. (you can always cancel it after 30 days!)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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