What Is Checkmyfile?

At a quick glance, some of the things shown by Checkmyfile are:

• Credit history from the main credit agencies
• What types of credit you have with different lenders
• Court records such as insolvencies, bankruptcies, or court judgements
• Any identity fraud warnings that are placed on your identity
• Whether or not you are registered on the electoral roll
• Repayment history for the past six years
• Other people you are financially linked to with joint accounts
• Analysis of differences between different credit reports from different agencies
• Which lines of credit are negatively affecting your credit score

All of this can be useful information when you’re beginning the process of applying for a mortgage, especially if you’re worried about a problem in your credit history.

When Does My Credit Score Get Updated?

Your credit score is updated every month. This is because all lenders report data about their borrowers monthly; this includes information about mortgages, credit cards, car finance, overdrafts, and more. However, different lenders and different credit reporting agencies will update on different days in the month.

Checkmyfile will show you the latest information they have, which will depend on which agencies have updated so far that month. Check back often to see any more recent information that they’ve received. This lets you keep on top of how your credit score is changing, which is particularly useful if you’re trying to build or improve your credit rating.

Using Checkmyfile will show as a soft credit search on your credit history. This won’t show up when other people look at your credit report, so it won’t affect how likely you’re to get a mortgage offer.

What Is a Soft Credit Check?

A soft credit check is when a lender looks at an overview of your credit history. This also occurs when you view your credit history using any of the major credit agencies or Checkmyfile. Lenders will typically do a soft search of your credit file when you first start applying for a line of credit, during the pre-approval stage. When you’re applying for a mortgage, this will typically happen before the Decision in Principle (DIP). You’ll be able to see a list of soft searches when you check your credit history, but lenders cannot see these. A soft credit check won’t affect your credit score.

What is a Hard Credit Check?

A hard credit search happens when you’re further through the process of applying for a new line of credit, usually during the proper application stage. Lenders will have to get your permission when they want to do a hard credit check, though this is usually covered in the contracts they use.

Regardless of what type of credit you’re applying for, a hard credit check will usually take place. This includes mortgages, credit cards, overdrafts, car finance, and more. A hard credit check will stay on your credit record for 2 years and is visible to other lenders. If you have too many hard credit searches in a short time it can be concerning to lenders since it suggests that you’re opening many new lines of credit and might struggle to pay them all back. This could make lenders less likely to offer you a mortgage.

Yes, having poor credit can make it harder to get approval for a mortgage. This is because lenders will want to know that you’re not high-risk. Lenders prefer borrowers who have evidence of paying back their debts on time and in full.

However, even if you have poor credit there are still ways that you can get a mortgage. If you have significant poor credit issues currently or in the past, you might need to use a specialist adverse credit lender. These lenders are more likely to accept people with bad credit, but there are some downsides to using lenders like these.

For example, a poor credit mortgage will often come with terms, including:

• Interest Rates
  You’ll usually have a higher interest rate if you have poor credit.
• Deposit
  Most lenders may have a higher deposit requirement if you have bad credit. For example, most lenders will offer mortgages of up to 95% to borrowers with good credit, meaning they’d only have to pay a 5% deposit. Adverse credit mortgages can have deposit requirements of 10% - 25% as the minimum.
• Speciality Mortgages Are Less Common - Adverse credit lenders are less likely to offer mortgages on unusual properties such as non-standard construction houses, ex-council houses, high-rise flats, or shared ownership properties, due to the higher risk presented by these.

This means that even if you can get a mortgage with a poor credit score, you might want to improve your credit score to give yourself more mortgage options.