Lenders review your income, committed expenses, credit utilisation and credit history. They can't see your credit score — that's an indicator for you to gauge your own credit health. It's the information on your report that counts, though your score is still a useful proxy for how a lender might see you.

What score do you need?#

Generally, a higher score improves your chances — but the score isn't the determining factor, and a low one doesn't necessarily mean rejection.

Alongside what's on your file, lenders weigh:

  • The product type — bank personal loan, PCP, HP or Conditional Sale
  • The size of your deposit
  • Vehicle age or mileage
  • Your employment stability
  • The car's value relative to your income and expenses
  • Whether you're dealing with existing debts (opens external site)
  • Whether the application is single or joint

These materially change both approval odds and the APR you're offered.

Bear in mind that Experian, Equifax and TransUnion use different ranges and systems, so what counts as a good score varies by agency. Experian itself states there's no magic number, because different companies look for different things even when working from the same report data.

In practice, stronger score bands correlate with wider product options and lower APR. But policies vary, and affordability alone can still lead to rejection.

How lenders assess you#

The FCA-commissioned market impact assessment on motor finance (opens external site) describes an important pricing split — the same review that led to the car finance compensation scheme:

  • New-car finance — eligibility is often pass or fail, and approved customers receive a standard APR.
  • Used-car finance — lenders more often apply risk-based pricing, with different APRs across low, fair, good and excellent credit health tiers.

FCA rules require lenders to consider two distinct things:

  • Credit risk — the risk the customer won't make repayments by their due dates.
  • Affordability risk — the risk to the customer of not being able to make repayments in line with the rules.

On affordability, firms must consider your ability to repay over the life of the agreement, from income and/or certain assets, without needing to borrow to make repayments, without missing other contractual or statutory obligations, and without the repayments significantly harming your financial situation.

The guidance deliberately doesn't specify exactly which checks to run. Assessments should be proportionate to the loan type, amount, cost of credit and the customer's position.

Can you get car finance with a low score?#

Yes, many people do — but the offer typically comes with trade-offs:

  • Fewer lender options
  • Higher APR
  • Stricter criteria on which car you can get
  • More documents and financial checks
  • A guarantor, who becomes financially responsible if you don't pay

These are underwriting levers for reducing both credit risk and affordability risk within FCA expectations.

Improving your chances#

It's about improving your overall credit health, which means reducing signs of missed-payment risk on your file, and improving affordability headroom through income stability, lower committed outgoings and a realistic loan size and term.

Negative markers stay for a while, but your credit health benefits once they clear:

  • Payment history, judgments, insolvencies and defaults commonly remain for six years
  • CCJs remain six years, but can be removed if paid in full within one month — or otherwise marked satisfied
  • Most hard searches remain for 12 months, according to Experian

Interestingly, car finance itself can build your score over time, as long as you meet the minimum payments.

Your score is a good indicator of how lenders might view you, but it isn't the deciding factor. If yours isn't where you'd like, there are always steps that move things forward.

The key things to remember#

  • No minimum credit score exists for UK car finance.
  • Product type, deposit, vehicle age, employment and the car's value all shift the outcome.
  • New-car finance is often pass/fail; used-car finance uses risk-based pricing tiers.
  • FCA rules require assessment of credit risk and affordability risk separately.
  • Affordability must hold across the whole agreement, without further borrowing.
  • Low scores mean fewer options, higher APR and possibly a guarantor.
  • CCJs paid in full within one month can be removed entirely.
  • Most hard searches clear after 12 months.