Will I be penalised for shopping around for the best rate?
Looking for new credit can suggest a higher risk, so do your rate shopping before the lenders begin to search your credit information. To avoid a lot of credit searches while you're shopping around, make it clear that all you want is a quotation for the likely cost of the product. Companies can then carry out a 'quotation search', which doesn't mean you've applied for credit.
If there are more than five searches on your report over the last six months, this can affect your score and put off potential lenders. But more than one search by the same company on the same day will usually be treated as a single search.