Does checking your own credit score lower it?

Checking your own credit score does not lower it. You can look at your score and your credit report as often as you like, and nothing about that check is passed to lenders or counted against you. The only people who see when you check your own credit file are the credit reference agency¹.

The confusion comes from mixing up two different things. Looking at your own file is a soft search, and soft searches do not have an impact on your credit score². A full application for credit is a hard search, and that is the one that leaves a footprint other lenders can see, for at least 12 months³.

So the answer to the question people actually type into a search box is no. What matters is not how often you look, but how many full applications you make in a short space of time.

Checking your own score never lowers it

The rule is the same whether you look once a year or once a week. Independent guidance states plainly that you can check your own credit score without hurting it¹, and that you can check it as often as you like without doing any harm⁶. The credit reference agencies say the same about their own services: checking your score will never affect it, no matter how often you look⁷, and checking your own credit report or credit score will not affect your score or your likelihood of being accepted for credit, no matter how many times you check them⁸.

That last point is worth pausing on. It is not only your score that is unaffected, but also how a lender views an application from you. A lender looking at your report sees the searches other lenders have made. It does not see the times you have logged in to look at your own file.

There is one apparent contradiction in the sources, and it is worth explaining rather than hiding. One debt charity notes that a lot of checks in a short amount of time can reduce your score¹. Read alongside the rest, that refers to checks made by lenders when you apply, not to your own checks. The same charity's separate guidance is that the only people who see when you check your own credit file are the credit reference agency¹.

Checking regularly has a practical benefit beyond curiosity. Official guidance notes that checking your credit report regularly can help you spot any suspicious activity, giving you a chance to report it before it goes too far⁹. If someone has applied for credit in your name, your own routine check is often how you find out. There is more on that in identity fraud and your credit file.

Soft searches and hard searches: what each one does

Every search on your credit file falls into one of two categories, and the difference decides whether it matters.

A soft search is what happens when you check your own file, when a lender runs an eligibility check, when you get an insurance or credit quote, when you ask for a mortgage agreement in principle, or when a bank carries out an identity check to open a basic bank account¹⁰. Soft searches do not have an impact on your credit score, and only you will be able to see if any lenders have performed a soft search on your report². Even where a soft search shows on your report, it will not negatively impact your credit score¹⁰.

A hard search happens when you make a full application for borrowing. These are saved on your credit report and they can boost or lower your score, and hard searches are also visible to other lenders on your credit report¹¹. A hard credit check will be visible to anyone checking your credit report, and can impact your credit score for at least 12 months³.

The pattern is straightforward: soft searches are for finding out, hard searches are for committing. A hard search is recorded whether or not you are accepted¹³, which is why a rejected application is not a way of avoiding the mark.

Eligibility checkers and comparing cards before you apply

An eligibility checker is the tool that sits between browsing and applying. It uses a soft search and has no impact on your credit score, even if you are ineligible⁴. Simply comparing credit cards before you apply leaves a soft search on your credit report, which will not affect your credit score, as lenders are not able to see it¹⁴.

That matters because of what a full application does. Applying for a credit card leaves a mark on your credit file, so if you apply and you are rejected, it will show¹⁵. Applying for more credit may appear on your credit file, which is why it is worth checking you are eligible before applying¹⁶. Many credit card providers offer soft credit searches, helping you to find cards you are eligible to apply for without impacting your credit score¹³.

The same logic applies to loans. Each credit application leaves a hard credit search on your report, which can temporarily lower your credit score¹⁷. Having too many full credit searches over a short time could lower your credit score, making it harder to borrow money in future¹⁸.

A practical sequence, then, runs like this:

1. Check your own score and report first. This costs nothing and changes nothing¹.
2. Use an eligibility checker for the cards or loans you are considering. This is a soft search⁴.
3. Compare what the results show before deciding whether to apply at all¹⁴.
4. Make the full application only when you are ready, accepting that it leaves a hard search¹⁵.

There is more detail on how these tools work in credit eligibility checkers, and on what a lender weighs up in how lenders decide whether to accept you.

When a search does affect your score

The searches that count against you are the ones made by lenders when you apply for credit. A hard credit search could impact your credit score, whether you are approved or not¹⁹. Multiple hard searches, particularly within a short period, can lower your credit score⁵. The pattern rather than the single search is what does the damage: one application is unremarkable, five in a fortnight looks like someone who cannot get credit anywhere.

The information commissioner's guidance puts the general position simply: searches on your credit file should not have a negative impact on your credit history²⁰. That is the baseline. What changes it is volume and timing. If you have lots of searches on your file, this can make it harder to take out credit or affect the deals you are offered²¹.

Some searches are unavoidable and expected. Lenders will run a credit check on each applicant before granting a mortgage, and if one party has a poor credit score, it could impact the lender's decision²². A mortgage agreement in principle, by contrast, is a soft check and will not impact your credit rating, though a hard search can, so it is worth knowing which one you are being offered²³.

Does a free credit score service affect my rating?

No. Using a free service to see your score is a soft search like any other, and it changes nothing about how lenders see you. Experian's free online account gives you your score free, though not the full credit report, which is available through the app and the paid-for CreditExpert service⁶. Equifax offers a free 30-day trial of its full credit monitoring service⁶. You can also check your file through Experian, Credit Karma or Equifax²⁵.

One thing worth knowing is that the score you see is not the only score that exists. Each credit reference agency produces its own, and lenders may use their own scoring on top. A change in the number you see does not affect your ability to get credit¹. If your score moves and you want to know why, why your score differs between agencies and what affects your credit score go through the moving parts.

There is a wider point about paid services. A free score is genuinely free to look at, but the full report and monitoring sit behind a subscription at some agencies. If you want the report itself at no cost, how to check your credit report for free sets out the routes, and credit monitoring and paid report services covers what the paid versions add.

Will moving house affect my credit score?

Moving house itself will not affect your credit score, but the financial factors involved in moving can have an impact²⁶. The address on your file is one of the things lenders use to confirm who you are, so a gap between your old address and your new one can slow an application down even though it does not lower a score.

What does affect your rating is more serious than a change of address. Your house being repossessed will affect your credit rating²⁷. Negative equity will not necessarily impact your credit score, unless you default on your payments or need to move house and cannot make up the shortfall²⁸. A county court judgment is a separate matter again, and can affect your credit score, your ability to borrow, your ability to rent and your employment opportunities²⁹.

If you are moving and want to keep your file tidy, the practical steps are to update your address with your bank, your card providers and the credit reference agencies, and to make sure you are on the electoral register at the new address. There is more on the address side of your file in the electoral register and your credit file and does moving house give you a clean file?.

Where to get free help

Checking your own score is free, and so is the advice if something on your file worries you. MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, offers free impartial help, and debt advice charities including StepChange give free advice without affecting your credit score, though some debt solutions will³⁰.

If you are struggling with borrowing, it is worth knowing that lenders have to check that credit is affordable before agreeing to it, and they will also check your credit file for details of your debts³¹. If a lender has not done that properly, there are routes to complain. Your data rights over your credit file explains what you can ask an agency to do, and what to do if you are refused credit covers the next steps after a rejection.