Regularly monitoring your credit reports and scores can be an important part of managing your finances. However, some people worry that they’ll be punished for checking their credit. Fear not. Although applying for a new credit account can lead to a credit check, or credit pull, that might hurt your credit scores, you can always check your own credit without repercussions.
Will checking my credit score hurt it?
“Luckily, checking your credit score does not hurt your credit. In fact, checking it regularly is a great way to make sure you’re maintaining a healthy track record and credit history,” says Russell Nelson, manager of credit card products at Navy Federal Credit Union.
In fact, checking your credit score won’t affect your credit at all.
Your credit scores are based on an analysis of one of your credit reports from either Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion (the big three credit bureaus). When you check your score, the report has to be requested before it can be scored.
Whenever anyone requests your credit report, the credit bureau adds a record of that request, called a credit inquiry, to the report. The inquiry stays on your report for two years, and some credit inquiries can lower your credit score. But the inquiries from you checking your own credit report or score will not impact your credit.
Looking to check your credit standing? Here’s how to get your free credit report.
Soft vs. hard credit inquiries
Inquiries can be classified as soft or hard inquiries depending on why someone requested your credit report.
A hard inquiry is a credit check for lending purposes. They happen after you give an organization permission to check your credit. For example, you’ll get a hard inquiry when you apply for a new credit account or request a credit limit increase.
Credit scoring models consider hard inquiries when calculating your score, and a hard inquiry might hurt your credit score. But if it does, a single hard inquiry often won’t lower your score by more than a few points. Also, your score might recover within a few months if you’re managing your credit well.
A soft inquiry is a credit check for non-lending purposes. These can happen without your consent, although organizations still need a legally defined permissible purpose to get a copy of your credit report. For instance, your creditors can regularly review your credit reports for account management purposes. Checking your own credit report or score also results in a soft inquiry.
Both soft and hard credit inquiries can stay on your credit report for up to two years. However, soft inquiries are not considered in the calculation of your credit scores. And even hard inquiries won’t necessarily hurt your scores the entire time they remain on your credit report.
Why is good credit important? These are the benefits of a good credit score.
When do credit inquiries affect your score
The exact timing of when a hard inquiry can affect your score depends on the type of credit score:
- VantageScores consider hard inquiries from the previous 24 months, but FICO Scores only consider hard inquiries from the last 12 months.
- FICO Scores “deduplicate” multiple hard inquiries from student, auto and home loan applications. Depending on the type of FICO Score, multiple hard inquiries from one of these types of loans that happen during a 14- to 45-day window will only count as a single hard inquiry for scoring purposes.
- VantageScores deduplicate most hard inquiries that occur within a 14-day period, including hard inquiries from credit card applications.
- FICO Scores also have a 30-day buffer period for student, auto and home loans, meaning hard inquiries from those applications won’t affect your score for the first 30 days.
What’s the difference? FICO score vs. Vantage score
Those are a lot of specific rules and timelines, and with so many factors at play, it can quickly get overwhelming. So, here are a few simplified rules of thumb to remember:
- Hard inquiries aren’t a major scoring factor.
- A single hard inquiry often doesn’t hurt a credit score much, but multiple hard inquiries can lead to a larger drop because it might look like you’re scrambling to borrow money.
- Your credit score will generally recover within a few months, and hard inquiries won’t affect most credit scores after a year.
- If you’re shopping for a loan, try to submit your applications within a 14-day period.
Why and how to check your credit score
Checking your credit score can help you gauge whether you’ll qualify for different loans and credit cards, as well as the interest rates and fees you might have to pay. If you regularly monitor your score, you can also see how different actions can help or hurt your credit over time.
There are many free ways to check your credit score, and you can go to the FICO and VantageScore websites to see where you can get access to your credit scores from both companies. The score you see will depend on the type of credit scoring model and the underlying credit report.
Helpful tips for building credit
Although hard inquiries can affect your credit score, you may want to focus on the major scoring factors, such as your payment history and credit usage. In general, you can work toward an excellent credit score if you:
- Pay your bills on time. Having several credit accounts with a long history of on-time payments can be great for your credit scores.
- Avoid high credit card balances. High balances on credit cards and other revolving credit lines, such as personal lines of credit, can hurt your credit score. Bring down your balances to lower your credit utilization ratio — an important scoring factor.
- Keep credit cards open. Even if you don’t regularly use a credit card, keeping it open might be helpful. It can increase your available credit, which makes it easier to lower your credit utilization ratio. It can also continually add to your positive payment history. Although, closing the card still might be a better idea if it has an annual fee or if you tend to overspend.
Limiting how often you apply for new credit can lead to fewer hard inquiries and a higher average age of your credit accounts, which could also help your credit score. However, you don’t need to worry too much about hard inquiries if you pay your bills on time and only open a new credit account occasionally.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
You have the legal right to check your credit report for free, but there’s no guarantee that you can also get a free credit score. However, many companies, including major banks and credit card issuers, will give you access to one of your credit scores for free.
Only hard credit inquiries — credit checks for lending purposes — can hurt your credit scores. But the effect is often minor, and credit scores tend to recover within a few months if you are paying your bills on time and there aren’t any new negative marks in your credit report. Also, depending on the scoring model and the situation, some hard inquiries won’t hurt the credit score at all.
Missing lots of payments and maxing out your credit cards can hurt your credit score a lot. Try to bring past-due accounts current quickly, because a 60- or 90-date late payment could be worse than a 30-day late payment. Falling further behind on bills and having an account charged-off and sent to collections could also lead to a large score drop.
A hard pull, also called a hard credit inquiry, might lower your credit score by around five to 10 points. The exact amount depends on your overall credit profile and where your score was before the inquiry. In some cases, a hard pull won’t lower your credit score at all.
You should regularly check your credit score to understand where you’re at, especially if you’re considering applying for a new credit account or moving. Even if you don’t expect to use credit soon, an unexpected score drop could indicate you’re the victim of identity theft.
