What’s the difference between soft and hard credit searches?

There are two types of credit searches: a soft search and a hard search.

When you apply, we’ll do a soft search based on the information you’ve given us. This type of search isn’t visible to other lenders, and it won’t have an impact on your credit score. At this stage, we’ll show you what you’re eligible for and present you with the relevant documentation.

If you decide that this is a good product for you, we’ll do a hard search to let the Credit Reference Agencies know that you’ve signed up for a credit product with HandyFin.

If we can’t offer you Credit Builder and HandyFin Boost for any reason, there’ll be no hard search recorded against your profile.

A hard search leaves a “footprint” on your credit file. This means that anyone who has access to your credit file (typically lenders) will be able to see the search.