Getting a copy of your credit report is a simple process - simply sign up at any of the major credit report companies, enter your details and confirm your identity and they will be happy to display your credit report and score, usually completely free of charge.

It is worth noting however that different banks check credit ratings with different credit report companies, so it can be beneficial to sign up to each of the credit rating agencies to check your report to ensure there are no mistakes or omissions from your file that may negatively affect your chances of getting credit.

The main companies used for these checks are Experian (who operate under the brand Credit Expert), Equifax, and Call Credit.

An alternative is to use CheckMyFile, who will automatically grab your credit rating from all of the credit report companies at once. Unlike registering directly at the individual credit report companies, this service is not free - however at less than £10 for a basic report it is often worth the additional investment to save you time logging into each of the credit report companies individually.