Credit card Guide

How to check your credit rating without it costing a fortune

Updated: Friday 25 November, 2011

By Martin Fagan

If you’re hoping to get a loan or credit card, you’ll need a decent credit rating. But don’t break the bank finding out how healthy your credit rating is, read our guide.

One of the key things banks look at when deciding whether or not to lend you money is your credit history and rating.

The good news is, you can find out how your credit rating scores before you apply, and work out how good your chances are for getting accepted. Getting a credit report can prove expensive but there are ways to cut the cost.

Get it in the post

Credit reference agencies are independent companies that compile information on you and your borrowing history from a number of different sources, which they send to lenders in the form of a credit report.

Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you are entitled to ask one of these credit reference agencies to send you your statutory credit report in the post.

As it is sent to you by post, this is the most time-consuming way to find out your rating. But while it could take up to six weeks for a copy to arrive, it will only cost you a one-off fee of £2.

Get it online

Alternatively, by signing up online, you can check your credit report with each of these companies instantly and for free.

You will probably have to sign-up to a monthly subscription to do this, but you should be offered a free introductory period. So if you remember to cancel your subscription before this runs out, it should cost you nothing.

On the flipside, if you forget to cancel, it could be expensive. Cancelling could also involve speaking to the company by phone as they don’t provide this facility online.

The three major credit agencies in the UK are:

• Experian (www.experian.co.uk) - with Experian you can subscribe to get a 30-day free trial period. But be warned - if you do not cancel after that, it will cost you £14.99 a month.
• Equifax (www.equifax.co.uk) - Equifax also offers a 30-day free trial if you subscribe. After the free period it will cost you £6.99 a month for the service.
• CallCredit (www.callcreditcheck.com) - Like the others, CallCredit offers a 30-day free trial period if you subscribe. After that, you will pay £12 every month for the service.

Check all three for less

For a fee of £6.99 a month, one website called Checkmyfile.com (www.checkmyfile.co.uk) checks all of these major services for you, and then compiles all the information in a comprehensive table.

This is helpful because banks don’t all use the same agency, so if you know which bank uses which agency, you can adapt your applications accordingly and increase your chances of being approved for credit.

Our credit rating agencies guide has a useful table to show which banks use which credit reference agency.