The key reasons for credit scores being more broadly used are that there is a greater availability of credit related data on both businesses and individuals and lenders have increasingly developed system based decisioning tools (score cards) that reach credit decisions based on the information a customer provides and crucially, their credit score.

And it’s not just lenders who are using credit scoring as a tool to assess whether they are happy dealing with you or your business – it is now commonly used by providers of telecommunications, electricity, gas, broadband, cellular services and property related services. Not only are all these organisations using credit scoring information to make decisions, they are also in many cases providing credit related data on how your account is performing that contributes to your credit score.

A key thing that you can do to protect your own or your businesses credit score and ensure that you’re able to access mainstream and competitive funding is to ensure that you make all your debt repayments as scheduled and agreed by you. Again remember that repayment of debt includes not only the traditional sources of debt, like banks and finance companies, it also includes many other services where any form of credit is offered and businesses particularly need to ensure that all trade creditors are paid as per their terms of trade.

If you do find yourself in financial difficulty, either personally or from a business perspective, it is absolutely critical to let any lender or creditor know and to actively work with them to repay any amount outstanding. While this might not avoid your credit score being adversely affected, it does provide evidence of good character and a clear intent to sort things out, which most credit providers will appreciate and will generally mean that a mutually beneficial outcome is reached.

In the case where you find your credit score has been impacted by a credit event that you wish to dispute or that you believe is incorrect then you have the opportunity to get the relevant credit reporting agency to look into this or alternatively, you may contact the lender or creditor directly to correct or remove any information from your credit file.

If you have any credit related questions, please get in touch with any of our nationwide experienced team as with our broad range of finance partners we are well positioned to offer suggestions to help you with most lending situations.