If you’re currently looking for finance, you may keep seeing the words ‘hard credit check’ and ‘soft credit check’ and wondering exactly what that means. They affect your credit report differently, so it’s really important to know the difference.
Throughout this article you will see hard credit check also referred to as a hard credit search, please do not worry as they mean the same thing. We will also refer to a soft credit check as a soft credit search, this too means the same thing.
A credit check is when a company looks at information held on you to understand your financial behaviour. This will be compiled into what is known as a credit report.
Companies will only look at your credit report if they have a legitimate reason to do so. An example might be because you’ve just applied for a loan, and they need to do a credit check so they can move forward with your application.
If you’re currently looking for finance, you may keep seeing the words ‘hard credit check’ and ‘soft credit check’ and wondering exactly what that means. They affect your credit report differently, so it’s really important to know the difference.
Throughout this article you will see hard credit check also referred to as a hard credit search, please do not worry as they mean the same thing. We will also refer to a soft credit check as a soft credit search, this too means the same thing.
A credit check is when a company looks at information held on you to understand your financial behaviour. This will be compiled into what is known as a credit report.
Companies will only look at your credit report if they have a legitimate reason to do so. An example might be because you’ve just applied for a loan, and they need to do a credit check so they can move forward with your application.
Below you can find an example of companies that may perform a credit search on you:
A credit check can look into a number of things. Some of the reasons may be to see:
They could also look at the credit reports of someone you are financially associated with, so for example anyone you have a joint bank account or mortgage with.
Below you can find an example of companies that may perform a credit search on you:
A credit check can look into a number of things. Some of the reasons may be to see:
They could also look at the credit reports of someone you are financially associated with, so for example anyone you have a joint bank account or mortgage with.
A soft credit check is an initial look to ascertain information on your credit report. Companies perform soft searches to decide how successful your application would be without conducting a hard search on your credit report.
Does a soft credit check show on your credit report? The answer is yes, but what you see on your credit report is different to what a company doing a check can see. A soft credit check can only be seen on your credit report by you. Which is why you can have as many soft searches on your credit report as you like without it affecting your credit score.
A soft credit check is an initial look to ascertain information on your credit report. Companies perform soft searches to decide how successful your application would be without conducting a hard search on your credit report.
Does a soft credit check show on your credit report? The answer is yes, but what you see on your credit report is different to what a company doing a check can see. A soft credit check can only be seen on your credit report by you. Which is why you can have as many soft searches on your credit report as you like without it affecting your credit score.
Soft credit checks are not bad. In fact, they are very useful. A soft credit check will not be visible on your report to anyone other than you but allows companies to see how eligible you are for credit products.
An example of this would be when you get a quote for vehicle finance on our website. You can fill in your information, click ‘apply,’ and be told in most cases almost instantly how much finance you could get, all by us just doing a soft credit check on your file. There are some exceptions that might mean we cannot do this, but we will make you aware if this is the case.
If after that point you then decided to continue with your application, then a hard credit check would need to be done. This is not the same for every lender, and some will do a hard credit check on you straight away, so please check with them before applying.
Soft credit checks are not bad. In fact, they are very useful. A soft credit check will not be visible on your report to anyone other than you but allows companies to see how eligible you are for credit products.
An example of this would be when you get a quote for vehicle finance on our website. You can fill in your information, click ‘apply,’ and be told in most cases almost instantly how much finance you could get, all by us just doing a soft credit check on your file. There are some exceptions that might mean we cannot do this, but we will make you aware if this is the case.
If after that point you then decided to continue with your application, then a hard credit check would need to be done. This is not the same for every lender, and some will do a hard credit check on you straight away, so please check with them before applying.
A hard credit check happens when a company makes a complete search of your credit report. Each hard check is recorded on your report, so any company searching will be able to see that you’ve applied for credit.
A hard credit check will often be done after a soft credit check, once you agree to commit to a financial product. In simpler terms it’s when you agree to buy the product. However, some companies can do a hard credit check at the point of application, so please do your research before applying.
Luckily most hard searches generally stay on your credit report for 12 months, although there are some exceptions to the rule as a debt collection can be seen for up to 2 years. Although an IVA, CCJ or Bankruptcy will leave a mark on your credit file for 6 years, the hard search for these will only stay on your file for up to 2 years.
A hard credit check happens when a company makes a complete search of your credit report. Each hard check is recorded on your report, so any company searching will be able to see that you’ve applied for credit.
A hard credit check will often be done after a soft credit check, once you agree to commit to a financial product. In simpler terms it’s when you agree to buy the product. However, some companies can do a hard credit check at the point of application, so please do your research before applying.
Luckily most hard searches generally stay on your credit report for 12 months, although there are some exceptions to the rule as a debt collection can be seen for up to 2 years. Although an IVA, CCJ or Bankruptcy will leave a mark on your credit file for 6 years, the hard search for these will only stay on your file for up to 2 years.
Hard credit checks can be carried out for lots of reasons, but the most common reasons tend to be:
If you are ever not sure what type of account or company will do a hard credit check, then please speak to your provider before applying.
Hard credit checks can be carried out for lots of reasons, but the most common reasons tend to be:
If you are ever not sure what type of account or company will do a hard credit check, then please speak to your provider before applying.
Simply put, a hard search signifies that you have applied for credit and shows to other lenders that you might be a financial risk to lend to. Applying for too much credit in a short space of time, shows that you might not be able to afford the repayments and can leave you with a bad credit score.
It’s important to understand that it isn’t just a hard search that can affect your credit score. It can be a number of things including whether you are on the electoral roll or even something as simple as if you’ve moved address several times in the last couple of years.
One hard credit check shouldn’t have too much of an impact on your credit score, especially if you are borrowing responsibly and you know you can keep up the repayments. However, having several hard credit checks appear in a quick succession can affect your credit score for six months and may reduce your ability to get approved for credit in the short term. For more information we’ve written a guide on what affects your credit score.
If your credit score is low and you have a lot of hard credit checks on your credit report, then lenders might offer you a higher interest rate if you are approved for a loan.
At Moneybarn, we will only ever perform a hard credit check on your credit file once you’ve found a vehicle you like and are ready to proceed with the finance agreement. At this point we will generate the documents needed to continue with your agreement, and this is when we will perform the hard credit search on your file.
Simply put, a hard search signifies that you have applied for credit and shows to other lenders that you might be a financial risk to lend to. Applying for too much credit in a short space of time, shows that you might not be able to afford the repayments and can leave you with a bad credit score.
It’s important to understand that it isn’t just a hard search that can affect your credit score. It can be a number of things including whether you are on the electoral roll or even something as simple as if you’ve moved address several times in the last couple of years.
One hard credit check shouldn’t have too much of an impact on your credit score, especially if you are borrowing responsibly and you know you can keep up the repayments. However, having several hard credit checks appear in a quick succession can affect your credit score for six months and may reduce your ability to get approved for credit in the short term. For more information we’ve written a guide on what affects your credit score.
If your credit score is low and you have a lot of hard credit checks on your credit report, then lenders might offer you a higher interest rate if you are approved for a loan.
At Moneybarn, we will only ever perform a hard credit check on your credit file once you’ve found a vehicle you like and are ready to proceed with the finance agreement. At this point we will generate the documents needed to continue with your agreement, and this is when we will perform the hard credit search on your file.
Hopefully by now you are a more aware of the difference between a hard and soft credit check. But to sum up:
Always do your research before you take any loan out, and make sure you understand what having bad credit could mean for you. Before applying see if there’s an affordability calculator on their website, this can give you an estimate of what you could borrow based off your current circumstances.
So, you are probably thinking after reading all of this information, ‘OK, but how do I check my credit score?’ Well, there are many ways you can check your credit score.
There are 3 different credit agencies that will provide credit checks to a variety of different organisations, and they all have websites or apps where you can check your credit report and score yourself:
Hopefully by now you are a more aware of the difference between a hard and soft credit check. But to sum up:
Always do your research before you take any loan out, and make sure you understand what having bad credit could mean for you. Before applying see if there’s an affordability calculator on their website, this can give you an estimate of what you could borrow based off your current circumstances.
So, you are probably thinking after reading all of this information, ‘OK, but how do I check my credit score?’ Well, there are many ways you can check your credit score.
There are 3 different credit agencies that will provide credit checks to a variety of different organisations, and they all have websites or apps where you can check your credit report and score yourself:
These different credit reference agencies and apps are designed to help you understand if you have bad credit, so use them to help you get a better score.
These different credit reference agencies and apps are designed to help you understand if you have bad credit, so use them to help you get a better score.
A hard credit search will generally stay on your credit report for around 12 months.
A soft credit search will only be seen by you on your credit report, and not by third parties such as finance companies.
Doing a credit check on your own report does not affect your credit score. It’s only hard credit checks that may affect your credit score, and these can only be done by companies and not by you.
You can check your credit score and report as many times as you like. Your credit score will only get updated monthly, but some reports will show you if something has been added or changed before the month is up.
It is only hard credit checks that potentially can impact your credit score. This is because when you take out credit it reduces the amount you can afford. This signals to lenders that you could be in financial difficulty and that you may be relying on borrowing money.
Hard checks are normal, and most people will take out finance or a loan at some point in their life. It is the amount of times that a hard check is done on your credit report that you need to be careful with. A hard check will stay on your file for 12 months, but if you keep the hard checks to a minimum then a hard check could affect your score less.
There are some informational financial websites that suggest 6 is too many. They suggest that lenders won’t even consider you for finance if you have 6 hard credit checks on your report. As every lender is different, it’s important to only apply for finance that you have researched, and that you know you need so that you don’t damage your credit score.
When a lender does a credit check they will request certain information on you. They will only do this if they have a legitimate reason to do so, and what they receive back will help them decide how responsible it is for them to lend to you.
They check how responsible it would be to lend to someone by looking at things such as:
A credit check will show any financial accounts you have had within the last 6 years. This includes open and closed accounts. This will include:
It also includes any public information records, electoral roll information and previous hard searches.
A credit check shows to a lender how responsible it would be for them to lend to you and if you have good or bad credit. As well as whether you can realistically afford the monthly repayments without putting yourself at risk of falling into debt or arrears.
A hard credit search will generally stay on your credit report for around 12 months.
A soft credit search will only be seen by you on your credit report, and not by third parties such as finance companies.
Doing a credit check on your own report does not affect your credit score. It’s only hard credit checks that may affect your credit score, and these can only be done by companies and not by you.
You can check your credit score and report as many times as you like. Your credit score will only get updated monthly, but some reports will show you if something has been added or changed before the month is up.
It is only hard credit checks that potentially can impact your credit score. This is because when you take out credit it reduces the amount you can afford. This signals to lenders that you could be in financial difficulty and that you may be relying on borrowing money.
Hard checks are normal, and most people will take out finance or a loan at some point in their life. It is the amount of times that a hard check is done on your credit report that you need to be careful with. A hard check will stay on your file for 12 months, but if you keep the hard checks to a minimum then a hard check could affect your score less.
There are some informational financial websites that suggest 6 is too many. They suggest that lenders won’t even consider you for finance if you have 6 hard credit checks on your report. As every lender is different, it’s important to only apply for finance that you have researched, and that you know you need so that you don’t damage your credit score.
When a lender does a credit check they will request certain information on you. They will only do this if they have a legitimate reason to do so, and what they receive back will help them decide how responsible it is for them to lend to you.
They check how responsible it would be to lend to someone by looking at things such as:
A credit check will show any financial accounts you have had within the last 6 years. This includes open and closed accounts. This will include:
It also includes any public information records, electoral roll information and previous hard searches.
A credit check shows to a lender how responsible it would be for them to lend to you and if you have good or bad credit. As well as whether you can realistically afford the monthly repayments without putting yourself at risk of falling into debt or arrears.
Moneybarn is a member of the Finance and Leasing Association, the official trade organisation of the motor finance industry. The FLA promotes best practice in the motor finance industry for lending and leasing to consumers and businesses.
Moneybarn is the trading style of Moneybarn No. 1 Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 04496573, and Moneybarn Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 02766324. The registered address for these companies is: Athena House, Bedford Road, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU32 3LJ.
Moneybarn’s VAT registration number is 180 5559 52.
Moneybarn Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services reference No. 702781)
Moneybarn No. 1 Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services reference No. 702780)