Sam Bromley
Adam French
Experian is one of three main credit reference agencies in the UK, alongside Equifax and TransUnion. Experian offers both free and paid features that could increase your fraud protection and give you insights into your credit file. Find out more about what Experian is and how it works.
What is Experian?
Experian is a multinational credit reporting and data organisation that operates in more than 35 countries and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
Using Experian, you can:
- get a statutory credit report
- check your credit score
- potentially ‘boost’ your credit score by connecting your bank account to the service
- access paid features that update your score and report more regularly than the free features, and could help you protect your identity
If you’re thinking about applying for credit, such as a personal loan, mortgage or credit card, it’s a good idea to check your credit score and credit report to see how the lender may view your application.
You can check both your credit score and credit report for free with Experian, however you have to use separate services to access each one. Otherwise, Experian’s paid membership, CreditExpert, gives you access to both your credit score and report.
Experian doesn’t make lending decisions itself. When you apply for credit, the lender can request to see your credit reference file from Experian or another credit reference agency, which shows how you’ve managed credit in the past. The final decision to offer you credit always rests with the lender.
How does Experian work?
How Experian works depends on what information you want to view and if you want to access basic information for free or get more features by signing up for a paid membership.
You need to give Experian details including your name, date of birth, current address and address history to see information about your credit history.
Experian generates a personalised credit score that’s updated monthly when you sign up for a free account. You can link your bank account to it, using Experian Boost which could improve your credit score if you manage your finances well.
However, you can’t access your free statutory credit report through this account – you need to request it separately instead.
Experian’s CreditExpert membership gives you ongoing access to both your credit score and credit report, which are both updated daily. This service costs £14.99 a month.
Your Experian credit score
You can view your Experian credit score for free by signing up for a basic account. This gives you:
- a credit score that’s updated monthly
- the option to potentially improve your score by using Experian Boost
- a summary of your credit obligations
- an idea of credit products and offers you might be eligible for
A credit score is a number that represents how well you’ve managed borrowing in the past and how a lender might view a credit application. Credit reference agencies use data from your credit report to calculate this number.
You don’t have a universal credit score, because each credit reference agency calculates credit scores differently. The data each agency bases your score on can also vary.
A lender will also use its own system to calculate a credit score for you, often based on information from your credit file and what you tell it during an application, such as your debt-to-income ratio. This means that Experian’s credit score can illustrate how a lender may view your application, but it can’t say for sure whether you’ll be accepted or declined.
Your Experian score ranges from 0 to 999. A higher credit score indicates it’s more likely you’ll pay back credit in the eyes of a lender, while a lower score shows you may struggle to keep up with repayments. Those with higher credit scores are more likely to have more options for borrowing money at the best interest rates.
| Experian credit rating | Experian credit score |
|---|---|
| Excellent | 961+ |
| Good | 881 to 960 |
| Fair | 721 to 880 |
| Poor | 561 to 720 |
| Very poor | Less than 560 |
Your Experian credit report
You can request a free statutory credit report from Experian. You can access it online or ask Experian to send you a paper copy.
Before you can view your online report with Experian, the firm sends you a passkey in the post which can take up to five working days to arrive.
Alternatively, both Equifax and TransUnion give you instant online access to your credit report.
Your credit report is a detailed view of your credit history and includes:
- Personal details. Including your full name, date of birth, current and previous addresses and whether you’re on the electoral roll.
- Financial associates. These are people you’re linked to financially, for example someone you have a joint loan or joint mortgage with.
- Credit account information. Including open and closed accounts, payment history, current balances, credit utilisation and defaulted accounts.
- Information about other accounts in your name that have a credit component. Including bank accounts, utility accounts (such as energy and broadband), and mobile phone contracts.
- Public records. Any county court judgments (CCJs), individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), bankruptcies, debt relief orders (DROs), or protected trust deeds (Scotland only).
Experian membership: paid features
There are two levels of paid Experian membership. New customers get a 30-day free trial of these accounts.
| Identity Plus | CreditExpert | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | £10.99 a month (30-day free trial) | £14.99 a month (30-day free trial) |
| Requires a free account? | Yes | No (comes with the free features such as Experian Boost) |
| Credit report access? | No | Yes |
| Credit score access? | Yes – updated daily if you log in | Yes – updated daily if you log in |
Experian Identity Plus is an enhanced version of its free account. While it doesn’t give access to your full credit report, you’ll get a daily ‘fraud report’ if you log in, which includes key information from your credit report designed to help you protect your identity. You can also get alerts to help protect against identity theft and ‘lock’ your credit report to block credit applications in your name.
Experian CreditExpert gives you access to all of the features available in the free and Identity Plus accounts, along with the ability to check your full credit report. You can also get personalised insights to help you improve your credit score, see your credit score history and speak to Experian customer service about your score and report.
Is Experian worth it?
It depends on the level of insight you want about your credit score and report, and the amount of fraud protection you’d prefer. Just keep in mind that there are plenty of ways to check your credit score for free, including Experian’s own basic account, and both Equifax and TransUnion offer instant access to your free statutory credit report. Simply checking your full credit report regularly could help you spot fraud.
If you’d like to see how useful these paid options might be before subscribing properly, you can sign up for the 30-day free trial. Just be sure to set a reminder to cancel your membership before Experian starts charging you.
Is Experian accurate?
Credit reference agencies calculate a score for you in different ways, so Experian uses its own model to work out your score. In this way, Experian is no more or less accurate than other credit reference agencies.
While your credit score looks different depending on who you’re checking it with, each credit reference agency should base its calculations on similar information about your credit history.
There can be variations, because some financial firms may not report information to all of the credit reference agencies. But generally speaking, if your score sits in a certain range with Experian, it should sit in a similar range elsewhere.
If you think there’s a problem with your score, whether it’s from Experian or another provider, it’s a good idea to investigate further. You can check your full credit report to see what information the credit reference agency is using. If it’s inaccurate, you can raise a dispute.
Is Experian safe?
Experian is a legitimate organisation that’s authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
As an organisation that holds detailed data on people, Experian is bound by the UK’s data protection laws. You can check your credit score and credit report with Experian as many times as you like without harming your credit file.
It’s always a good idea to keep online safety in mind – for example, by using strong passwords, keeping an eye out for suspicious contact and using antivirus software. The National Cyber Security Centre has information about protecting yourself online.
Experian FAQs
Experian Boost looks at regular payments you make from your bank account to see if these can increase your score, including:
- council tax payments
- transfers to savings accounts
- subscription payments for services like Spotify and Netflix
Payments like this don’t usually influence your credit score.
You need an Experian account to use Experian Boost. After you connect your bank account to Experian through Open Banking, Experian scans your transactions from the last 12 months to see if it can increase your score.
While your score may not increase after connecting your bank account, Experian says it won’t go down as a result of doing so.
Not all lenders are signed up to Experian Boost, but Experian shares a summary of your boosted data if you apply for credit with a participating lender.
Experian Identity Plus costs £10.99 a month, while CreditExpert costs £14.99 a month. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial of each of these options.
You can cancel a paid Experian membership within your Experian account by logging in and going to ‘My subscriptions’.
If you sign up for a 30-day free trial but don’t want to continue the membership beyond this period, make sure to set a reminder to cancel before the trial is up.
It’s also possible to deactivate your free Experian account by going to ‘My subscriptions’.
If you have problems with closing your account, you can call Experian on 0800 013 88 88.
You can contact Experian customer service on 0800 013 88 88.
Experian also has a customer services email address: [email protected]
Image source: Getty Images
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