Checking and caring for your credit score is more important than ever as the cost-of-living crisis shows no signs of slowing down. The world of credit scores and checking has changed dramatically over the last few years with new companies making it easier than ever to check, protect and improve your rating.
Should I be paying to check my Credit Score?
The short answer, really, is no. There’s plenty of free services now available, whether that’s taking advantage of free trials or using entirely free services. The level of service and functionalities do vary between each provider so we’ve broken down some of our favourites here.
Checking Your Credit Score
Experian
Probably the largest in the market, they’re one of the go-to checkers for many loan and mortgage providers.
They offer 2 main packages to members:
Credit Expert – FREE 30 Day Trial
Enjoy a Free 30 Day trial to Experian’s most comprehensive service. With feature including Credit Boost, where you can boost your score, eligibility checker and real time access.
The free trial is only available once per member and can be cancelled any time within the 30 Day Trial. You can also downgrade to the Basic package, outlined below.
Click here to start your Free Trial now
Credit Score – Basic Free Package
Great little free service for if you want to check up on your score less regularly. It’s free forever but will only update your score every 30 days and doesn’t include the extra features of the Expert account.
ScoresMatter
Their simple platform makes it easier than ever to check your score and this is often the checking platform that lenders will use. This means you can get accurate predictions on whether you’ll be accepted on loans and mortgages.
Best of all you can enjoy a FREE 10 day trial right here.
Improving & Protecting Your Score
Once you know your score you may feel the need to either improve or protect it. We’ve outlined the quickest and most effective ways to do just this.
Avoid Multiple Loan or Credit Card Applications
Applying for credit cards and loans will often leave a negative mark against your credit score, doing many will ultimately harm your chances of being approved.
We’d strongly recommend using “soft search” tools such as GoCompare and Compare the Market, they take a lot of the hard work out of searching. You can quickly scan all the best deals whilst not damaging your overall credit rating. Best of all it will only show you loans/credit cards that are likely to approve you, in some cases you may even be ‘Pre-Approved’.
Never Miss Payments
It’s the easiest and most effective way of improving your credit score, even if it’s simply covering the minimum payment, always pay on time.
Credit Karma – Give your credit score an assist
Credit Karma is a fantastic, 100% FREE service that we at SmartMoneySaver can’t recommend enough. This is especially the case if you’re credit score isn’t where you want it to be. It’s now home to over 100 million members.
- Detailed analysis will show you what impacts your personal score and how you can improve it.
- Know how you’re doing with it’s traffic light system analysis
- Be notified of any changes to your score to help you quickly identify and combar the rising number of credit fraud attacks.
- Personalise money-saving tips
- Compare loans and credit cards that are likely to be approved based on your score
Install Credit Karma right now by clicking here and begin growing your score.
