Although it is quite rare, there may be instances why your credit score might not be available. This is an issue that impacts roughly 2% of people who have applied for credit or who already have established credit. In most cases, there isn’t anything to worry about but it’s important to be aware of why your credit score might not be available.
Below are some of the reasons why this can happen:
1.) You Have a Lack of Credit History
Your credit score is generated based on your past credit history. If you are just starting off building your credit, you won’t have a credit score for the first 6 months after you apply for credit. When there isn’t any data about your credit accounts and the related repayment history, credit agencies typically won’t even assign you a score until they have some data.
Recommended Reading: What Credit Score do You Start With ?
Credit agencies ‘ scoring models need at least 6 months of data to generate a score. If you don’t have enough credit history, your credit score may simply not be available yet. You may just need to give it a bit more time for credit agencies to assign you a score.
2.) Technical glitches with credit reporting agencies:
If you have an active credit card or loan account which reports data to credit reporting agencies, there may be instances in which technical glitches can cause failure in reporting. As a result of these technical glitches, your credit score might not be available yet.
This typically has nothing to do with you, but with an internal reporting system between the credit agencies and the respective lenders. These types of situations tend to resolve themselves pretty quickly and are usually out of your control.
3.) Duplicate credit files:
In rare circumstances, credit reporting bureaus may have more than one credit report for the same individual. This can cause errors which can prevent a credit score from being reported. If you monitor your credit score, you will be able to see if this occurs.
Typically credit reporting providers such as Credit Karma will provide this information for you or even alert you if it happens. The majority of the time it is due to reporting issues and nothing to do with something you have done with your credit.
4.) Your loan or credit card is a business account:
It’s important to note that there is a difference between personal credit and business credit. Your personal credit score is linked to your social security number, while your business credit is linked to your FEIN number. Your FEIN number is a nine-digit number that is assigned to your business by the IRS.
Be sure that you are looking at your personal credit instead of your business credit. They are treated differently by the IRS and credit reporting agencies. If you haven’t used any sort of credit associated with your business, you won’t have a credit score associated with it.
5.) You haven’t used credit in over 24 months:
Use it or lose it. Once you’ve opened up a credit card or account it’s important that you use it and pay it off regularly. This is needed so lenders and credit reporting agencies can analyze how you are managing your credit. If you have credit but have not used it for over 24 months, your credit history may lack the necessary data to generate a score.
Once you start using credit it’s pretty difficult for this to happen unless you start paying for everything in cash.
As previously mentioned, it is very rare for your credit score not to be available. If you plan to make credit a part of your life it’s important to monitor it and make sure you are managing it effectively. It’s also important to be aware of instances in which your credit score may not be available.
