If your score appears as ‘?’ or a number less than 0 (such as 0 or -1), this is more of a status than your actual credit score.
Usually, this means Experian (our partner credit bureau) doesn’t currently have enough information on your credit file to generate a score for you. This is sometimes called having a ‘thin’ credit file.
This can happen if:
- You don’t currently have any active credit accounts
- You have very little credit history
- Your accounts are very new
- or there isn’t enough recent information on your file yet
Have a score elsewhere but not on ClearScore?
Different credit bureaus and scoring systems work differently.
The Experian scoring system shown through ClearScore is designed to be quite comprehensive. This means that if there isn’t enough reliable data available, it may choose not to generate a score at all.
Other credit bureaus or scoring systems may still generate a score using smaller amounts of information, which is why you might see a score elsewhere but not here. It’s important to note that this doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong with your credit profile – it simply means there isn’t enough data available yet for this particular scoring system to confidently assess you.
What can I do?
There are a few things you can do to help build your credit history over time:
- Keep accounts open and active where possible
- Make payments on time consistently
- Check your credit report carefully to make sure your information is accurate
- Raise a dispute with Experian if anything looks incorrect or missing
- Build a longer credit history over time using credit responsibly
Remember, lenders are generally more interested in the information on your credit file itself than the score alone.
You can still use ClearScore
Even if we can’t currently generate a score for you, you can still access useful features such as:
- Credit Health insights
- Personalised financial offers
- Tools to help you build your credit profile over time