Your Experian Credit Report contains information on your financial behaviour taken from the last six years of your credit history. In a nutshell, it provides lenders a summary of how well you manage your finances, including things like your mortgage, credit cards, overdrafts, loans, mobile phone contract, and even utilities such as gas, electricity and water.
If you have a low credit score or there’s room to improve, checking your credit report can help you see whether the information on it is correct and understand what could be affecting your score.
If you're over 18 and you've taken out credit or borrowed money before, credit reference agencies like us are likely to hold a credit report on you. You can either request your credit history via a basic statutory report for free, or new customers can sign up to a free trial of CreditExpert which will include your Experian Credit Score, fraud monitoring and alerts, and tailored guidance on how to improve how lenders see you.
Absolutely not, seeing your own credit information will not affect your credit score. When you look at your own credit history this is called a ‘soft search’ and isn’t visible to companies on your credit report.
Quite simply, lenders look at your credit report, which contains your credit history – along with your application form and their own records – to get insight into your financial behaviour. It helps them decide whether to lend to you.
Your Experian Credit Report allows you to see the information lenders use when carrying out a credit check. Invest time in getting to know it. Get it in shape. Learn all about it. Embrace it.
Learn moreYour Experian Credit Report contains information about you that helps lenders confirm your identity and work out if you're a reliable borrower, such as:
This will be a summary of your credit accounts and how you've managed them. Your credit history includes the times you’ve borrowed money from a bank or financial institution, for example; credit cards, loans, utilities (e.g. gas), mobile phones, store cards and mortgages.
This will include details like whether you've made repayments on time and in full. Missed or late payments stay on your credit report for at least six years, as do bankruptcies, individual voluntary arrangements and court judgments for non-payment of debts.
A list of people who have a financial connection with you, such as a joint mortgage or bank account. These people are known as your financial associates. Their credit history doesn't appear in your report, but lenders can view it when you apply for credit. This is because your financial associates' circumstances may affect your ability to repay money.
Electoral roll information for your current address and previous addresses, which you provide when you register to vote. Your report also includes addresses you've been linked to in the past, such as those you've given to lenders on application forms.
The information in your credit report comes from two major sources:
It’s a good idea to check your report every now and then but the main reasons for checking it include: