The average credit score for Canadian citizens aged from 36-45 is 710. Credit scores generally tend to go up as people get older.
Credit ratings can be quite complicated, and various things can have an impact on them. Having a bad credit score can affect how easy it is for you to get a loan, so it’s always best to maintain a high score if you can.
Hard inquiries can affect your credit rating, and companies might need to do them in certain situations. So what are hard inquiries? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know.
What Are Hard Inquiries?
If you decide you want to seek credit, the lender or credit card issuer will want to know about your credit rating. They’ll ask for a credit report, and you can view this before applying so you can get an idea of what they’ll see.
They’ll then make a decision based on your current and past financial behavior. This will include things like balances on credit cards/loans and payment history.
Things like missed bill payments don’t look good as lenders will see this as an indicator that you might miss more payments in the future. If a lender sees anything on your report they don’t like, they might charge higher interest rates, or deny your loan altogether.
A hard inquiry occurs when the lender requests your credit file. Any hard inquiries will then appear on your credit report.
How Do Hard Inquiries Affect Your Credit Score?
The impact of a hard inquiry on your credit is, unfortunately, a negative one. On the plus side, it’s not permanent. The inquiry will show up on your credit report for two years, and should only actually affect your credit score for a few months.
It’s worth noting that it’s not good to have a lot of hard inquiries in a short timeframe. This can indicate that you’re looking for multiple loans and credit cards that you can’t afford to pay back.
With this in mind, having a hard inquiry on your credit report isn’t always a major issue. There are a range of things that can affect your credit score. Your payment history and credit utilization make up about two-thirds of your entire score, so they’re the most important factors.
Applications for new credit generally only account for about 10% of your score. As such, a hard inquiry won’t have a huge impact when compared to other elements.
Because of this, you’ll usually be fine with multiple hard inquiries in a short period (around 14 days to 45 days) if they’re all for the same kind of loan. If you have several for different loans and credit cards in the space of about a week, however, most lenders will see this as a red flag, and you’ll have a much harder time securing credit.
Hard inquiries are sometimes unavoidable. When applying for an auto loan or mortgage, for example, you’ll need to have one.
Credit bureaus are aware of this, and won’t penalize you if you have multiple hard inquiries as a result of applying for multiple loans. You’ll want to do this to compare rates, so they understand that this doesn’t reflect on your ability to make loan payments.
What if You Can’t Get Credit?
You might be struggling to get a loan from various lenders. This could be due to hard inquiries, or for various other reasons. Fortunately, there are certain solutions that could be ideal for you.
Companies like Kingcash offer quick online loans with flexible repayment options. One of the main benefits is that no credit check is needed. This means that you can apply even if you don’t have a great credit rating, and you won’t end up with an additional hard inquiry on your report.
How Long Can Lenders See a Hard Inquiry?
A lender can see a hard inquiry on your credit report for the full two years after it’s made. Despite that, most inquiries only last for a few months or a year at most. After this point, they won’t affect your credit score even though they’re still visible.
When you apply for a loan or a credit card, your credit score will drop slightly. After a short while, it will return to normal. Responsible credit behavior will usually help your score recover faster.
Maintaining a good credit score is always beneficial, so you shouldn’t apply for any loans or credit cards that you don’t need. When applying for something essential such as a mortgage, you should avoid any other credit applications for several months if you can. This will help you keep your credit rating as high as possible.
What Are Soft Inquiries?
A soft inquiry can occur when you check your own credit, rather than when a lender does it. They can also happen if you haven’t submitted a full loan application, but a company wants to prequalify you for their offer. Unlike hard inquiries, soft inquiries don’t affect your credit score, so you don’t need to worry about these as much.
Getting a Loan Without a Credit Check
Hard inquiries aren’t ideal, and if your credit score isn’t the best, you really don’t want to make it any lower. Kingcash.ca offers fast loans in Canada, so you can get one online without damaging your credit rating at all. All you need to do is apply through our website, and you can get quick approval for a loan from $500-$750.
Take a look at our How It Works page for more details on how our no credit check loans work.
