Credit scores and credit reports

Credit products

For each credit product you've held in the last two years:

• type of credit product (such as credit card, store card, home loan, personal loan, business loan)

• credit provider

• credit limit

• opening and closing dates of the account

• joint applicant's name, if any

Repayment history

For each credit product you've held in the last two years:

• repayment amount

• when payments were due

• how often you paid and if you paid by the due date

• missed payments (not made within 14 days of the due date), and if and when you made them

Defaults on utility bills, credit cards and loans

Your service provider may report your non-payment of a debt (called a 'default') to a credit reporting agency. They must notify you before they do so. This may include defaults on your utility and phone bills.

A service provider can report a default if:

• the amount owed is $150 or more, and

• your service provider can't contact you (called a clearout), and

• 60 days or more have passed since the due date, and

• the service provider has asked you to pay the debt either by phone or in writing

A default stays on your credit report for:

• five years

• seven years in the case of a clearout

If you pay the debt, your credit report will still list the default, but it will also show that you've paid it.

Credit applications

If you've applied for credit before:

• number of applications you’ve made

• total amount of credit you’ve borrowed

• any loans you’ve guaranteed

Bankruptcy and debt agreements

Any bankruptcies or debt agreements, court judgments, or personal insolvency agreements in your name.

Credit report requests

Any requests for your credit report that have been made by credit providers.

Fix mistakes in your credit report

When you get your credit report, check that:

• all the loans and debts listed are yours

• details such as your name and date of birth are correct

If something is wrong or out of date, contact the credit reporting agency and ask them to fix it. This is a free service. Some companies may try to charge you to get all negative information removed from your credit report. The only thing they can ask the credit reporting agency to remove is wrong information. And you can do that yourself — see credit repair.

Source: moneysmart.gov.au
Reproduced with the permission of ASIC’s MoneySmart Team. This article was originally published at https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/credit-scores-and-credit-reports

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