Millions left out as some utilities are excluded from credit scores

For many people, a credit record isn’t something they think about every day. But it quietly affects so much, whether you can get a loan, rent a flat, or set up a mobile phone contract. Having no credit history, or a limited one, can make life harder or more expensive than it should be.

That’s why it’s so important to recognise the real ways people show they can be trusted to pay. Traditional credit scores focus on things like credit cards and mortgages, but those aren’t part of life for many households. This gap is most visible among renters and social housing tenants.

There are around 10 million rented and social housing homes in the UK — around 38% of all households — and for people living here, the biggest and most regular payments each month are rent and utilities. In most cases, these are paid on time and in full, a clear sign of financial reliability. Yet, in many cases, these payments don’t count towards building a credit record.

There’s been some positive news recently. Experian has announced changes to its credit scoring system so that rent payments can now be included for people who choose to opt in. As the BBC reported, this is part of a move to recognise more of the “everyday financial behaviours that matter.”

Experian’s Boost feature also allows people to add payments for utilities, phone bills and other services to their credit record. But it only works where someone has a direct account with the supplier and pays the bill from their own bank account.

That means many social housing and rental tenants, whose utilities are provided through private “behind-the-meter” networks managed by their landlords still aren’t included. Their regular payments show reliability just as clearly, but the system still doesn’t capture them.

True financial inclusion means recognising the commitments people already meet. At MyUnit, we help tenants demonstrate their financial reliability through their track record of payments for utilities managed by their landlords. We do this on a case-by-case basis when tenants request it, but we’d like to see more scalable solutions that ensure everyone has the chance to be seen, and rewarded, for the payments they already make.