Credit check and their affect on your credit score?

eden1969

If you apply for a loan or credit card how long does the credit check stay on your record? And does this really affect your rating?

ShelfStacker_3

All checks stay on your report for either 6 months or a year, depending on agency. Experian, I know for certain, keep searches for a year.

It shouldn't affect your score too much, really. Some big no-nos though are multiple searches in a short space of time (indicator of fraud or financial desperation) and repeated searches over a month (again, financial desperation). I learnt this the hard way; keep your searches to a minimum. Don't just "throw everything against the wall and see what sticks" when applying for credit, try and make a decent judgement before applying as to what cards/banks will accept you.