Applying for loans, being accepted..

Hryszko

Bit of a probably self explanatory question but I am not the best when it comes to the legal side of it all etc.

I applied for a personal loan and also applied for car finance to see which was going to be the most viable option for me, got approved and accepted on both at a fairly decent interest rate. (4.5% & 5.1%)

I have since decided to not take either of those loans/finance deals and just buy a little run about for the next 5-6 months. How much will that have affected my credit score/history? By getting approved one and not accepting or taking any money etc.

Thanks guys.

bengalknights

It will just be a hit to your searches which will show for six months and might make it more difficult during this term to get credit at rates you want

Hryszko

Okay so it's not quite as bad as first thought, how long do the searches stay on your account for?

And if you were to apply for a loan and get declined, how long does that stay on your account for?

Candyapple

Experian keep all searches for 1 year.
Equifax keep all searches for 1 year.
Call Credit keep all searches for 2 years.

It doesn't matter whether you apply for something and get declined, all that is recorded is a hard search. Same way you've had 2 done and been accepted for them - there is no difference from being declined, in fact it would probably look more likely that you were declined because obviously the accounts won't be opened in the next month or so.