Credit Score Basics > How Experian CreditExpert works

How Experian CreditExpert works

Wollit Team4 minute read · Updated 30th June 2024

Experian CreditExpert is a paid subscription service offered by Experian, one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the UK.

While Experian gives you your credit score for free, this paid subscription gives you more details, including telling you which factors influence your credit score.

More importantly, it also provides you with your full Experian credit report, as well as a set of tools to protect your credit report from identity fraud.

What’s included in the Experian CreditExpert subscription?

For £14.99 per month (after a 30-day free trial), CreditExpert offers the following key features:

Daily updates on your Experian Credit Score and Report.
Personalised tips on how to improve your credit score.
Credit score prediction based on your current activity.
Credit score simulator, which tells you what happens to your credit score if you take a loan, mortgage, credit card, or even if you open a new bank account.
Breakdown of all your borrowing in one place.
Alerts on changes to your credit profile, such as your score going up or down.
Identity theft protection, including web monitoring and the ability to lock your credit report so fraudsters can’t apply for credit in your name.
And even access to credit score experts for support and advice.

Is CreditExpert available on mobile?

Yes, you can access your CreditExpert features in the Experian mobile app, available for both iOS and Android phones and tablets.

The app allows you to check your Experian credit report and score, receive alerts, and lock your credit report on the go.

How do I sign up for CreditExpert?

To sign up for CreditExpert, you can visit the Experian website and click on the "Try 30 days for free" button.

You'll need to provide some personal information, such as your name, address, and date of birth, to verify your identity.

Once you've finished the registration process, you'll have access to all of CreditExpert's features for 30 days.

If you decide to continue with the service after the trial period, you'll be charged £14.99 per month.

Can I cancel CreditExpert at any time?

Yes, you can cancel your CreditExpert subscription at any time.

If you cancel during the 30-day free trial period, you won't be charged.

If you cancel after the trial period, you'll continue to have access to CreditExpert until the end of your billing cycle.

Is CreditExpert worth the cost?

That depends. If you’re preparing for a significant loan application, like a mortgage, you might want to understand exactly what’s influencing your credit score. You might also want to make sure there are no errors in your Experian credit report.

CreditExpert can also keep your Experian file safe from fraudsters, so if you suspect identity fraud, it might also be worthwhile then.

However, if you only need a basic credit score and report, you can get these for free.

What CreditExpert features can I get for free?

Experian offers you two services for free that for most people tick the box of what they need.

The first is your Experian credit score. To view it, simply create a free Experian account.

Having this free account also lets you use Experian Boost – you don’t need to be a CreditExpert customer to boost your score this way.

Also, you are entitled to a free statutory credit report from each of the three major credit agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) once per year.

While this report only provides a basic snapshot of your credit history and does not include your credit score or other features offered by CreditExpert, it can be sufficient for most people.

Also, you should remember that CreditExpert only gives you access to your Experian credit report and score.

However, there are plenty of free services that offer you the same features but for the other two main credit agencies:

ClearScore lets you view your Equifax credit report and score. It’s like CreditExpert for Equifax, but free.
Credit Karma, MoneySuperMarket, and MoneySavingExpert let you view your TransUnion credit report and score. They’re like CreditExpert for TransUnion, but free.

The main difference between these and CreditExpert, besides showing you data for a different credit agency, is that they usually don’t offer identity fraud protection for free. They also update the score and report once a week or once a month, not daily like CreditExpert.

On the other hand, they also calculate your affordability score for different loans and other credit products, which Experian doesn’t. This matters because it's possible to have a low affordability score even if your credit score is high and you have a good chance of being accepted in theory. Lenders care about affordability as well.

Does CreditExpert affect my credit score?

No, using CreditExpert does not directly affect your credit score. However, the information and tools provided by CreditExpert can help you make informed decisions about managing your credit, which can positively impact your score over time.

How can I use CreditExpert to improve my credit score?

Here are the main ways you can use CreditExpert to improve your credit score:

Correcting any errors on your Experian credit report.
Locking your credit report to prevent identity fraud.
Understanding why your credit score moved up or down.
Using the score simulator to understand what happens if you take credit, so you can plan your major loan applications better.
And using Experian Boost to add positive payment history to your credit report, like utility bills or subscription services. However, you don’t actually need to be a CreditExpert paying customer to do this. Having a free Experian account is enough.

You should also keep in mind that Experian Boost doesn’t actually improve your credit score. It simply creates a new version of your credit score, called a “boosted score”. Lenders will see both your regular Experian score and your boosted one, and it’s up to them if they want to also consider the boosted score. Not all lenders participate in the Experian Boost program, either.

At the end of the day, what matters most for your credit score is that you work on your credit history.

The good news is that now there are many apps that can help you build and improve credit. One such app is Wollit.

Wollit works by reporting a fixed-fee monthly subscription as a loan repayment to all credit reference agencies, including Experian. This helps you build a history of timely debt repayments, which is the main factor that matters for your credit score.

Checking your credit score can be useful, but if you’re looking to actually improve it, you might get more mileage from a credit-building app like Wollit than from a CreditExpert subscription.