Almost everyone over the age of 18 has a credit report in the UK. This is a log of information which details you to use of credit, including information on everything from unpaid phone bills to credit card usage, debt management and much more. Lenders, such as Forward Finance, we will then use this information to gauge whether you are a responsible user of financial products and to decide whether you’re able to make repayments on a loan. If you have bad credit, you may find it difficult to access financial products such as payday loans. Bad credit can take many forms; missed or late payments stay on your credit report for six years, as do county court judgments for non-payment and bankruptcy. People you are linked to financially can also harm your credit rating. If your spouse has bad credit and you have a joint mortgage, their credit report will be available to view and could harm your access to credit. Failing to repay a payday loan on time will harm your credit rating, making it more difficult to access any type of credit in the future.