Impact of searches - when does it wear off?

Angry_Bear

Does anyone know how long it takes for the impact of searches to wear off your credit file? I know all banks will have their own rules, but a rough idea would be enough.

For the context, I'm thinking of jumping through the hoops and collecting the various switching bonuses which would involve opening and closing about 6 new current accounts over the next few months. My current mortgage fix runs out towards the end of next year so if 6 months is enough to let the searches fade away then I'll go ahead. But if these are likely to still be having an effect I'll probably hold off.

[Deleted User]

I'd say 6 months is probably just about enough, but it's still fairly recent.

If the rest of your application is rock solid - high salary, lots of equity, good credit history, then you could probably safely do it.

Angry_Bear

Deleted_User wrote: »

I'd say 6 months is probably just about enough, but it's still fairly recent.

If the rest of your application is rock solid - high salary, lots of equity, good credit history, then you could probably safely do it.

Ta, I guess I'll have to weigh up the risk of banks cancelling their switching bonuses

Hazzinho

3-6 months, it has an impact as the lenders don't know if you've taken out credit or not off the back of the credit application.

Angry_Bear

It's kind of irritating that different kinds of searches look the same to a lender - i.e. a current accout search looks the same as a search for a 15k loan.
We'll probably be fine by the time the remortgage came round, but I'll have to make sure nothing else looks "odd"!

boo_star

Angry_Bear wrote: »

It's kind of irritating that different kinds of searches look the same to a lender - i.e. a current accout search looks the same as a search for a 15k loan.
We'll probably be fine by the time the remortgage came round, but I'll have to make sure nothing else looks "odd"!

The search does show what type of product you were applying for though.

mwarby

Also I think for some banks, if your not applying for an overdraft or credit card, it's a soft search

JKSandy

Experian now exclude searches more than 6 months old in their "score" possibly lenders also just look at the last 6 months.

Angry_Bear

All useful stuff, thanks.
I reckon it's probably long enough for us, on balance (and the rest of our mortgage details are low-risk). I'll report back if I have any problems down the line

System

Current Account applications (almost always) involve a standard credit search even if you don't ask for an overdraft.

mwarby wrote: »

Also I think for some banks, if your not applying for an overdraft or credit card, it's a soft search