Which car finance companies use TransUnion?

That moment when you’ve found the car of your dreams is a pretty special one. You can picture the trips you’ll take, the adventures you’ll have with your new wheels, how amazing you’ll look cruising along with the wind in your hair… But before you get too swept up in the magic, take a moment to check your credit score. This little number has a big effect on the car finance deal you might get, so it’s worth checking where you stand before you apply for finance.

Car finance companies will run a credit check to suss out how reliable and credit-worthy you are before they offer you a deal, and they get the information they need from a credit reference agency. One of the main credit reference agencies in the UK is TransUnion - if you’ve come across this name while you’ve been exploring your car finance options, here’s what you need to know.

What is TransUnion?

TransUnion used to be called Callcredit, and it’s one of the big three credit reference agencies in the UK. Along with Experian and Equifax, it collects and holds information about people’s financial history - in particular, the way they handle credit - and uses this to produce people’s credit reports.

When you apply for any kind of credit - including car finance, a credit card, loan or mortgage - the lender will run a credit check with at least one credit reference agency so they can see how you’ve managed your money in the past. This information helps them gauge how much of a risk it would be to lend to you.

All three credit reference agencies have broadly the same information about you, but they’ll likely give you different credit scores, because they interpret the information in different ways. For example, the highest score you can get with TransUnion is 710, whereas Experian’s scores go up to 999. Plus, some financial companies provide information to all three credit reference agencies, whereas others only work with one or two, so you may get a different credit score because it’s based on slightly different information.

Why do car finance companies use TransUnion?

When they’re deciding whether to offer you a finance deal, car finance companies need to understand how reliable you are, so they can gauge how risky it would be to lend to you. They want to make sure you’ll be able to keep up with the repayments on your car finance without any issues.

To do this, they’ll look at how you’ve managed your money, particularly money you’ve borrowed, in the past. This is where TransUnion and other credit reference agencies come in - they create your credit report using your financial information, and share this with the car finance company during a credit check. You’ll usually have to agree to this as part of your finance application.

When the car finance company has the information they need, they decide whether to offer you a finance deal, and what interest rate to charge you (if they think you might be on the slightly less reliable side, they’ll likely offer you a higher interest rate).

What are the benefits of using TransUnion?

For the lender, they get to see information about your financial history that will help them decide whether to accept your car finance application, and what terms to offer you.

For you, checking your credit score and report with TransUnion lets you see what information is being shared with lenders. You can check that everything is right and there are no mistakes (if there are, you can get them corrected). Plus, getting to know your credit report is a great way of getting on top of your finances in general - knowing where you stand will help you make better, more informed financial decisions.

How can I check my credit score with TransUnion?

Knowing your score, and checking that everything on your report is correct, is a really important part of managing your money. Checking your credit score with TransUnion is easy peasy - you can get your credit report and see your score for free on its website. 

It’s also worth checking your score with the other credit reference agencies, Experian and Equifax, because your report may be slightly different with them. This can happen sometimes because whilst some financial companies provide information to all three agencies, some only work with one or two. So it’s best to be thorough and check with all three.

Which car finance companies use TransUnion?

As of September 2024, these car finance companies use TransUnion:

• Alphera Financial Services
• Black Horse
• Blue Motor Finance
• CA Auto Finance
• Carmoola (that’s us!)

Tips for improving your credit score with TransUnion

If you’ve checked your score and been disappointed with what you’ve seen - fear not. There are tons of ways to improve your credit score - here’s a few steps to get you on your way:

• Check all your details are right - if there’s wrong information on there, contact the credit agency to get it updated
• Register on the electoral roll
• Pay down your credit card or loan balances
• Pay anything you owe that’s late or overdue

On top of this, make sure you pay all your bills on time. Missing payments or paying bills late will make you look unreliable, and this will bring your score down. But if you keep on top of things, over time this will show you can manage your finances responsibly, and your score should start to go up. 

Changes to credit scores don’t happen overnight, though, so be patient and keep up the good habits - it’ll be worth it!