How long do payday loans stay on your credit file?

In the past, if you lived in the UK, you would never see payday loans appear on your credit file. However, in order to regulate the industry a little bit more, the government now requires all payday loans providers in the country to carry out credit checks and to report repayments.

This means that applying for and paying back payday loans can have an impact on your credit score unless you have a no credit check loan that is. This could either be a positive or negative impact. Therefore, it is important that you understand just how long that payday loan will be noted on your credit file.

The exact length of time will be dependent on the type of information that is being recorded.

Soft check

You can think of a soft check as the payday lender having a cursory glance at your credit file. Their goal is to determine whether you can afford to pay back the loan. They will not make an offer on a soft check, but they will use the information to move onto the next stage of the loan application.

A soft check will only be visible to you. It will not have an impact on your credit score. Other lenders will not be able to see the soft check.

These checks will disappear from your credit file in about 12-months.

Hard check

A hard check will be carried out before the final loan offer is made. This is when the payday loan company will take a deeper dive into your credit history.

A hard check will be visible on your credit file. This means that other lenders will be able to see that you have applied for credit.

In most cases, a hard check will stay on your credit file for 12-months. However, it has less of an impact on your credit rating after 6-months.

Repayments or missed payments

When your payday loan has been paid off, the payday lender will inform the credit agency that they work with. A note will then be made on your account that a repayment has been made. This will stay on your credit file for up to 6-years.

If you miss a repayment on your payday loan, then the repayment will also remain on your credit file. However, the ‘countdown to removal’ will only start once the loan has been discharged (e.g. you have repaid the loan). This will be up to 6-years after the repayment date.

YOUR CREDIT FILE MAY NOT BE UPDATED INSTANTLY

It is important to note that while hard and soft checks will show up on your credit file instantly, repayments may not. In some cases, it can take up to 1 month for them to appear on your credit file. However, don’t worry, they are still going to cap out at 6-years after the repayment date!

Conclusion

Payday loans will always appear on your credit file. If you want to ensure that taking out a payday loan doesn’t have a negative impact on your credit score, it is important that you make your repayments on time. It is also important that you apply for as few payday loans as possible. Making multiple applications will have a bigger impact on your credit file than just one or two.