What's Not in a Credit Score?

A credit score, which is calculated from information gathered on your consumer credit report, says a lot about how you handle credit. However, it doesn’t include everything about your financial life. There is a whole bunch of personal information that you never have to worry about being factored into your credit score. Here’s a look at some of the things you won’t see on your credit report.

Old Credit Information

A bankruptcy that is more than 10 years old, or a charged-off credit account or collection account more than seven years old won’t be listed on your credit report and no longer impact your credit score. “Whether or not you are participating in credit counseling of any kind” will not appear on your FICO report either, FICO creator Fair Isaac Corporation says on its site. The same goes for “any information that is not proven to be predictive of future credit performance.” (You can view two of your credit scores for free. Checking your scores will not harm them in any way.)

Certain Personal Information

Your credit report does not contain information about your gender, race, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, medical history, criminal record, or whether you receive public assistance. More importantly, none of this personal information affects your credit score. Other personal information, such as your salary, occupation, employer, or employer history also won’t appear on your credit report and has no direct bearing on your scores. “Lenders may consider this information, however, as may other types of scores,” FICO notes on its site. Do know that your credit report may display the name of your current or former spouse if you have any accounts in both of your names. Also, your age may be considered among scores outside FICO.

Interest Rates

Your credit report does not contain the interest rates that you pay for your credit cards and/or loan accounts. Your credit report will list your balance, amount due, amount paid, and whether a credit card or loan account is past due. (You can learn more about how interest rates work.)

Most Utility Payments

On-time monthly payments for services like your telephone, electric, water, cable, Internet, etc. are not reported by most utility companies to the three national credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Due to this, on-time utility payments are not considered in many consumer credit reports. That said, utility companies will report accounts that have gone into default or accounts that have been turned over for collection. In other words, unpaid utilities accounts will be noted on your credit reports and impact your scores.

Soft Inquiries

Soft inquiries, or consumer-initiated inquiries, as FICO refers to them, are inquiries you have made to check on your credit. These do not appear on your credit report. Promotional inquiries for pre-approval credit card offers, which are made by lenders to review your account, will also not appear on your report.

This article has been updated. It was originally published December 5, 2015.