How to check your business credit score

To check your limited company's credit score, sign up with a credit reference agency or a tool that uses one. iwoca Credit Compass shows your Equifax business score free and updates it every month. Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, Capitalise and Creditsafe offer free versions or trials. Paid plans add the full report and alerts.

Worth knowing: 21% of business owners admit they don't understand their credit score (iwoca, March 2026). So this guide covers how to read your score and keep it in shape, not just where to find it.

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Check your business credit score for free with iwoca Credit Compass

Credit Compass shows your company's Equifax business credit score for free, with no trial and no paid tier. A director can sign up in about two minutes, and checking won't affect the score.

To sign up, you pick your company by name or Companies House number and confirm you're a director. We check your date of birth against Companies House records.

Once you're in, you see your company's file in four areas:

• Credit score: your Equifax score and how it has moved over time.
• Financial status: cash flow, facilities, reserves and turnover.
• Credit history: payment indicators and risk level.
• Business risk: company and director risk, including any County Court Judgments (CCJs).

Credit Compass refreshes your company's Equifax data every month and lets you know as soon as an issue shows up. Alongside your Equifax score it shows four more scores (loan and credit history, financial performance, Companies House record and an overall health score), so you see your company the way lenders like iwoca see it. It also suggests what to focus on to improve, and you can connect your business bank account through Open Banking for more up-to-date turnover and balance figures.

Olusegun Shiroye, founder of Bolfis Limited, was one of the first to try it:

"Business owners shouldn't be flying blind, especially in such a tough economic environment. I'd never tracked my business's financial health before - which may have stifled some of my growth over the years - but iwoca's tool was straightforward to use and breaks everything down into categories that actually make sense."

Credit Compass gives you one credit agency's score (Equifax), alongside your Companies House record and, if you connect it, your bank data. Lenders and suppliers may check Experian, Creditsafe or Dun & Bradstreet instead, so it's worth knowing the others too.

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How to check your business credit score, step by step

Pick an agency or a tool that uses one, find your company by name or Companies House number, prove you're a director, then choose the free or paid version. Four agencies hold UK company credit files.

1. Pick an agency. HM Treasury designates four credit reference agencies to receive small business credit data from the big banks: Experian, Equifax, Creditsafe and Dun & Bradstreet (added in 2019), according to GOV.UK. TransUnion doesn't hold business credit histories in the UK. Some tools resell an agency's data: Capitalise uses Experian and Credit Compass uses Equifax.
2. Find your company. Search by your registered name or Companies House number. Check the address, SIC code and directors match what you've filed.
3. Prove you're a director. Each provider has its own check. Credit Compass, for example, matches your date of birth with Companies House.
4. Choose free or paid. The free version usually shows the score and the basics. Paid plans add the full report, history and alerts when something changes.

Checking a customer or supplier instead? That's a different job – see how to check another company's credit.

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Free and paid ways to check, compared

Most providers show you the score for free and charge for the full report and alerts. We checked these prices on 12 October 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you sign up.

Dun & Bradstreet and Experian also let directors ask for a free statutory business credit report. For Dun & Bradstreet, that's directors of UK businesses with turnover under £25 million. It's a basic snapshot, not a monitoring service.

If you're about to apply for finance, a free check is usually enough. If you trade on credit terms with big customers or suppliers, alerts are worth paying for, because they tell you when something changes before someone else spots it.

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How to read your business credit score

Each agency uses its own scale, so compare a score only with that agency's bands. A higher score means lower risk on every UK business scale.

Experian's business scores run from 0 to 100. Capitalise shows a score out of 100, a rating from A to G and a risk level. Dun & Bradstreet uses its own scores and ratings. So 75 at one agency and 75 at another don't mean the same thing. See what counts as a good score at each agency.

Behind the number, a business credit report usually shows:

• Your filed accounts and what they say about cash and debts.
• How promptly you pay lenders and suppliers.
• Any CCJs or insolvency records.
• Your directors and how long the company has traded.
• A suggested credit limit.

Payment data comes partly from banks. Under Commercial Credit Data Sharing, the banks HM Treasury designates must share their small business customers' credit data with the four designated agencies. That's why an overdraft or loan you run well can show up on your file.

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Check your report and investigate changes

Keep an eye on the report behind your company’s credit score, not just the number. When you check it, compare it with your previous report and look for changes to company details, payment records or borrowing.

If something looks wrong or unfamiliar, contact the credit reference agency to ask how to correct it. Regular checks can help you spot errors before you apply for finance.

A monthly check with Credit Compass covers Equifax. If your customers or lenders rely on Experian or Dun & Bradstreet, a paid plan with alerts from that agency fills the gap. If your score is lower than you'd like, here's how to build your company's credit history.

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How to fix a mistake on your business credit file

Fix it at the source first, then ask the agency to update its file. Most company data comes from Companies House, so a wrong address, SIC code or missing filing has to be corrected there.

1. Correct the source. Update your details or file what's missing on Companies House. If a lender or supplier reported something wrong, ask them to correct it with the agency.
2. Tell the agency. Each agency has its own route. Dun & Bradstreet lets you view and ask for updates to your company's data free with D-U-N-S Manager. Experian has a review service where you can add financial information to your file.
3. Check again. Look at the file after the agency's next update to make sure the change has come through.

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What lenders look at beyond the score

The score isn't the only thing a lender looks at. At iwoca, we look at your company's credit file, the directors' personal credit files and Companies House data. For larger applications, we may also ask for bank statements, VAT returns or accounts.

That's why a middling score doesn't automatically mean a no, and a strong one doesn't guarantee a yes. You can read more about how we assess credit.

If you're checking your score because you need finance, an iwoca Flexi-Loan lets UK limited companies borrow up to £1m, with a decision within 24 hours. Every new Flexi-Loan needs a personal guarantee from at least one director, so you're personally responsible if the company can't repay. If your score needs work first, it may be better to wait and improve it before you apply.

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Business credit score FAQs

Short answers on whether checking hurts your score, how your personal credit fits in and how an iwoca loan shows on your file.

Does checking your business credit score affect it?

No. Checking your own company's score is a soft search, so it doesn't change your score. Only applying for credit can leave a mark on your file.

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Does my personal credit score affect my company's score?

Not directly. Your limited company has its own credit file, separate from yours. But lenders often look at directors' personal files too, especially for younger companies or when a personal guarantee is involved. Read more about your personal credit score and your company's.

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Does an iwoca loan show on my company's credit file?

Yes. We report each loan's status to Experian and Equifax every month, so repaying on time builds your company's payment record with both. Missed payments show up too.