Understanding your credit score
What lenders actually see, what hurts it, and the free ways to check it.
★ Featured guide Plain-English UK No affiliate links
Borrow less.
Understand
more.
A friendly UK guide to loans, credit, debt and credit scores, and the decisions that go with them. No upselling, no waffle.
What do you need
help with?
Choose what fits Loan types
Personal loans
What they are, how they work, what to watch out for.
High risk
Bad credit loans
Options when your credit history is less than perfect.
High risk
Debt consolidation
When it helps, when it doesn't, and what to check first.
Credit
Credit scores
What lenders see, how scores are calculated, free checks.
credit scores
Satisfied a CCJ? Why it may now show
Paying off a CCJ does not always update your credit file automatically. A proposed FCA rule change could make satisfied CCJs visible by default.
budgeting
Student loan thresholds 2026/27: what graduates need to know
Plan 2 and Plan 5 repayment thresholds are changing. Here is what each threshold means, which plan is likely yours, and how the figures show up on your payslip.
budgeting
Universal Credit changes from April 2026: what claimants need to know
Four confirmed changes to Universal Credit took effect in April 2026. Here is a plain-English breakdown of what shifted and who it affects.
personal loans
Why credit card APR is at a record high
Credit card purchase APRs are sitting around a 20-year high. Here is what is pushing rates up and what it means when you compare cards.
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