Your credit score is a three-digit number based on all the stuff that goes into your credit report. Any time you’ve borrowed money – such as a credit card, loan or mobile phone contract – it all goes into your credit report. Your score gives lenders a look at what you’ve been like when it comes to repaying what you’ve borrowed. Things that affect your score are things like whether or not you pay your bills on time.
Your score is between 0-999. The score you have depends on which credit referencing agency you are checking your score with. For example:
Experian gives a credit score out of 999. They class a ‘good’ credit score to be anywhere between 881 and 960. And a ‘fair’ or ‘average’ score is between 721 and 880.
Equifax gives a credit score out of 700. They class a ‘good’ credit score as anything that’s 420 or above.
TransUnion gives a credit score out of 710. Scores between 604-627 are considered ‘good’ and scores of 628 and above are considered ‘excellent’.
Generally, a score of 700 or higher is considered to be good, but below 670 is considered fair, while below 580 would be considered poor. The lower your credit score, the less likely you are to be accepted by mainstream lenders for credit – like a mortgage.
For a detailed and thorough overview of everything in your credit record, go to checkmyfile*. They show you the information from all three credit checkers and you can download your report for free with a 30 day trial (usually £14.99 a month).
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