Guide to the Equifax Credit Score Range in the UK

Do you want to understand your Equifax credit score range in the UK? You’re in the right place. Each month, over 170,000 people visit our website for guidance on debt and credit score issues. 

We know credit scores can be puzzling. That’s why we’ve created this guide that will explain:

•  Who Equifax is and what it does.
•  The range of credit scores in the UK.
•  How to check your credit score on Equifax.
•  How to correct errors on your Equifax credit score report.
•  Ways to improve your credit score.

In 2022, arrears on household bills increased by 68% from £1,739 to £2,920¹. So, it’s quite common for people to feel concerned about their credit score. Some of our team have even been there.

Don’t worry; we’re here to help you understand your credit score and know how to manage your debt.

Why Are They Important?

Equifax is used by lenders to query your credit report and find out what your credit score is.

Many lenders use Equifax credit reports for the creditworthiness assessment of loan applicants. In other words, this information is used to decide whether to offer you credit.

For example, if you were to apply to Capital One for a new credit card, it would be Equifax that Capital One uses to get your credit score.

A credit search can either be soft (no record is made of the search on your credit record) or hard (a deeper search, but a record is made on your credit file).

How to View Your Credit Report

With Equifax’s 30-day free trial, you can view your full credit report and score for free.

After the trial ends, the service costs £7.95 a month, but you can cancel anytime. It gives you a detailed view of your credit report, including your credit score and personal information.

Equifax paid users can take advantage of the identity protection feature, which will alert you if your financial details are accessed by fraudsters.

As this forum user notes, this helps you keep a closer eye on your finances and flag any issues you discover.

To view your credit score on Equifax, you will need to provide:

• name,
• date of birth,
• phone number,
• driving licence/passport number and
• addresses for the past three years.

Remember, there’s no downside to checking your credit score regularly. From my experience, your checks are not recorded and do not work against you when you apply for credit.

How do I Correct Errors?

If you believe there is an error on your credit file, you should have it corrected immediately.

For example, in my case, I had an old payment that was paid off, but the company wrongly informed Equifax that I hadn’t. I emailed both Equifax and the lender, and they corrected it within a month.

To correct any credit report errors, you have a few options:

• Email the lender that put the details on your file, asking them to update your payment details.
• Email Equifax about the incorrect details. If you are subscribed to the service, you can add a note to your file online or send the correction to the agency via post.
• Make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service

What Impacts Your Credit Score?

Many factors can impact your credit score, both negative and positive. Understanding credit score factors is a key step to managing your finances and borrowing responsibly.

Here’s a list of a few of these items.

• Positive
  • Making regular load/credit repayments.
  • Paying back loans completely.
  • Being on the electoral roll.
  • Having long-term debt, such as old credit cards.
  • Low credit usage, such as not running up your credit cards to the max.
  • Paying your utility bills promptly.
• Negative
  • Applying for and taking on new debt.
  • Too many hard searches on your credit report in a short span of time.
  • Missing payments.
  • Being declared bankrupt.
  • Defaults and County Court Judgments (CCJ).
  • Running your credit cards up to close to the credit limit.
  • Having a debt sent to a debt collection agency.
  • If you open a joint account or apply for a loan with another person (e.g. a spouse) and they have credit problems.

These are just some of the things that can have an impact on your credit score.

The interplay of the records in your credit file is quite complex and not always straightforward to understand.

This is especially true in instances where your credit score drops for reasons such as a hard search being run on your credit history. Put simply, even applying for new credit can lower your credit score. So try to limit credit card applications.

If you apply for too many loans or credit cards in a short timeframe, this will push your credit score down. From personal experience, it takes much longer to raise your credit score than it does to lower it!

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How To Improve It

If you have a fairly low credit score, this will mean you will have problems applying for and being accepted for new credit products.

So it’s a very good idea to check carefully through your report.

There are a few things that you can do that could raise your credit score. Pay special attention to the following items.

• Find out if you can write off any of your current debt.
• Keep credit card usage as low as possible.
• Never miss any debt repayments.
• Have any errors on your credit report corrected.
• Prove where you live by making sure you are registered to vote.
• Look into credit builder products like special credit cards.
• Avoid changing your address.
• Keep older accounts active.
• Make sure you don’t have any joint accounts from the past. This should be part of your credit report monitoring strategy.
• If your credit card application is rejected, find out why rather than applying for a new one.
• See whether you have any open but unused credit cards on file.

However, building your credit score will take time.

If your score is very bad, it could take years to get it up to an acceptable level. So be patient.

The best advice I can give here is to make sure you don’t do anything that can have a negative impact on your credit score if you are trying to improve it. One missed credit card payment could set you back months.

As I see it, maintaining a high credit score can be the key to keeping your finances healthy.

Budget Advice

Budgeting empowers you to take control of your financial situation, even if you’re dealing with a bad credit score.

Here are 10 budgeting tips that will help you manage your finances effectively:

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What Is the Scoring Range?

Equifax operates credit scoring on a scale of zero to 1,000.

The higher your credit score, the better your credit rating. However, it is unlikely that you will ever hit a 1,000 credit score or handle debt so badly that you get down to zero.

At the time of publishing this post, the average credit score in the UK was around the 740 mark.

The table below shows how the range of credit scores weighs in.

References

1. StepChange Personal Debt Statistics in Scotland 2022