Our loans can be used for various purposes, including home renovations, debt consolidation, or unexpected expenses. If consolidating debt, be aware that extending the loan term may increase overall interest charges. 118 118 Money is a direct lender.

Use our Eligibility Check. Our loan eligibility checker will not affect your credit rating. We will give you a fast decision. You could receive the money in your bank account within 15 minutes.*

Making all of your monthly repayments on time demonstrates good repayment behaviour, and could help to improve your credit score in the long run.

*This can vary from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on your bank.

Your credit score merely represents your financial health at this moment in time. It represents how your past and current financial behaviours have shaped your credit file.

Your credit score is is calculated from the information held in your credit report. Lenders will typically use this score and other information to evaluate your ability to pay back a loan or line of credit.

A higher score indicates a greater likelihood that you will be able to repay. In other words — as the lender sees it — a higher credit score makes it less risky to lend to you. 

There are three main credit reference agencies – Experian, TransUnion and Equifax which all use unique score systems and algorithms to calculate your credit score. Therefore, a ‘good’ score interpretation and a ‘poor’ score interpretation may vary widely, depending on which credit bureau you view your score on. Therefore, it’s important to read their unique explanations of what your credit score means.

118 118 Money has also created a Fitness Academy to help you improve your financial behaviours.

Like many people in the UK, your credit score might not be perfect — but that doesn’t mean you’re an irresponsible borrower. Your less-than-perfect credit score may be due to a few missed payments in the past, or perhaps you’ve accumulated debt. In addition, applying for credit time and again can also impact your credit profile.

118 118 Money has developed its Money Guidance and Fitness Academy to help borrowers like you understand their credit score and understand how to improve your financial fitness.

Luckily, there are lots of ways to improve your credit score — and many of them are surprisingly straightforward to do. We will suggest some obvious ones below. But do go to our Money Guidance section to find more.

Improving your credit score can enhance future borrowing opportunities:

1. Timely payments: Always pay bills and loans on time.
2. Credit Utilization: Keep credit card balances low relative to limits
3. Regular Credit Reports: Monitor your credit report for accuracy.
4. Avoid making lots of loan applications
5. Register to vote on your local electoral roll

Timely Payments

It is important to pay all bill and loan payments on time. Missing even one payment or paying late is an indication to lenders that you may not be be having financial difficulties and may not as reliable as others and can affect your credit rating.

Credit Utilization

Many people recommend that you limit credit utilization to only 30% to 50% of your credit limits on your credit cards.

Regular Credit Reports

Read your credit report carefully! If you spot a mistake, you can contact the credit reference agency and challenge any outstanding issues that may be impacting your ability to borrow.

You can get access to your credit report from these three credit-referencing agencies:

• Experian
• Equifax
• TransUnion

The information compiled and held by credit reference agencies gives a summary of your credit history and financial behaviour. It includes personal details such as address and date of birth, information on your borrowing and payment histories, the length of your credit history, information on the total credit you have available to you and how much of that you’ve used.

Some of the things that are not included in your credit report are your salary and details of savings accounts you hold. Under the Consumer Credit Act, you have the right to see the data held on you by credit reference agencies for a small fee.

Some companies — like Experian for example — offer you a free account forever which allows you to access your free credit report by entering in a few details.

Credit bureaus can help you to clean up your credit file, although you may have to pay a fee for their help and advice.

Avoid making lots of loan applications

Making lots of applications in a short space of time could send a signal to lenders that you’re having financial difficulties. If you’re looking for loans for bad credit from a direct lender, try shopping around and asking lenders to provide you with a quote before you apply. Unlike a formal application, a quote request (like our Eligibility Check) won’t be visible for other lenders to see.

If you’ve already applied to multiple lenders, we may still be able to offer you a bad credit loan. We know that you’re more than just your credit score. Looking beyond credit reports to understand the full financial situation allows us to offer loans for people with bad credit.

Register to vote on your local electoral roll

One of the ways that lenders guard against identity fraud is by verifying where you live. They do this by checking the electoral roll to make sure the address you’ve given is accurate. If you move house, visit www.gov.uk/get-on-electoral-register to find out how to register with your local Electoral Registration Office.

Take these actions to improve your credit score. This could increase your chances of getting a loan, it could also reduce the amount of interest you have to pay in future — making loans and credit cheaper for you in the long run.