Why is my credit score relevant?

Lenders assess the risk you represent to them as a potential borrower based on your credit history. Your credit score itself is not as important as your repayment history, not all people have a great credit score – for example someone who has never had a loan, never had a credit card, mortgage or phone contract etc won’t really have much of a credit history and as such may not have a great score.

However if for example you have defaulted on previous credit agreements, had a County Court Judgement or missed previous mortgage payments, lenders will consider you a greater risk and will generally require a larger deposit/amount of equity to ‘offset’ the risk, and/or charge you a higher rate of interest when lending you the money required. At the end of the day, the better your credit history the better your chances are of being accepted on the most favourable terms possible.