Check my credit score > Is 790 a good Experian credit score?

Is 790 a good Experian credit score?

Wollit Team4 minutes read · Updated 14th November 2024

Your credit score of 790 falls into the middle credit score band with Experian, UK’s largest credit reference agency. This band is called “Fair”.

What does a credit score of 790 mean?

In the UK, credit scores are calculated by three main credit reference agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Each agency has its own way of calculating credit scores, which means that if you check your credit score with all of them, you’ll probably have not one, but three credit scores.

These agencies also split their scores into different bands to help people understand how lenders see them.

A “Fair” credit score is the rating right in the middle of the Experian credit score range. Your credit score is in this band if it’s between 720 and 880. TransUnion has a similar band, also called “Fair”, although their credit score range is different (0 to 710 instead of 0 to 999 as it is with Experian).

Equifax has a band called “Fair” too, although for them it’s the second lowest credit score band since they name things differently. In other words, if you’re checking a score of 790 on Equifax or ClearScore, it means something else entirely. We’re only looking at the Experian score in this guide, since it’s the largest agency and one that most people are familiar with. You can easily get your Experian credit score for free, too.

With Experian, a “Fair” credit score tells lenders that you are generally a responsible borrower but you might have occasionally struggled with debt at some point in the past. It just wasn’t anything too serious – perhaps a few missed payments, or even a default that happened long ago but from which you’ve recovered.

What does a credit score of 790 mean for my money?

Having a “Fair” Experian score means you are viewed as a moderate-risk borrower by lenders. Here is what you can expect:

1. You may have a better chance of being approved for loans and credit cards compared to those with “Poor“ or “Very Poor“ scores, but you may not get the lowest APRs or the highest credit limits.
2. You might be asked for a higher deposit for a mortgage.
3. You may receive credit card offers, but they might not have the rewards, cashback, or promotions offered to those with “Good“ or “Excellent“ credit scores.
4. Landlords and letting agencies may also refuse your application to rent in competitive rental markets. At the very least expect a higher deposit.
5. Some insurance providers also look at credit scores to calculate premiums. A “Fair” score could mean higher premiums for car, home, or life insurance.

Basically, a “Fair” credit score puts you in an uncomfortable position: you might qualify for the loans, mortgages, and credit cards that you want, but you might decide to not go ahead with your application because of the less-than-ideal terms.

You need to be careful here, as this can even make your problem worse. Making too many loan applications can further hurt your score, regardless of whether you accept the offers or not.

The main challenge, however, will be the total cost of the loans. Your interest rates will be higher, and this can add to quite a bit, especially for large loans and mortgages.

For example, a small increase of 1% in APR for a somewhat average £400,000 mortgage taken for 30 years can add up to almost £90,000 over the entire life of the mortgage. That’s a huge amount to pay simply for having made a few mistakes in the distant past.

How to improve a credit score of 790?

The high cost of your loans and the fact that you might get worse offers than you think is why it’s so important to continue working on your credit score.

A few things you can do:

• Avoid making too many applications. Each credit application requires a hard credit check, and having more than two in a six month period can actually lower your credit score.
• Register to vote at your current address, and update your registration every time you move. This helps credit agencies and lenders verify your identity.
• Don’t max out your credit cards. In fact, try to stick to having balances lower than 25% of your credit card limit. This is Experian’s recommended threshold for seeing a positive impact on your credit score.
• And make sure you have credit agreements that you pay regularly and on time so you can continue building your credit history.

The good news is that now there are many apps that can help you do this. One such app is Wollit.

Wollit is available on both iOS and Android, and it reports your monthly subscription as loan repayment to all three main credit reference agencies, helping you maintain and even improve your credit history, which is the main factor that matters for your credit score.

Eventually, you should be able to move into a less “average” credit score band and save hundreds of thousands of pounds in interest.