Is a 0 credit score even possible? (2024)

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It’s always important to check in on your credit score, a three-digit number that helps banks and lenders decide whether to give you a loan.

Even if you pay your bills in full each month, failing to keep tabs on your credit could cause you to be saddled with a sub-par score — or no score at all.

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That’s what happened to Patricia Bartkiw, a retired Ontario woman, who shared her story with CTV News.

‘Unscoreable’

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Patricia and her husband were looking to get a house, and to take advantage of record low mortgage rates while they could.

When they applied for a mortgage the bank turned them down flat, claiming that Patricia either had a zero credit score or that her score was not available.

“Everything is paid off, our cars are paid off and we are paying rent so that automatically gets paid through the bank each month,” Patricia told CTV News.

What Patricia didn’t realize was that it isn’t just your payment history and debt levels that affect your score, it’s also your credit activity.

No matter how reliable a borrower you are, if there’s no activity reported on your credit accounts for an extended period of time, you may wind up being classified as “unscoreable.”

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to avoid this problem.

Free credit monitoring for every Canadian

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Staying on top of your score used to require contacting one of the major credit bureaus and requesting a physical copy of your credit report.

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But thanks to free credit monitoring services, Canadians can now check their credit score anytime, anywhere, using their computer or mobile device.

It only takes three minutes to sign up, and once you create an account you can start monitoring your credit right away.

These services will send you an email whenever there’s a change to your score — good or bad — and contact you immediately if any errors or unusual activity crop up on your account.

You can also use them to keep track of your monthly bill payments so that you never miss a due date.

Paying your bills on time and in full each month won’t just ensure that your credit accounts remain active, it will also help to increase your score and make you look like a better candidate in the eyes of banks and lenders.

A stress-free way to protect your credit

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Patricia was eventually able to work with a credit bureau and get her problem straightened out, but the situation could have easily been avoided if she’d been keeping an eye on her credit.

Even if you’re just curious, monitoring your score is totally free and it won’t affect your credit rating.

So take a few minutes to sign up and start protecting your credit today.

This article was created by Wise Publishing, Inc., which provides clear, trustworthy information people can use to take control of their finances. Millions of readers throughout North America have come to count on the Toronto-based company to help them save money, find the best bank accounts, get the best mortgage rates and navigate many other financial matters.

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