The 2 major credit rating companies are Experian and Equifax (the former being the biggest). As far as being free, they are not and to be honest its only a couple of quid to get a full detailed report. I think with Experian you can enter all the details on line and then pay using a debit/credit card and it will normally be with you within 7 days. I think I heard the other day that Equifax have now gone live on line but this costs �12 but you can still obtain one for a few quid via the post. Because of the sensitivity of the information, the charge is for the administration of checking you are who you say you are. For the money you get a detailed report. I would recommend everyone gets a report at least annually because there can be errors which can affect future credit.