Credit Score Basics > How the Equifax Statutory Credit Report works

How the Equifax Statutory Credit Report works

3 minute read · Updated 21st April 2024

The Equifax Statutory Credit Report is a free, standard report offered by Equifax that shows your credit history.

Your credit history, in turn, is everything you've done related to credit, loans, and repayments over the past six years. Lenders use this information to decide whether to approve your credit applications.

According to the Consumer Credit Act of 1974, all credit reference agencies must provide you with this report for free. The fact that it's required by law is what makes it "statutory."

Equifax goes further – once you create an Equifax account, you can access the Equifax statutory report for life. It's also updated daily.

What's in my Equifax Statutory Credit Report?

Your Statutory Credit Report shows a basic view of your credit history. In it, you can see things like:

Your personal details,
Your financial links to other people,
Whether you're on the electoral register,
Your credit accounts,
Any missed payments or defaults,
And any credit checks done by lenders or other companies (up to two years).

Does my Equifax Statutory Report also show my credit score?

Your Equifax Statutory Report does not show your credit score. For this reason, if you're considering a loan or mortgage, you should actually get both the statutory report and your Equifax credit score.

You can get your Equifax credit score in three ways:

From Equifax, if you subscribe to their £14.95 a month plan.
From CheckMyFile, which for a similar amount gives you all three credit scores – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Or for free, from ClearScore.

How do I get my Equifax Statutory Credit Report?

You can apply for your Equifax Statutory Credit Report either online or by post.

This is the process to get your statutory report online:

Go to the Equifax Statutory Credit report page.
Provide your personal details.
Provide all your UK addresses from the past six years.
To verify your identity, you might be asked to send a series of documents via post, such as original (not copies) bank statements or utility bills and copies of your IDs.
You might also be asked to write a short letter explaining why you need access to this report.

This might sound like a lot but don't worry. Equifax simply wants to know that a fraudster isn't pretending to be you. They won't refuse you access to your report as long as you can verify your identity.

After you're verified, you can view, download, and print a PDF of your Equifax statutory credit report.

To get your Equifax Statutory Report by post, follow this process:

Download the application form on the Experian website.
Fill it in.
Mail it to: Equifax Ltd, Customer Service Centre, PO Box 10036, Leicester LE3 4FS, UK.
You should receive a paper copy of your report within a month.
If needed, Equifax might ask you to verify your identity as well.

How do I get my credit report if I'm self-employed?

Suppose you're self-employed and registered as a sole trader. In that case, you actually have the right to two kinds of statutory credit reports: one for you as an individual and one for you as a business. The second kind is called the Statutory Business Report.

To get your Equifax Statutory Business Report, you'll have to do it by post.

This is how it works:

Go to the Equifax website.
Download the Equifax Statutory Business Report form.
Fill it in
And post it to the same address: Equifax Ltd, Customer Service Centre, PO Box 10036, Leicester LE3 4FS, UK.

I got my Equifax statutory report. Now what?

Checking your own Equifax credit report is important because it allows you to do a couple of things:

You can get a sense of how lenders see your credit history.
You can figure out how to improve your credit rating (for example, by removing a financial association with an ex-spouse).
You can spot signs of identity fraud (for example, a new credit card opened in your name).
And you can also spot other pieces of inaccurate information (for example, if you see a defaulted debt that you eventually repaid but which might still show as active).

Don't panic if you see anything strange in your credit report. Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have a right to dispute errors on your credit file and have them corrected within 28 days.

So, if you spot any of these things, contact Equifax and any relevant party (lenders, credit card providers, etc.) to fix the error or stop the fraudster. They'll help you do it.