{"id":5464,"date":"2022-08-04T08:15:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T08:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.credit-score.com\/blog\/?p=5464"},"modified":"2022-08-22T10:36:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T10:36:48","slug":"does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/","title":{"rendered":"Does applying for Universal Credit affect your credit score?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In 2013, the Government introduced Universal Credit to replace and combine six benefits. It is now claimed by more than 2 million people in the UK, more than half of which are unemployed. One thing you may be asking, if you\u2019re applying for Universal Credit, is \u201cDoes Universal Credit affect your credit score?\u201d This is obviously a concern if you\u2019re looking to borrow money in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_79_2 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">What&#039;s Included?<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/#What_is_Universal_Credit\" >What is Universal Credit?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/#Does_applying_for_Universal_Credit_affect_your_credit_score\" >Does applying for Universal Credit affect your credit score?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/#Do_benefits_appear_on_your_credit_report\" >Do benefits appear on your credit report?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/#Do_Universal_Credit_advances_affect_my_credit_score\" >Do Universal Credit advances affect my credit score?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/#Do_benefit_sanctions_show_up_on_my_credit_report\" >Do benefit sanctions show up on my credit report?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/#Credit-Score_offers_two_fabulous_solutions\" >Credit-Score offers two fabulous solutions.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Universal_Credit\"><\/span>What is Universal Credit?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Universal Credit is a means-tested social benefit from the UK Government. It\u2019s mostly claimed by unemployed people as a replacement for Jobseekers\u2019 Allowance (JSA). However, it will also eventually be able to be claimed by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>adults younger than the State Pension age who are having difficulty finding work. This could be because of their long-term medical condition or a disability, as Employment and Support Allowance<\/li><li>some people who are on a low income, but have a reason for not actively seeking work, as Income Support<\/li><li>families making less than \u00a342,000 per year, as Child Tax Credit<\/li><li>people who work and have a low income, as Working Tax Credit<\/li><li>people who rent and need help affording it, as Housing Benefit<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you fit the criteria and keep the commitments you agree with the government, you may spend the money on anything you like. You do not have to pay the Government back for any money you are given. The main exception to this is if you arrange an advance payment to cover bills. <a href=\"https:\/\/commonslibrary.parliament.uk\/contributory-benefits-and-social-insurance-in-the-uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Universal Credit is funded mainly through National Insurance<\/a>, which every worker making more than \u00a3242 a week must pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_applying_for_Universal_Credit_affect_your_credit_score\"><\/span>Does applying for Universal Credit affect your credit score?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes and no. Universal Credit does not directly affect credit score, because it\u2019s not a commercial loan. So it doesn\u2019t directly impact your credit score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, your reasons for applying for Universal Credit might affect your creditworthiness. For example, lenders may be reluctant to lend to you if you are on a low income or unemployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_benefits_appear_on_your_credit_report\"><\/span>Do benefits appear on your credit report?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your credit report is based on credit agreements, not income. Therefore, benefits won\u2019t show up on your credit report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, your employment status does show up on your credit report. Even if you are receiving unemployment benefit, lenders can still find out that you are unemployed from your credit report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_Universal_Credit_advances_affect_my_credit_score\"><\/span>Do Universal Credit advances affect my credit score?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No, Universal Credit advances do not affect credit score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the same way that student loans don\u2019t affect credit score, Universal Credit advances are a loan from the Government, not with a commercial lender. Commercial debts are the only things that interest lenders. They don\u2019t care about arrears with the Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You should still make sure to pay off advance debts, however. Benefit sanctions can cause financial issues that do show up on your credit report. For example, rent arrears and missed bill payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_benefit_sanctions_show_up_on_my_credit_report\"><\/span>Do benefit sanctions show up on my credit report?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No, benefit sanctions do not show up on your credit report. Tthe Government hands down sanctions, usually as punishment for missing appointments, or failure to repay an advance loan. Since they are not the result of a commercial credit agreement, they don\u2019t show up on your credit report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, sanctions can cause problems paying commercial credit arrangements, such as phone bills and utilities. That <em>can<\/em> show up on your credit report. Try to stay on top of things to keep your finances in good health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Credit-Score_offers_two_fabulous_solutions\"><\/span>Credit-Score offers two fabulous solutions.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re preparing to take a mortgage, never apply until you\u2019ve tried our unique and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/home.credit-score.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FREE Credit-Score Home app.<\/a>&nbsp;Our smart technology will tell you what you need to fix so you avoid rejection. The app predicts when you will be able to buy, for how much and tracks your month-by-month progress to mortgage success. We\u2019ve even added your own mortgage broker, so you get the best deals available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More focused on your credit rating? Well, get started for free with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/register\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Credit-Score\u2019s 24- Factor Credit Check<\/a>&nbsp;to truly help you improve your creditworthiness and how lenders view you. (Remember: lenders don\u2019t use your credit score! We\u2019ll show you what lenders look for and how to get your credit report in the best shape possible).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2013, the Government introduced Universal Credit to replace and combine six benefits. It is now claimed by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":5470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[324,577,284,285],"tags":[903,367,578,620,901,902,900],"class_list":{"0":"post-5464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-credit-basics","8":"category-credit-score","9":"category-money-matters","10":"category-personal-finance","11":"tag-benefits","12":"tag-credit-report","13":"tag-credit-score","14":"tag-creditscore","15":"tag-does-universal-credit-affect-credit-score","16":"tag-how-does-universal-credit-affect-credit-score","17":"tag-universal-credit"},"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/ben-white-7BiMECHFgFY-unsplash.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Robert Edwards","author_link":"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/author\/conor-mullinsaffalo-co-uk\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Does applying for Universal Credit affect your credit score? | Credit-Score<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One thing you may be asking, if you\u2019re applying for Universal Credit, is \u201cDoes Universal Credit affect your credit score?\u201d Find out here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.check.co.uk\/blog\/credit-score\/does-applying-for-universal-credit-affect-your-credit-score\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does applying for Universal Credit affect your credit score? | Credit-Score\" 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