Sole traders & limited companies
Business Credit Score
Your business credit score tells lenders, suppliers and insurers how creditworthy your business looks. Whether you run a limited company, a partnership or work as a sole trader, you can check your own score and work to improve it. Here is what it means and how to check.
Business credit score or company credit score?
The two phrases are used interchangeably. "Company credit score" usually points at a limited company; "business credit score" is broader and includes sole traders and partnerships. Either way it is the same idea: a rating, with a matching risk band, of how likely your business is to pay on time. The drivers and the way you check are the same.
What shapes your business credit score
- Filed information accounts and company details, where your business files them.
- Payment behaviour how promptly you pay suppliers, where that data is held.
- Public records county court judgments and insolvency-related notices.
- Trading history how long you have traded and the size of the business.
- Trend whether results are rising, steady or slipping.
For sole traders and partnerships there is less filed at Companies House than for a limited company, so payment behaviour and public records tend to carry more weight.
What the bands mean
A higher score; credit tends to be offered readily, on better terms and higher limits.
A mid-range score; credit is usually available, with more cautious limits.
A lower score; limits may tighten or security be requested; worth acting on.
Business credit score FAQs
Is a business credit score the same as a company credit score?
In everyday use they mean the same thing: a rating of how creditworthy your business looks. People tend to say company credit score for limited companies and business credit score more broadly, including sole traders and partnerships. The factors and the way you check are the same.
Do sole traders have a business credit score?
Yes. Sole traders and partnerships can be assessed too, drawing on the information held about the business. There is less filed at Companies House than for a limited company, so payment behaviour and public records carry more weight.
How do I check my business credit score?
Use the free self-assessment for an illustrative figure, then order a Company Insight Report on your own business for your real score, risk band, credit limit and the factors behind them.