Personal Loans Shopping

bery_451

Hi,

Martin Lewis is saying the advertised Interest rate is not what you get.

So how do I soft search all the loan providers and will the rates from the comparison search results be the rates I get? If not then that means I have to do hard searches to know the real rate that the loan provider will give me?

What it is I have a good credit score and I don't want hard searches to affect my credit score all because I shopped around and applied to lets say for example 3 providers doing a hard search for each provider and choosing the 1 provider from the 3 that gives the best rate.

Then I come across this online:

Credit agencies (like Experian and Equifax) often group loan-related hard searches within a 14-day window as "shopping around" — meaning they may only affect your score once instead of multiple times.

So, if you must apply to more than one lender:

• Do it all within 2 weeks max

• Make sure they’re all for the same type of loan (not credit cards, mortgages, and loans mixed)

When you're shopping for a loan, credit scoring systems (like FICO and sometimes UK credit agencies) understand that you're comparing offers, not desperately applying for money.

So they treat multiple hard credit checks for the same type of product (e.g. personal loans) made within a short window as just one “shopping” event.

What’s the Time Window?

It depends on the scoring model, but generally:

• FICO (used by some UK lenders): 14 to 45 days — most commonly 14 days

• UK Credit Agencies (Experian, Equifax): No official policy, but they do soften the impact of multiple searches if they happen close together for the same type of credit

So if you:

• Apply to 2–3 lenders within 14 days, and

• They're all for unsecured personal loans, then…

• It’ll usually only hurt your score once, not three times

So what is the procedure to apply to a few lenders for just 1 hard search instead of 3 hard searches on my credit report and I must apply to them within 14 days correct?

TheSpectator

51% of applicants should get the 'typical' advertised APR.

To be honest, I think you are overthinking this based on some fear of your fictional credit score dropping - for someone that appears to have done a bit research you have not picked up on the fact only you see the CRA credit score.

Look at the 'best buys' and see if the lender has it's own eligibility checker. Ultimately you won't know the actual APR until you are passed the hard check and it's irrelevant what the CRA'''s think of them and any 'windows".

th081

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

bery_451

TheSpectator said:

51% of applicants should get the 'typical' advertised APR.

To be honest, I think you are overthinking this based on some fear of your fictional credit score dropping - for someone that appears to have done a bit research you have not picked up on the fact only you see the CRA credit score.

Look at the 'best buys' and see if the lender has it's own eligibility checker. Ultimately you won't know the actual APR until you are passed the hard check and it's irrelevant what the CRA'''s think of them and any 'windows".

So Credit scores in numbers don't exist, only for the borrower to see? Are credit applications acceptance or refusals decisions are based on what computers/Ai/application bots say these days and these get their decisions automatically from credit scores for quick processing or are you saying a real human logs into your credit report and reads every page of it manually for a slower decision not done by computers/Ai/bots nowadays?

Please advise on how do I get real rates after applying for multiple lenders for just 1 hard search not multiple hard searches on my credit report? Whether number credit scores exist or not, hard searches still affect your credit report and remain on your credit report for 1 year right?

Do I have to apply to lenders that are part of Fico and do the multiple applications within 14 days for just 1 hard search?

bery_451

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

I ask because when I deposit money cash into my bank, I am lending my money to the bank. I am a creditor to the bank and the bank is the debtor to me according to their balance sheets and universal recognised accounting laws.

th081

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

I ask because when I deposit money cash into my bank, I am lending my money to the bank. I am a creditor to the bank and the bank is the debtor to me according to their balance sheets and universal recognised accounting laws.

Are you in the US, in the UK normally you have to enter your salary as part of the loan app and that will be taken along with your existing debt and repayment history in the decision for a loan. 

CliveOfIndia

bery_451 said:

Martin Lewis is saying the advertised Interest rate is not what you get.

Not strictly true.  51% of successful applicants are given the advertised representative rate, but each application is assessed by the lender on its own merits.  So it's more accurate to say "You're not guaranteed to get the advertised rate".

bery_451 said:

So how do I soft search all the loan providers and will the rates from the comparison search results be the rates I get? If not then that means I have to do hard searches to know the real rate that the loan provider will give me?

Correct.  An eligibility check will not leave a hard search on your file.  Many will give you an indication of what rate you might be offered - though even that is not guaranteed.  Only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, they will then make their decision as to whether to lend to you, and at what rate.

bery_451 said:

What it is I have a good credit score

Your score, at best, gives a very rough indication of how lenders might view you.  But each lender has different criteria and a different target customer base, so there cannot possibly be a "one size fits all" score.  Lenders will score you using their own proprietary internal algorithms, they do not use - in fact, cannot even see - the score given by the CRA.

bery_451 said:

Credit agencies (like Experian and Equifax) often group loan-related hard searches within a 14-day window as "shopping around" — meaning they may only affect your score once instead of multiple times.

So, if you must apply to more than one lender:

• Do it all within 2 weeks max

• Make sure they’re all for the same type of loan (not credit cards, mortgages, and loans mixed)

When you're shopping for a loan, credit scoring systems (like FICO and sometimes UK credit agencies) understand that you're comparing offers, not desperately applying for money.

So they treat multiple hard credit checks for the same type of product (e.g. personal loans) made within a short window as just one “shopping” event.

What’s the Time Window?

It depends on the scoring model, but generally:

• FICO (used by some UK lenders): 14 to 45 days — most commonly 14 days

• UK Credit Agencies (Experian, Equifax): No official policy, but they do soften the impact of multiple searches if they happen close together for the same type of credit

So if you:

• Apply to 2–3 lenders within 14 days, and

• They're all for unsecured personal loans, then…

• It’ll usually only hurt your score once, not three times

That's not really correct.  Every time you submit a formal application, a hard search is performed, and recorded for all to see.  How the CRAs may or may not "group" them is totally irrelevant - a lender will see every hard search and will make up their own minds.  The generally-accepted rule of thumb is that more than a couple of searches in a short space of time starts to make lenders jittery - the inference being that you're desperate for credit.

bery_451 said:

So Credit scores in numbers don't exist, only for the borrower to see? Are credit applications acceptance or refusals decisions are based on what computers/Ai/application bots say these days and these get their decisions automatically from credit scores for quick processing or are you saying a real human logs into your credit report and reads every page of it manually for a slower decision not done by computers/Ai/bots nowadays?

The lender's own (confidential) internal score is very relevant, but the score you see on your CRA report is meaningless.  And yes, applications are processed by computer systems - basically they feed your raw data in, compare it against their proprietary lending criteria, and the computer spits out a result.

bery_451 said:

Please advise on how do I get real rates after applying for multiple lenders for just 1 hard search not multiple hard searches on my credit report?

The only way to find out what rate a lender is prepared to give you, personally, is to submit a full application and let them do a hard search - simple as that.  There are no magic loopholes to do it any other way.

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

Your credit report, by its very nature, only record details of your credit products - current products held, current level of debt, repayment history, details of any late payments, defaults, CCJs, etc.  It does also record a few other bits of information used in assessing credit applications such as legal name, address history and Electoral Roll registration.

Salary and job history are submitted by you at the point of application.

bery_451

th081 said:

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

I ask because when I deposit money cash into my bank, I am lending my money to the bank. I am a creditor to the bank and the bank is the debtor to me according to their balance sheets and universal recognised accounting laws.

Are you in the US, in the UK normally you have to enter your salary as part of the loan app and that will be taken along with your existing debt and repayment history in the decision for a loan. 

Yep in UK, please clarify whether a salary is shown on a credit report in UK? Or you mean its shown in the US credit reports as in if someone is working in Mcdonalds in US and Mcdonalds reports their minimum wage salary to credit reference agencies?

bery_451

CliveOfIndia said:

bery_451 said:

Martin Lewis is saying the advertised Interest rate is not what you get.

Not strictly true.  51% of successful applicants are given the advertised representative rate, but each application is assessed by the lender on its own merits.  So it's more accurate to say "You're not guaranteed to get the advertised rate".

bery_451 said:

So how do I soft search all the loan providers and will the rates from the comparison search results be the rates I get? If not then that means I have to do hard searches to know the real rate that the loan provider will give me?

Correct.  An eligibility check will not leave a hard search on your file.  Many will give you an indication of what rate you might be offered - though even that is not guaranteed.  Only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, they will then make their decision as to whether to lend to you, and at what rate.

bery_451 said:

What it is I have a good credit score

Your score, at best, gives a very rough indication of how lenders might view you.  But each lender has different criteria and a different target customer base, so there cannot possibly be a "one size fits all" score.  Lenders will score you using their own proprietary internal algorithms, they do not use - in fact, cannot even see - the score given by the CRA.

bery_451 said:

Credit agencies (like Experian and Equifax) often group loan-related hard searches within a 14-day window as "shopping around" — meaning they may only affect your score once instead of multiple times.

So, if you must apply to more than one lender:

• Do it all within 2 weeks max

• Make sure they’re all for the same type of loan (not credit cards, mortgages, and loans mixed)

When you're shopping for a loan, credit scoring systems (like FICO and sometimes UK credit agencies) understand that you're comparing offers, not desperately applying for money.

So they treat multiple hard credit checks for the same type of product (e.g. personal loans) made within a short window as just one “shopping” event.

What’s the Time Window?

It depends on the scoring model, but generally:

• FICO (used by some UK lenders): 14 to 45 days — most commonly 14 days

• UK Credit Agencies (Experian, Equifax): No official policy, but they do soften the impact of multiple searches if they happen close together for the same type of credit

So if you:

• Apply to 2–3 lenders within 14 days, and

• They're all for unsecured personal loans, then…

• It’ll usually only hurt your score once, not three times

That's not really correct.  Every time you submit a formal application, a hard search is performed, and recorded for all to see.  How the CRAs may or may not "group" them is totally irrelevant - a lender will see every hard search and will make up their own minds.  The generally-accepted rule of thumb is that more than a couple of searches in a short space of time starts to make lenders jittery - the inference being that you're desperate for credit.

bery_451 said:

So Credit scores in numbers don't exist, only for the borrower to see? Are credit applications acceptance or refusals decisions are based on what computers/Ai/application bots say these days and these get their decisions automatically from credit scores for quick processing or are you saying a real human logs into your credit report and reads every page of it manually for a slower decision not done by computers/Ai/bots nowadays?

The lender's own (confidential) internal score is very relevant, but the score you see on your CRA report is meaningless.  And yes, applications are processed by computer systems - basically they feed your raw data in, compare it against their proprietary lending criteria, and the computer spits out a result.

bery_451 said:

Please advise on how do I get real rates after applying for multiple lenders for just 1 hard search not multiple hard searches on my credit report?

The only way to find out what rate a lender is prepared to give you, personally, is to submit a full application and let them do a hard search - simple as that.  There are no magic loopholes to do it any other way.

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

Your credit report, by its very nature, only record details of your credit products - current products held, current level of debt, repayment history, details of any late payments, defaults, CCJs, etc.  It does also record a few other bits of information used in assessing credit applications such as legal name, address history and Electoral Roll registration.

Salary and job history are submitted by you at the point of application.

Okay you mentioned only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, ok so what data do lenders have access to for a soft search eligibility check?

What is considered a short space of time according to lenders making you look desperate, like what time frame for lets say for 3 applications? 1hr, 4hrs, 1 day, 1week? 

Salary and Job history submitted by the applicant gets recorded on your credit report? Lets say for example I'm working at mcdonalds getting minimum wage and I say this on my loan application then the week later I become prime minister earning £170k annual salary then only the mcdonalds wage is shown on my credit report not my prime minister wage unless I make another loan application and report my latest pm job status?

Yeah I usually give extreme examples in my replies to benchmark the system to test if the system works within its limits you know what I mean.

TheSpectator

bery_451 said:

CliveOfIndia said:

bery_451 said:

Martin Lewis is saying the advertised Interest rate is not what you get.

Not strictly true.  51% of successful applicants are given the advertised representative rate, but each application is assessed by the lender on its own merits.  So it's more accurate to say "You're not guaranteed to get the advertised rate".

bery_451 said:

So how do I soft search all the loan providers and will the rates from the comparison search results be the rates I get? If not then that means I have to do hard searches to know the real rate that the loan provider will give me?

Correct.  An eligibility check will not leave a hard search on your file.  Many will give you an indication of what rate you might be offered - though even that is not guaranteed.  Only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, they will then make their decision as to whether to lend to you, and at what rate.

bery_451 said:

What it is I have a good credit score

Your score, at best, gives a very rough indication of how lenders might view you.  But each lender has different criteria and a different target customer base, so there cannot possibly be a "one size fits all" score.  Lenders will score you using their own proprietary internal algorithms, they do not use - in fact, cannot even see - the score given by the CRA.

bery_451 said:

Credit agencies (like Experian and Equifax) often group loan-related hard searches within a 14-day window as "shopping around" — meaning they may only affect your score once instead of multiple times.

So, if you must apply to more than one lender:

• Do it all within 2 weeks max

• Make sure they’re all for the same type of loan (not credit cards, mortgages, and loans mixed)

When you're shopping for a loan, credit scoring systems (like FICO and sometimes UK credit agencies) understand that you're comparing offers, not desperately applying for money.

So they treat multiple hard credit checks for the same type of product (e.g. personal loans) made within a short window as just one “shopping” event.

What’s the Time Window?

It depends on the scoring model, but generally:

• FICO (used by some UK lenders): 14 to 45 days — most commonly 14 days

• UK Credit Agencies (Experian, Equifax): No official policy, but they do soften the impact of multiple searches if they happen close together for the same type of credit

So if you:

• Apply to 2–3 lenders within 14 days, and

• They're all for unsecured personal loans, then…

• It’ll usually only hurt your score once, not three times

That's not really correct.  Every time you submit a formal application, a hard search is performed, and recorded for all to see.  How the CRAs may or may not "group" them is totally irrelevant - a lender will see every hard search and will make up their own minds.  The generally-accepted rule of thumb is that more than a couple of searches in a short space of time starts to make lenders jittery - the inference being that you're desperate for credit.

bery_451 said:

So Credit scores in numbers don't exist, only for the borrower to see? Are credit applications acceptance or refusals decisions are based on what computers/Ai/application bots say these days and these get their decisions automatically from credit scores for quick processing or are you saying a real human logs into your credit report and reads every page of it manually for a slower decision not done by computers/Ai/bots nowadays?

The lender's own (confidential) internal score is very relevant, but the score you see on your CRA report is meaningless.  And yes, applications are processed by computer systems - basically they feed your raw data in, compare it against their proprietary lending criteria, and the computer spits out a result.

bery_451 said:

Please advise on how do I get real rates after applying for multiple lenders for just 1 hard search not multiple hard searches on my credit report?

The only way to find out what rate a lender is prepared to give you, personally, is to submit a full application and let them do a hard search - simple as that.  There are no magic loopholes to do it any other way.

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

Your credit report, by its very nature, only record details of your credit products - current products held, current level of debt, repayment history, details of any late payments, defaults, CCJs, etc.  It does also record a few other bits of information used in assessing credit applications such as legal name, address history and Electoral Roll registration.

Salary and job history are submitted by you at the point of application.

Okay you mentioned only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, ok so what data do lenders have access to for a soft search eligibility check?

What is considered a short space of time according to lenders making you look desperate, like what time frame for lets say for 3 applications? 1hr, 4hrs, 1 day, 1week? 

Salary and Job history submitted by the applicant gets recorded on your credit report? Lets say for example I'm working at mcdonalds getting minimum wage and I say this on my loan application then the week later I become prime minister earning £170k annual salary then only the mcdonalds wage is shown on my credit report not my prime minister wage unless I make another loan application and report my latest pm job status?

Yeah I usually give extreme examples in my replies to benchmark the system to test if the system works within its limits you know what I mean.

bery_451 said:

CliveOfIndia said:

bery_451 said:

Martin Lewis is saying the advertised Interest rate is not what you get.

Not strictly true.  51% of successful applicants are given the advertised representative rate, but each application is assessed by the lender on its own merits.  So it's more accurate to say "You're not guaranteed to get the advertised rate".

bery_451 said:

So how do I soft search all the loan providers and will the rates from the comparison search results be the rates I get? If not then that means I have to do hard searches to know the real rate that the loan provider will give me?

Correct.  An eligibility check will not leave a hard search on your file.  Many will give you an indication of what rate you might be offered - though even that is not guaranteed.  Only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, they will then make their decision as to whether to lend to you, and at what rate.

bery_451 said:

What it is I have a good credit score

Your score, at best, gives a very rough indication of how lenders might view you.  But each lender has different criteria and a different target customer base, so there cannot possibly be a "one size fits all" score.  Lenders will score you using their own proprietary internal algorithms, they do not use - in fact, cannot even see - the score given by the CRA.

bery_451 said:

Credit agencies (like Experian and Equifax) often group loan-related hard searches within a 14-day window as "shopping around" — meaning they may only affect your score once instead of multiple times.

So, if you must apply to more than one lender:

• Do it all within 2 weeks max

• Make sure they’re all for the same type of loan (not credit cards, mortgages, and loans mixed)

When you're shopping for a loan, credit scoring systems (like FICO and sometimes UK credit agencies) understand that you're comparing offers, not desperately applying for money.

So they treat multiple hard credit checks for the same type of product (e.g. personal loans) made within a short window as just one “shopping” event.

What’s the Time Window?

It depends on the scoring model, but generally:

• FICO (used by some UK lenders): 14 to 45 days — most commonly 14 days

• UK Credit Agencies (Experian, Equifax): No official policy, but they do soften the impact of multiple searches if they happen close together for the same type of credit

So if you:

• Apply to 2–3 lenders within 14 days, and

• They're all for unsecured personal loans, then…

• It’ll usually only hurt your score once, not three times

That's not really correct.  Every time you submit a formal application, a hard search is performed, and recorded for all to see.  How the CRAs may or may not "group" them is totally irrelevant - a lender will see every hard search and will make up their own minds.  The generally-accepted rule of thumb is that more than a couple of searches in a short space of time starts to make lenders jittery - the inference being that you're desperate for credit.

bery_451 said:

So Credit scores in numbers don't exist, only for the borrower to see? Are credit applications acceptance or refusals decisions are based on what computers/Ai/application bots say these days and these get their decisions automatically from credit scores for quick processing or are you saying a real human logs into your credit report and reads every page of it manually for a slower decision not done by computers/Ai/bots nowadays?

The lender's own (confidential) internal score is very relevant, but the score you see on your CRA report is meaningless.  And yes, applications are processed by computer systems - basically they feed your raw data in, compare it against their proprietary lending criteria, and the computer spits out a result.

bery_451 said:

Please advise on how do I get real rates after applying for multiple lenders for just 1 hard search not multiple hard searches on my credit report?

The only way to find out what rate a lender is prepared to give you, personally, is to submit a full application and let them do a hard search - simple as that.  There are no magic loopholes to do it any other way.

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

Your credit report, by its very nature, only record details of your credit products - current products held, current level of debt, repayment history, details of any late payments, defaults, CCJs, etc.  It does also record a few other bits of information used in assessing credit applications such as legal name, address history and Electoral Roll registration.

Salary and job history are submitted by you at the point of application.

Okay you mentioned only when you submit a full application will the lender have access to all of your data, ok so what data do lenders have access to for a soft search eligibility check?

What is considered a short space of time according to lenders making you look desperate, like what time frame for lets say for 3 applications? 1hr, 4hrs, 1 day, 1week? 

Salary and Job history submitted by the applicant gets recorded on your credit report? Lets say for example I'm working at mcdonalds getting minimum wage and I say this on my loan application then the week later I become prime minister earning £170k annual salary then only the mcdonalds wage is shown on my credit report not my prime minister wage unless I make another loan application and report my latest pm job status?

Yeah I usually give extreme examples in my replies to benchmark the system to test if the system works within its limits you know what I mean.

I said in my first post you are way over-thinking this and you are now going even more bizarre. Just apply to those giving the best rates and see what happens. 

If in your extreme example above you made 3 applications with 3 different jobs/salaries you would soon end up on a potential fraud database. I would advise against 'testing the system'

Anyways, there seems more to this than your initial post so I'm out now.

th081

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

bery_451 said:

th081 said:

What is your debt before the loan versus your salary etc. That will be key to you getting the good rate on a loan 

How are salaries are shown on your credit report and is it the net salary or gross salary is shown? Does credit reports show your employment history and salaries like your CV or does your credit report show your current bank accounts showing your bank balances and lenders can see the salary deposited into your bank account via your monthly balances? Only bank accounts with overdraft facilities get shown on your credit report?

I ask because when I deposit money cash into my bank, I am lending my money to the bank. I am a creditor to the bank and the bank is the debtor to me according to their balance sheets and universal recognised accounting laws.

Are you in the US, in the UK normally you have to enter your salary as part of the loan app and that will be taken along with your existing debt and repayment history in the decision for a loan. 

Yep in UK, please clarify whether a salary is shown on a credit report in UK? Or you mean its shown in the US credit reports as in if someone is working in Mcdonalds in US and Mcdonalds reports their minimum wage salary to credit reference agencies?

No it's not shown in the UK. Join the mse credit club they pull together a estimate based on your credit report plus the details you enter (salary etc) and tell you how likely you are to be accepted for loans. I did a soft search application through them as I may need a loan next year and it said I was guaranteed to be accepted at three providers but the rate was 9.5 to 10.4, the ones with lower rate I was 95% chance to be accepted.