Glossary
Credit enquiry (soft vs hard)
A check on your credit file. Soft enquiries are invisible to other lenders and don't affect your score; hard enquiries are recorded on your file and can.
By Leverage Finance · Updated 17 July 2026
A soft enquiry (or quotation enquiry) lets a company look at your credit information without leaving a mark other lenders can see. A hard enquiry, made when you formally apply for credit, is recorded on your file, and a cluster of them in a short period can nudge your score down.
Leverage starts with a soft check, which doesn't affect your credit score. To be straightforward about the next step: if you proceed to a full application with a lender, that lender's check can appear on your file as a normal application enquiry. One enquiry for a loan you're genuinely pursuing is ordinary behaviour on a credit file.
The detail is in Does refinancing hurt your credit score?
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