What is on your credit report and what lenders can see

Your credit report is a factual record of the credit you have taken out, how much you owe, how you have handled the payments, and whether any court action has been taken against you¹. If you have ever had a credit card, a loan or a mortgage, one of three main credit reference agencies holds a file on you². Lenders look at that file when you apply for credit, and it helps them decide whether to lend to you³.

The agencies themselves do not make the decision. They provide information to help lenders make a decision; they do not say who can and cannot have credit⁴. When you apply for a credit card, for example, the provider checks your credit record with a credit reference agency to see whether you are credit worthy⁵. Lenders use information from the credit reference agencies, rather than public notices such as The Gazette, to decide whether they will lend to you⁶.

The agencies build your file from information supplied by creditors, including banks and building societies, government departments, local authorities and utility companies, showing your recent credit history and credit commitments⁷. A credit reference report can also help you keep track of your own finances⁸, and you can apply for it either online or through a statutory application to the three main agencies⁹.

What a credit report is and what lenders use it for

A credit file is a record of any credit you take out, including how much you owe, how you handle payments, and whether any court action is taken against you¹. It is not a judgement about you in itself: it is the raw material a lender works from. The credit reference agencies obtain information from creditors about how people manage their credit accounts, and use it to create your file⁷.

Lenders rely on this when you apply. A credit card provider will check your credit record with a credit reference agency to see if you are credit worthy⁵, and lenders generally use the agencies' information, rather than public registers, when deciding whether to lend⁶. The agencies' role stops there: they provide information to help lenders make a decision, and they do not say who can and cannot have credit⁴. That is why there is no such thing as a credit blacklist, a point explained on the credit blacklist page.

For you, the report works in the other direction. It can help you keep track of your finances⁸, find out who you owe money to if you have lost track of debts¹³, and check whether anything on the file is wrong before a lender sees it. You can apply for your report either online or through a statutory application to the three main credit reference agencies⁹, and the page on credit reference agencies explains who they are.

What is on your credit report: accounts, payments and public records

A credit report pulls together several kinds of information in one place. Which? sets out the main sections: your name, address and date of birth; whether you are on the electoral roll at your current address; how much you currently owe; late and missed payments; and public records including county court judgments (CCJs), repossession, bankruptcy or an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA)¹⁴.

The accounts section is broader than many people expect. Your credit file tracks how you use loans, credit cards, bank accounts, mobile phone contracts, car insurance when paid in monthly instalments, and some utility companies' accounts¹⁵. StepChange lists the same range: debts, bank accounts, loans, credit cards and other credit, bills such as mobile phones, utilities and insurances, plus CCJs, decrees and insolvencies like bankruptcy¹³. Missed mortgage payments are recorded on your credit file too¹⁶.

Public records form their own section. All CCJs are listed on your credit file¹⁷, and a CCJ will appear on your credit report as the information the agency provides to companies¹⁸. Court action recorded on the file includes county court judgments, decrees or money judgements¹⁰. In Scotland the equivalent entries are decrees and trust deeds, covered on the credit files in Scotland page.

What the report holds is factual information, which can include your payment record on some agreements¹⁹. It does not show your account balance: credit reports do not include information about your balance, but they do show lenders how many accounts you have open²⁰. The full picture of what each section contains, and how the agencies differ, is on the how to check your credit report page.

What your credit report does not show

Several things people assume are on the report are not. Your income, savings and employment do not appear on your credit report²¹. A lender may ask about them on an application form, but they are not part of the file the agency holds.

The report does not include your credit score either. The statutory reports you can order free of charge do not include your score²², and lenders will not tell you what score they calculated, though if you ask them, they must tell you which credit reference agency they used to get the information about you²³. Scores are explained separately on the what is a credit score page.

Other common gaps:

• Soft credit checks do not appear on your credit report²⁴, so eligibility checks leave nothing behind for other lenders to see.
• Financial associates' credit history does not appear in your report, but lenders can view it when you apply for credit³. Being linked to someone is covered on the financial associations page.
• Your account balance is not shown, though the number of open accounts is²⁰.
• Some commercial services give only a partial view: Credit Matcher from Experian does not have full details of debts¹³.

Rent payments are another gap worth knowing about. Credit checks by landlords and agents do not show whether you have missed rent payments in the past, though they usually show if you are bankrupt or have CCJs²⁵. Rent reporting services can change this, as explained on the rent and your credit file page.

Most information stays on your file for six years

Six years is the standard retention period for most entries. Some information stays on your credit file for six years, including missed payments, defaults and court judgments¹⁰. Citizens Advice puts it the same way: information about you is usually held on your file for six years²³. The credit reference agency will leave most information on your report for at least six years²⁶.

The rule applies across the different kinds of adverse entry:

Two things follow from this. First, the clock runs from the event, not from when you first notice it: debts show on your credit file for six years from the date they are paid off, or the date the account defaulted¹³. Second, the entry does not wait for the debt to be settled: information about a debt is taken off your file after six years even if you still owe it¹³. How long each kind of entry lasts is set out in detail on the how long information stays on your file page.

Reading payment history: on time, late and default markers

The payment history section is the heart of the report for most lenders. Each account shows how you have handled it month by month, and where a payment was late, lenders assessing you will see a small number next to each late payment telling them how many months late the payment was³¹. These are the account status codes, explained fully on the account status codes page.

Late payments, missed payments and defaults all stay on your credit history for six years³¹, and all missed, late or partial payments are recorded on your credit file for at least six years¹⁶. A single late payment is therefore visible for a long time, which is why the missed payments page is worth reading before problems start.

A default is the more serious marker, and it usually arrives after a run of missed payments. A default generally happens once you have missed three or more payments²⁷, or, as National Debtline puts it, after you have missed between three and six months' payments²⁶. The progression looks like this:

The markers matter because lenders read them as a pattern rather than isolated events. One late payment on an otherwise clean file reads differently from a run of them, and a default reads differently again. What each marker means for a mortgage application is covered on the getting a mortgage with late payments and defaults page.

Defaults and CCJs: how they appear and when they drop off

Defaults and county court judgments are the two entries people worry about most, and both follow the six-year rule. After six years, things like late payments, defaults and county court judgments drop off your report completely²¹. If your CCJ was longer than six years ago, it will not appear on your credit file³⁴.

CCJs and decrees appear on your credit file for six years from the date of the judgment¹³. There is one important exception: if you paid the debt relating to the CCJ within 30 days, or successfully disputed it, it might not even appear on your credit history at all³⁴. That short window is explained on the paying a CCJ within a month page.

The impact on a score can be large. According to Experian, receiving a CCJ will knock 250 points off your score, and defaulting on an account will mean a 350-point reduction³⁵. Scores and what moves them are covered on the what affects your credit score page.

A defaulted account is not cleared early by paying it. If an account has defaulted, the debt is removed six years after the default, even if it is not fully repaid²⁶. Paying the debt may change how the entry is shown, but the default itself stays for the six years. The defaults page covers this in full.

Hard or soft searches: which ones lenders can see

Every time someone looks at your file, a search is recorded, and the type of search determines who can see it. Hard checks involve a full search of your credit report and leave a footprint on your credit file that is visible to other lenders for at least 12 months, and can affect your credit report and score³⁶. Soft checks do not appear on your credit report at all²⁴.

Searches by a creditor, such as when you apply for credit, stay on your file for 1 or 2 years depending on the credit reference agency⁴. That is shorter than the six years for payment records, but a cluster of hard searches in a short period is itself something lenders notice. The hard and soft credit searches page explains the mechanics.

Landlords and letting agents sit on the soft side. They can only do a soft search of your credit record³⁷, which means they only see information that is already public, for example CCJs, an IVA or bankruptcy³⁷. Shelter makes the same point: landlords and agents can only do a soft search³⁸, and these checks do not show missed rent payments²⁵.

Research for the FCA found that consumers have some level of understanding of the difference between hard and soft checks, with the concept more familiar as "check your eligibility before applying"³⁹. Eligibility checkers and their effect on your file are covered on the eligibility checkers page.

Who can see your credit report, and with whose permission

Access to your file is not open. Lenders can search it when you apply for credit, and if you are financially linked to someone, for example through a joint account, the lender can have full access to your credit file in the same way it could if it were you applying for credit⁴⁰. Financial links and how to remove them are covered on the financial associations page.

Landlords need your consent. Landlords and letting agents need your permission to check your credit history when you apply to rent¹⁰, and in Scotland official guidance is stricter still: they can only check your credit rating if you give them written permission⁴¹. What a tenant credit check involves is on the tenant credit checks page.

You can see your own file at any time: you have the legal right to check your report for free with all three main agencies³⁶. If there has been any fraud against you, for example if someone has used your identity, there may be a marker against your name to protect you, and you will be able to see this on your credit file²³. Fraud markers are explained on the Cifas and Protective Registration page.

Getting your statutory credit report free from each agency

You do not need a paid service to see your file. You have a statutory right to request a copy of your credit reference report from the three main credit reference agencies⁴, and you can request a statutory copy of your credit report from any of them free of charge¹⁴. The Information Commissioner's Office, the data regulator, confirms that making this request is free of charge¹¹.

The statutory route is worth using even if you also have a free commercial account, because it is the formal legal right and the report comes directly from the agency. You can also get a free copy of your credit report from a credit reference agency to check specific things, such as whether you have a CCJ against you¹⁸.

What to expect once you have asked:

1. Apply to the agency, online or through a statutory application⁹.
2. The agency sends your report within seven working days, unless it needs you to send proof of your identity and address⁴².
3. Check each section: personal details, accounts, payment history, searches and public records.
4. Repeat with the other agencies, since each holds its own version of your file.

The statutory report does not include your score²², and the three agencies' files can differ, a point explained on the why your score differs between agencies page. How often to check is covered on the how often to check page.

Correcting mistakes and adding a notice of correction

If something on your file is wrong, you can challenge it. You can ask the credit reference agency to add a notice of correction, which allows you to provide an explanation for any errors or inaccurate information⁷. The dispute process has a deadline attached: the agency should remove the information or explain why it will not within 28 days¹². Lenders and credit reference agencies have up to 28 days to respond to a dispute, and Experian says it usually resolves issues in less than two weeks³⁵. The full timescales are on the dispute timescales page.

A notice of correction is a different tool from a dispute. It does not remove an entry; it adds your explanation beside it. You can ask the agency to put a notice on your report of up to 200 words explaining why you got into debt or why you think information on your report is wrong²⁶. The Information Commissioner's Office describes its purpose: it allows you to write a statement explaining your situation, which will be seen by anyone who looks at the entry on your credit reference file and should be taken into consideration if you apply for credit¹¹. The right is set in law: under section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you can require the agency to add to the file an accompanying notice of correction not exceeding 200 words⁴³.

The notice is free to add⁴ and can be added or removed at any time; only organisations that check your credit reference file will see it⁴⁴. It has one practical side effect worth knowing: once you add a notice of correction to your credit report, any application for credit must be read by a person and not given an automatic decision by a computer⁴⁴. Business Debtline puts the same point in procedural terms: if there is a notice of correction on your report, your application must be referred for a manual decision²⁸.

Agencies will not remove accurate information, however unwelcome. Credit reference agencies will not remove adverse information if it is correct, although consumers may ask to submit a notice of correction to explain the circumstances¹². Firms that claim otherwise are a known problem: the credit repair companies page covers what they can and cannot do.

If a dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can complain to the agency. The firm has eight weeks to investigate and give you its final response⁴⁶, after which you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Free, impartial help with debt problems and your credit file is available from charities including StepChange and National Debtline, and the debt section explains where to start.