Can I get a free credit score every year?

Last Modified 16th of February 2021

Credit scores are tricky because you don’t actually have one single credit score. Every credit referencing agency deals with your credit info in their own way and most come up with a score to indicate how healthy (or unhealthy) your credit history is looking.

Which credit score to get depends really on which agency you think is most reliable but in general most people will want to see their credit score from Experian or Equifax as these two are the biggest credit reference agencies in the UK – and therefore the two most likely to be used by creditors when you apply for a loan, credit card or other financial product.

Getting a free credit report

The good news is that Experian offer a service which gives you a very detailed overview of your credit file along with your current Experian credit score. The service costs around £15 a month but you get a one month free trial. So you can get your Experian credit score for free, but only once. Equifax also offer credit reports, but there is no free trial.

Annual credit reports

Unfortunately it is nigh on impossible to get a free credit score every year. There are other agencies who might offer free or much cheaper options, but generally that will mean that you get a credit score based on their algorithms and it will not be the same as your Experian credit score. Any credit from a reputable agency will be a helpful indicator of course, but this option is less than ideal.

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Your statutory credit report

One final option is to request your statutory credit report each year, this only costs £2 so it’s pretty cheap. You can request it from any credit agency, but it makes most sense to get it from Experian. This report will only show you the bare minimum, so you won’t find out your credit score, you will simply get a report of what information they hold on you.