Does It Hurt to Check Your Credit Score?

Checking your own credit report is recommended to help keep your credit score as healthy as possible. You need to protect yourself by looking for any errors that may negatively impact your score, because a lower score reduces your chances of obtaining new credit. Looking at your own credit report doesn't hurt your score, but you must ensure you're getting the report by the appropriate method.

Soft Inquiries

Credit report inquiries for employment, existing account reviews, credit card pre-approval offers or inquiries you make into your own account are considered soft inquiries. These inquiries do not have an effect on your credit rating, and lenders can't see them on your credit report. Therefore, checking your own credit report does not have a negative effect on your credit score.

Hard Inquiries

Inquiries made for an application for credit, such as those for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and consolidation, are considered hard inquiries. Each hard inquiry has a small negative effect on your credit score. According to a Leslie McFadden article on the Bankrate website, these inquiries stay on your credit report for two years. However, FICO, which developed the model used for calculating credit scores, counts them only through the first year.

Annual Credit Report

You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once each year through the Annual Credit Report website. Each of the three major credit bureaus -- TransUnion, Equifax and Experian -- provides a copy of your credit report through this website. The Federal Trade Commission warns against using other so-called "free" credit reporting websites, as they may later charge for their services. Bankrate warns that using a credit score reporting company that promises credit reports as a perk may damage your credit score as well.

Considerations

The Federal Trade Commission encourages individuals to look for errors on their credit reports and to notify both the reporting credit bureau and the creditor in writing of the discrepancy. Include any documentation you have to dispute the error. The consumer reporting company must investigate the items in question within 30 days unless the dispute is deemed frivolous.