Visit the CIBIL website, login and click 'know your score' tab and receive personalized credit score. You must fill an online form and provide your name, income, and date of birth, identity proof, phone number, and address along with the loans taken. Then you must pay a fee and your CIBIL score is then emailed to you.
A high CIBIL credit score means good track record of repayment of loans and credit card bills and less probability to default, while a low CIBIL credit score conveys poor track record of loan repayment and high probability to default.
You can check your CIBIL score once in a year, and this practise is called 'soft inquiry'. While issuing a credit card or evaluating a loan application, the provider may make a 'hard inquiry'. Multiple inquiries because of applying for loan in several banks will affect your credit score negatively.
If you do not borrow, there will be no credit history created, thus the credit bureau will not be able to assign you a CIBIL score, known as zilch or zero credit score.
Other credit bureaus in India apart from CIBIL are: Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd, Experian Credit Information Co. of India Pvt. Ltd, and CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd. There may be a bit of variation in scoring patters of these institutions, but the results are reliable.
It is a nine digit unique number and helps the CIBIL to track your credit report. The number is generated when a lender or banks accesses your credit report.
If you take too many unsecured personal loans, then it means the rate of interest will be higher than home or car secured loans, and may cause you to default. However, if you comply with payments, then your credit score will not be affected be it a secured or an unsecured loan.
In case you miss payments for loans all along the years, then your credit score will suffer. It means you have more payments to make, and getting a new loan would be next to impossible, as you will be accounted as a defaulter and untrustworthy with credit.