Part of our guide to What Actually Moves Your Credit Score
Two different things get called "a credit check", and only one of them can affect your score. The confusion between them causes people to avoid checking their own credit, which is exactly backwards.
A soft inquiry happens when nobody is deciding whether to lend to you — checking your own score, a pre-approval screen, an employer check. It is never counted in scoring. A hard inquiry happens when you apply for credit and a lender pulls your file to decide. Only hard inquiries can affect the score, and the effect is modest and temporary.
Which is which
| Event | Type |
|---|---|
| Checking your own report or score | Soft |
| A pre-approved or pre-qualified offer | Soft |
| An employer background check | Soft |
| An existing lender reviewing your account | Soft |
| Insurance quote (in most cases) | Soft |
| Applying for a credit card | Hard |
| Applying for a mortgage, car loan or personal loan | Hard |
| Applying for a phone contract or utility account | Often hard |
| Requesting a credit limit increase | Depends on the issuer |
| Renting a property | Varies by landlord and jurisdiction |
The pattern behind the table: if a decision about extending you credit is being made from the pull, it is hard. If the pull is informational, it is soft.
What a hard inquiry actually costs you
Less than its reputation suggests. Inquiries sit in the smallest of the major scoring categories — new credit accounts for roughly 10% of a FICO score, and inquiries are only one part of that.
Three things determine how much you feel it:
How thick your file is. Someone with fifteen years of history and eight accounts absorbs an inquiry easily. Someone with one card opened last year has less to dilute it.
How many, how recently. One is unremarkable. Six in two months looks like someone urgently seeking credit, and models respond to that pattern rather than to any individual pull.
How long ago. Hard inquiries stay visible on your report for two years under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but most scoring models stop counting them after about twelve months. Visible and counted are not the same thing, and people conflate them constantly.
Rate shopping is protected — deliberately
If inquiries were counted naively, comparing five mortgage lenders would damage your score for doing exactly what consumer guidance tells you to do. Scoring models handle this explicitly.
Multiple inquiries for the same type of loan within a short window are grouped and counted as a single event. Mortgages, car loans and student loans are the categories this normally covers.
Two practical points:
- The window varies by model. Newer FICO versions use a longer window than older ones, and lenders do not all use the same version. Keeping your shopping inside about two weeks is the safe assumption regardless of which model sees it.
- It does not extend across categories. A mortgage application and a credit card application in the same week are two separate events, not one. Grouping applies within a loan type.
So: shop hard for one loan, in a tight window. Do not apply for a card in the middle of it.
When inquiries are genuinely worth avoiding
In the months before a mortgage application. Not because one inquiry is fatal, but because mortgage underwriting is where small differences in score cross rate-tier boundaries, and where a new account also changes your debt-to-income ratio. Stop opening accounts well before applying — the home affordability calculator shows how much a new monthly commitment reduces what you can borrow.
When your file is thin. With only one or two accounts, each inquiry represents a larger share of what the model can see.
When you are already applying for several things. The clustering is what registers, not the individual pull.
Outside those situations, declining a card you actually want purely to avoid an inquiry is usually the wrong trade.
Checking your own credit is free and harmless
This bears stating plainly because the myth is so persistent: looking at your own credit report has no effect on your score, ever. It is a soft inquiry by definition — you are not asking anyone to lend you money.
You are entitled to free reports from the major bureaus, and checking them is the only way to catch errors, which are common enough to be worth looking for.
Related reading
- How to improve your credit score
- What actually moves your credit score
- How to check your credit report for free
- Credit score myths worth ignoring
- What credit utilisation is
This is general information, not financial advice — see our disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
Does checking my own credit score hurt it?
No. Checking your own report or score is a soft inquiry and is never counted in scoring. This is true whether you check through a bank app, a free service or the bureaus directly.
How much does a hard inquiry lower a credit score?
The effect is modest for most people with established credit and it is temporary. A thin credit file feels it more than a long one. Several inquiries in a short period matter more than any single one.
How long do hard inquiries stay on a credit report?
They remain visible on the report for two years under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but most scoring models stop counting them after about twelve months.
Does rate shopping for a mortgage hurt my score?
Multiple inquiries for the same type of loan within a short window are typically treated as one event, precisely so that comparing lenders is not penalised. The exact window varies by scoring model.
Does a pre-approved offer mean a hard inquiry has happened?
No. Pre-approved and pre-qualified offers are generated from a soft inquiry. The hard inquiry occurs only when you submit a full application.
Does asking for a credit limit increase cause a hard inquiry?
It depends on the issuer — some perform a soft check, others a hard one. Ask before requesting if it matters to you.
Sources
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