Martin Lewis' warning to anyone buying a home as nearly half of people's credit score set to drop

Martin Lewis has issued a warning to anyone who is watching their credit score, whether you're looking to buy a house or take out a new credit card.

The financial journalist has spoken after Experian announced it would be changing the way it calculates people's scores.

Credit scores are used by companies like mortgage lenders and banks offering loans to determine how trustworthy you might be as a borrower, with a higher score suggesting you might be more likely to be accepted for loans, credit cards and mortgages and often with better rates.

As it currently is, data and technology company Experian scores users out of 999, with anyone with 961 and above classed as having an 'excellent' score. The other ranges customers can score are 'good', 'fair', 'poor' and 'very poor', with the majority of people in the UK sitting in the 'fair' category.

However, as we move into 2026, Experian will be rating its credit scores out of 1250, in a bid to paint a clear and more accurate description of where people are in terms of financial health.

According to money saving expert Lewis, this move is likely to see more than 40 percent of people dropping from one range into the range below, which you might be thinking is a disaster if you're expecting to have your credit file assessed in the near future.

Fortunately, you don't need to panic, with the money guru explaining that it's not your numerical score that counts when companies are looking at your credit file, but in actual fact, it's your financial history that matters in terms of assessing your financial trustworthiness.

Martin Lewis says credit scores are roughly meaningless (Getty Stock Images)

"A credit score is roughly meaningless. It is just the credit reference agency's typical illustration of how it thinks a lender will look at you," he told viewers on ITV's This Morning.

Credit scores do have their use, as a sudden drop in score would usually sound the alarm that you need to take a closer look and see if there are any issues, Lewis says 'the small moves don't mean anything'.

"So the biggest message I could give you: your credit score you get from Experian may be changing, but lenders assess you based on the underlying data, and the underlying data they're getting hasn't changed," he said, adding that your new score 'will not change your credit worthiness and whether you are accepted or not'.