Myth: checking your own score damages it

False. Checking your own credit report or score is a "soft search" and never affects your score, regardless of how often you do it. Only a genuine credit application (a "hard search") can have a small, temporary impact.

Myth: there's one universal credit score

False. The UK has three main credit reference agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — each with their own file and scoring scale, and individual lenders apply their own additional criteria on top. There's no single number that determines every lending decision everywhere.

Myth: being debt-free gives you the best score

Not necessarily. Lenders want evidence you can manage credit responsibly, so having no credit history at all can sometimes make it harder to be approved than having a modest track record of borrowing and repaying reliably — an empty file isn't automatically viewed as "risk-free."

Myth: closing old credit cards always helps

Not necessarily. Closing an old account can reduce your overall available credit (potentially increasing your utilisation percentage on remaining cards) and can shorten your average credit history length — both of which can, in some cases, reduce your score rather than improve it.

Myth: your income directly affects your credit score

Not directly. Credit reference agencies generally don't hold your income on file (lenders assess income separately during affordability checks) — your score is built from your credit history and behaviour, not how much you earn.

Myth: being married links your credit files together

Only partially true, and easily misunderstood. Applying for joint credit (a mortgage, a joint account) creates a financial "association" that can mean each partner's file references the other's — but marriage itself doesn't automatically merge two people's entire credit history for every purpose.

Key takeaways

  • Checking your own score never damages it; only genuine applications create a hard search.
  • There's no single universal credit score — different agencies and lenders use different scales and criteria.
  • Some debt-free or "no history" profiles can actually be harder to lend to than a modest, well-managed track record.
  • Closing old accounts and getting married don't automatically improve your score — both are more nuanced than commonly assumed.