Your credit report is a very important part of your life, even if you may have never seen it. Credit report information is used by banks and other financial institutions to determine whether or not they should give you a loan and if so at what interest rate. It’s even used by utility companies and any time you apply for a post-paid product, such as an Internet or mobile phone contract. Your credit report can greatly affect your lifestyle, so it’s up to you to ensure that the credit report information is correct and up to date.

What your credit report contains

Your credit report contains information about you and any past court orders. Every time you apply for a loan, financial product or post-paid product, that information goes onto your credit report. Your credit report also contains information about any loans or products you are already using as well as any defaults or late payments.

Specifically, your credit report contains:

  • Personal details such as your name, date of birth, current and previous addresses, current and previous employers, and drivers licence number
  • Details of any loan or credit applications you have previously lodged, from home loans, personal loans and credit cards
  • Any payments which you have not made on time, especially those which you have not repaid within 60 days of the due date. The report might also contain information about any overdue amount which you already paid.
  • Any serious “clearout” listings. A clearout occurs when you change your address and cannot be contacted for repayments.
  • Information about bankruptcy orders and judgement debts

Correcting mistakes

As you can see, your credit report contains a lot of information and it is essential that they are up to date and correct. To this extent you should periodically check your credit report, especially before you apply for an important loan such as a home loan. For example, a credit provider may mistakenly mention that you have defaulted on a loan – such information will wrongly bring down your credit score.

You can obtain a copy of your credit report from Veda Advantage or Dun & Bradstreet. Depending on how quickly you need your report, you may be charged a small fee.

Once you receive your report, you should go over it carefully to ensure that there are no mistakes. Check that your personal information is correct and that there is no unusual credit activity on the account that is untrue. You also need to make sure that there are no wrong claims of payment defaults.

Making sure your credit report information is up to date is essential to enjoying good financial services.