Soft credit search

Soft searches are used when you check your own report, when a lender pre-approves you or when you use an eligibility checker on a comparison site. They give an indication of whether you are likely to be accepted without leaving a mark.

Only a formal application leaves a hard searchHard credit searchA hard credit search is a check made by a lender when you apply for credit, which is recorded on your credit file and visible to other lenders.Read more →. Always use a soft search first if one is offered.

You can check your credit reportsCredit reportA credit report is a record of your borrowing and repayment history, held by credit reference agencies and used by lenders to assess you.Read more → for free, and you should never need to pay for a credit scoreHow Credit Scores Work in the UKHow UK credit scores work: what the credit reference agencies record, what affects your score, why scores differ between agencies and what lenders actually see.Read more → or report.