FAQ
You are entitled to access any credit information that we hold about you. When applying for access please provide us with sufficient data to enable us to verify your identity. Please note; where we are unable to verify your identity we may ask you for additional information before we can provide you with your credit file. This is to protect you from identity fraud.
You are entitled to get a copy of your credit report for free (to be supplied within 10 business days) or if you require this more quickly for a modest amount (to be supplied within 3 business days).
In addition, Equifax does offer other services. All services are set out below and described in detail on our products page.
- My Credit File - Your credit file will be dispatched to you within 10 business days, free of charge. You can request your credit report online or download an application form.
- My Credit File Express – Your credit file will be dispatched to you within three business days, for $9.95 inclusive of GST.
- My Credit Alert – For a 12 month subscription receive an email alert whenever certain changes occur on your credit file. This includes new credit enquiries which could alert you to potential fraud. You will also receive your credit report, dispatched to you within one business day for $59.95 per year inclusive of GST.
Please note that you may only request a copy of your own personal credit file. Find out more about these services.
* Equifax Score Ratings are not provided when any insolvency information is present on your credit file. Insolvency information remains on your credit file for four years from the date of discharge.
FAQ
A payment default is in simple terms an overdue account. In most cases they arise when a debt owed by you has become overdue (i.e. not paid within 30 days of the payment date printed on the Invoice by the credit provider).
Default information can be listed on your credit report if:
- your account has been outstanding for 30 days or longer
- you have not responded to the credit providers letters to pay the debt and they have written the account off
- you have not responded to the credit providers letters to pay the debt and they referred your account to a solicitor, collection agency or repossession agency to recover the debt on their behalf.
All overdue payment defaults may only be listed by the credit provider when they have taken the necessary steps to recover the whole, or any part of the debt owed by you. In all cases the credit provider must have requested the borrower (that is you), either in person or in writing, to pay the outstanding amount.
When you have paid the outstanding amount owing or brought your account up to date the credit provider is obliged by law to amend your credit file to reflect that the overdue account has been paid. When this happens an amended credit file is then automatically forwarded to any credit provider that may have requested a credit file on you 30 days prior to the update being made.
All payment defaults which are unpaid or overdue accounts remain listed on your credit file for a period of five (5) years, unless an investigation proves that the account was listed in error then in this case the information can be deleted by Equifax, provided the necessary documents provided demonstrate this.
Most credit providers look unfavourably on customers with a history of overdue accounts and other adverse information on file.
FAQ
Equifax Score Rating is a service where all of the information on your credit file is evaluated to produce a single score out of 1,000. When you apply for credit, this rating is calculated at the time of application by a mathematical equation which analyses multiple types of information from your credit file, and then compares this information to the patterns of a vast number of past credit files.
The Equifax Score Rating estimates your level of future credit risk and your ability to repay the amount that you will owe. Credit providers and other companies who have the authority to access your credit file in accordance to the Credit Reporting Privacy Act 2020 can use your Equifax Score Rating to assess your intention and ability to make payments.
The ability to quickly, fairly and consistently consider all of this information, including the relationships between different types of information, is what makes credit scoring so useful.
Your Equifax Score Rating is included with your credit report.
Note: We do not score credit files where insolvency information is present.
FAQ
We will take reasonable steps to ensure the credit information we hold about you is accurate, and we will act promptly when we become aware of any errors, to correct them. This will usually involve checking the information you provide with the source, such as a subscriber (or creditor), who submitted a default (for example).
If you think there are inaccuracies in your credit file, there are steps you can take to request that any inaccuracy is corrected or investigated. These steps are outlined in the My Credit File Explained brochure, which you will receive when you order your personal credit file.
We will, as soon as is reasonably practicable, decide whether to make the correction you have requested or to confirm the accuracy of the information. If we need longer than 20 working days to make a decision, we will notify you of the extension and the reason for it. If the requested correction is not made, we will tell you the reason and you may ask to have a statement of the correction sought but not made. This statement will be included in your credit file.
If a correction is made or a correction statement added, we will send an amended report to any Equifax subscriber recorded as having accessed your credit file within the last 30 days, and also to you.
Information about a bankruptcy that has been discharged, or a default that has subsequently been paid in full, can continue to be reported on your credit file, provided it is updated to reflect the later developments, as it remains an accurate statement of those historical events.
FAQ
Visit our Credit Disputes page to find out how to correct or investigate the identity content of your credit report.
FAQ
Visit our Credit Disputes page to find out the steps to dispute an entry on your credit file.