Credit Score Basics > How to check your credit score with Experian

How to check your credit score with Experian

Experian is the UK's largest and most used credit reference agency. If you want to see your credit score with Experian, your best option is registering for a free account with Experian. But other tools are available, too – like CheckMyFile.

How do I check my credit score with Experian?

To get your Experian credit score straight from the source, go to Experian's homepage and click "Sign up".

You'll be offered two options: create a free Experian account or request your statutory credit report. If you want to check your credit score, click the first option. The statutory credit report is a basic version of your credit report, and while it shows you your credit history—the stuff used to calculate your credit score—it doesn't actually come with a credit score.

To create your free account, you must provide Experian with your personal information, such as name and address history. The address history is especially important – if you've moved a lot in the past six years, you'll find that Experian might have trouble verifying your identity.

This is why it's essential to register to vote first at your current address and keep updating your electoral roll registration every time you move. This makes it much easier for Experian to verify that you are who you say you are, which they must do to keep fraudsters away.

Once you've created an account and logged in, you'll be shown a few things:

• Your Experian credit score: a number between 0 and 999;
• Your Experian credit score band: which ranges from "Very Poor" to "Excellent";
• And how much your score has improved or dropped since last month.

If you want to see more information—for example, why your credit score dropped or improved and what is influencing it—you'll need to sign up for the paid Experian CreditExpert subscription.

This costs £14.99 a month, and it also comes with:

• tips on how to improve your credit score;
• Information on why your credit score is up or down;
• your full Experian Credit Report (a more detailed version of the free statutory one);
• Identity protection features, like a credit report lock, prevent fraudsters from applying for loans in your name.

How about getting my Experian credit score from CheckMyFile?

Experian isn't the UK's only credit reference agency (CRA). There are two more: Equifax and TransUnion.

Because of this, you actually don’t have one, but three credit scores in the UK: an Experian one, an Equifax one, and a TransUnion one.

CheckMyFile puts them together and shows you a "CheckMyFile Credit Score". This is a combination of these three scores, not a separate one.

In other words, you can't see your Experian credit score on CheckMyFile, only the combined score ofExperian's score and those from Equifax and TransUnion.

Still, it can be a good option if you want to ensure that you understand how lenders see your file. After all, most work with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion as well. Plus, CheckMyFile charges the same amount as Experian (£14.99), so you're essentially getting more information for the same price.

Should I get my credit score from Experian or CheckMyFile?

At the end of the day, which option you choose is up to you.

Our recommendation:

• Start by creating a free account with Experian.
• Then try the 30-day free trial for CreditExpert or CheckMyFile. This will help you understand why your score might be dropping and figure out what to do next.
• You can then either cancel the free trial or continue your subscription if you find it valuable.
• The great thing about having a free Experian account (besides the price tag) is that it allows you to use Experian Boost. This service lets you connect your bank account to Experian and make some of your regular subscriptions (including even things you might not expect, like Netflix) count towards your Experian credit score.

If you want to improve how your Experian credit report looks to lenders further, consider downloading a credit-building app like Wollit.

Wollit reports your monthly subscription as loan repayment, helping you build your credit history and boost your credit score. It also reports your regular rent payments to Experian, which can add to your credit report so that lenders can see that you're financially reliable.

• Credit Reference Agencies