This article explains your credit score. This website is about how banks and other lenders assess your "Credit Worthiness" (For want of a better phrase). The information put on our website can help boost your ability to get better credit. Using credit is something we all have to deal with in today's society. Mortgages, credit cards, mobile phone contracts: 21st century life demands we embrace credit.

Whenever you apply for a mobile phone contract, loan, mortgage or any other form of ongoing financial agreement the lender will "Score" you before committing to that agreement, to predict your likely behaviour.

The standards by which you are scored differ from lender to lender, product to product. So if one company rejects you, it may not be the case for another.

Your credit score does not just determine if you will be accepted or rejected for a certain financial product (Loan etc), but when you are accepted it can also dictate the quality of the product you receive. For example; When an advertisement states that a loans APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is "typical" this means that the actual APR rate depends on your credit score. Similarly, if you apply for the best credit card deal you can find and the lender doesn't rate your credit score as "Up to scratch", they may accept you, but offer you a less attractive deal or product.

There are 2 Things We Should Clear Up Here...

• Universal Credit Rating's; and Blacklist's DO NOT Exist

Each lender will assess you on their own terms. However, the information they use to asses you is similar. So a bad credit risk for one lender, is generally a bad risk for others too. The three credit agencies will each give you a different credit rating too. Lenders will use your credit rating as just one part of their decision making process.

• Lenders are not obliged to award credit

Applications are grouped into their millions. Banks would rather deny a few good quality applicants then spend large amounts of money on personalised vetting procedures.

Final Note

So we have established here that your "Credit Rating" or "Credit Score" is simply one factor taken into account when a lender assess you during credit applications. Each lender has their own system for assessing applicants.

So, Why is My Credit Score Important?