Do lenders do soft or hard credit checks, and when?

Most UK SMB fintech lenders run a soft credit check at quote stage and a hard credit check at full application. Soft searches leave no trace on your credit file and do not affect your score. Hard searches are visible to other lenders for 12 months and can drop your score by 5 to 25 points temporarily.

Lenders confirmed to soft-search at quote include iwoca, Funding Circle, Capify, 365 Business Finance, Fleximize, Liberis, Tide, Bizcap, JPM Capital and most major UK SMB fintechs. The hard search comes when you accept indicative terms and proceed to full application, typically 24 to 72 hours after the initial quote.

Bank lenders often hard-search earlier. Allica Bank, OakNorth, Aldermore and Shawbrook may hard-search at the indicative-terms stage rather than waiting for full application, especially if a broker is not involved. This is because their underwriting is committee-driven and the soft search alone does not give underwriters enough information.

Multiple soft searches in 90 days are harmless. Multiple hard searches in 90 days are not. Three hard searches in 90 days will typically drop a UK consumer credit score by 30 to 50 points and signal financial distress to subsequent lenders. The practical rule: shop quotes freely (soft only), choose your preferred lender, then proceed to full application with that one. If declined, wait 30 days before the next hard search where possible.

See will submitting a quick quote affect my credit score for the consumer-language version, and will lenders run soft or hard credit checks and when for the same question framed differently.