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Credit Reports

Credit reports are held by a small number of credit reporting agencies, such as Experian.

Credit reports contain information about what loans you have taken out, your payment history and if any loans have gone into default or you have had any judgments against you.

If you are up to date with all your loan payments and don't have any debts sent to collections agents or CCJs (County Court Judgments), your credit report should be pretty straight forward. It should show what loans you have and that you are up to date with payments.

It will also show any enquiries that have been made on your credit report. Enquires generally happen when you apply for a loan. Lenders check your credit report when they are deciding whether to accept your application. It may also affect what interest rate they offer you.

Bad Credit

If you have less than perfect credit, these things will also show up on your credit report. This includes things like late payments and debts that have been sent to collection agencies. If you have had any county court judgments (CCJs) against you, these will also be recorded.

Having these kinds of things show up on your credit report can damage your ability to get loans and credit. Most lenders are looking for reliable people to lend to. If they see that you haven't consistently made monthly payments in the past, they will be less inclined to lend to you. You may also find that you will be charged higher interest rates when your credit is poor.

Credit Scores

Credit scores are calculated by individual banks and lenders. This means that your actual credit score used may vary between each institution that calculates it.

Banks and building societies use your credit report as a basis for calculating your credit score. However, they may also use other information such as your answers to questions on the application form.