Credit Ratings: What is ‘Bad Credit’ and ‘Good Credit’?

Posted July 30th, 2009 and last modified December 21st, 2012

What Are Credit Card Ratings?

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive at Credit Card Finder® are those about credit ratings, particularly the affects and influence of having ‘bad credit’.

Whenever you make a financial move, whether it be an enquiry, application, repayment, or file for bankruptcy, it is being recorded in your own personal credit file. In Australia, this credit file is organised by Veda.

If you see a listing on your credit rating that has been unfairly added, should not be showing up, or has been incorrectly added, you have a good shot at getting your file repaired.

If you have a bad credit rating, it can be difficult for you to attain credit in Australia. There are however a number of credit repair options available in Australia, that will help you overcome your bad credit rating, and put you in a situation where you are able to be apply and be accepted for:

• Credit Card Applications
• Home Loan Applications
• Personal Loan Applications

• What are Credit Card Ratings?
• What is Credit History?
• Why was my Application for Credit is Rejected?
• How to Fix Your Credit Rating?
• What Happens if I Have Good or Bad Credit Rating?
• How Often Should You Check Your File?
• Reasons to Check Your Credit File Regularly

What Is My Credit History Used For?

When you make an application for finance, including credit cards, personal loans and mortgages, the financial lender or bank you’ve applied with has the right to see your credit file.

By viewing your financial history, it gives them an impression of how trustworthy and reliable you truly are, or whether you’re too risky to lend to.

Why Should I Look At My Credit History?

If you had to apply for a credit card or a loan tomorrow, would you be approved? You never know when you might be in need of a little additional financing. In order to be prepared for any unexpected events that might occur, you should review your financial records so that you know where you stand in terms of your credit history.

When you know the status of your credit file, you will have less worry when it comes to events that require more financing, because you will know that you will get approved.

What Is In My Credit File?

Your credit report from Veda features :

• Personal details: Including your name, gender, your history of residence/current residence, drivers license details, date of birth
• Credit applications: The type and amount of credit you’ve applied for along with any enquiries you have made in the previous five years.
• Credit accounts: Any financial accounts which are current and open.
• Credit Defaults: Any overdue or late account action may have been listed against your credit report.
• Bankruptcy: Whether or not you have ever filed for bankruptcy.
• Judgments: Your financial decisions and other general public record information.

What Should I Look For In My Financial Records?

Errors can be a huge hindrance when it comes to applying for credit cards and other types of financing. These are some of the biggest things that you should be on the look out for

• Any outdated income information
• Any outdated employer information
• Negative statuses for repayments that have been rectified but not updated in your file

Does My Credit File Have My ‘Credit Rating’ On It?

Contrary to popular belief, your credit file in Australia does not give a solid figure for your ‘credit rating’ or ‘credit score’. However, banks have their own way of judging your credit-worthiness, which often involves assigning a credit score of their own when assessing new applicants.

Why Was My Application For Credit Is Rejected?

This is due to the financial lender you applied with believing you would not be a suitable borrower for whatever reason, as you pose too much of a liability risk to them or do not meet the financial requirements necessary for their product.

This could be due to a number of reasons, including but not limited to:

• Having overdue accounts and defaults on your credit accounts.
• Incorrect information recorded on your credit report.
• Fraudulent use of your credit card resulting in defaults.

How Long Are Defaults And Personal Details Kept On My Personal File?

• Applications for finance and credit are kept for 5 years.
• Overdue accounts and defaults are kept for 5 years.
• Bankruptcy files are kept for 7 years.
• Writs, Summons and Judgments from the court are kept for 5 years.
• Identity information is permanent.
• Out of date information is generally cleared on a monthly basis.

There is a certain process that needs to be followed to get it done correctly and you may need to call in the help of a professional.

How To Fix Your Credit Rating

While there is a process that you can follow in order to get credit repair accomplished on your own, it is not recommended that you do it yourself. A lot of people try to do it themselves and don’t get the results expected. There is certain proof required and other documents so it is much better to hire a credit file repair specialist. It is not a good idea to take any kind of chance with your credit rating especially if you see errors on your credit file that affect your credit rating.

How To Look For Errors

There are three agencies in Australia that process credit reports. Veda Advantage has a consumer database with approximately 14,500,000 files, which makes it the largest. Tasmanian Collection Service and Dunn & Bradstreet are also agencies for credit reporting in this country. You can simply send an email or write them a letter requesting your credit file and you will receive a copy of it in approximately 10 working days.

Once you have a copy of your report, you can look through it for any listings that should not be appearing. If you see any you should take notes and look for evidence that proves that the listing was added in error.

What You Will See On Your Credit File

As you look through the file you will see any applications you have made for credit cards, loans, mortgages, and any other type of credit. You will also see the number of times you have filled out an application for credit, the value of the loan and what kind of finance was applied for, as well as your credit rating.

Understanding Your Credit File

Any time that you make an application for anything on credit, including credit cards, loans, and mobile phones, it is recorded on your credit file.

You will find detailed information on your file concerning what companies you have applied with, how much you are asking for, and how many applications you have sent out.

The information that you see on your credit file is the same information that lenders see when they are deciding whether or not to approve a loan. If your credit history looks good then you may receive approval and if it is bad you will be declined.

Reports are given to the credit agencies regarding your handling of credit. It is important to find out what others are saying and writing about you on your credit file. This is your personal financial history and you do have control over it.

If you are late for any payments or miss a payment entirely, it will be recorded on your file. This includes payments to utility companies as well as mobile phone companies so you must make sure that all payments are made in a timely fashion. Loan defaults and applications for bankruptcy will also appear on your statement. On the other hand, if you have been good with credit, that will show up as well.

If any of the above situations apply to you or you simply haven’t looked at your credit file for a long time, you should request a copy of it as soon as possible. It really is your responsibility to keep your credit file in good shape and to report any suspicions of fraudulent activity immediately.

Why You Need Credit File Repair

Here are some of the top benefits of getting your file repaired as quickly as possible.

• Get your finances back in control.
• Get a better interest rate on any future loans.
• Get a higher credit limit on credit cards.
• Get better terms when it’s time to refinance.
• Get approved for loans instead of being declined.

It is important to regularly check and maintain your credit rating and file. You should take a look at your file at least once a year to make sure that everything looks good and that nothing has been added in error.

What Happens If I Have Bad Credit

If you have a generally negative credit file with plenty of defaults and overdue accounts, banks will be less inclined to lend to you as you pose more of a risk to them.

You may be rejected from your applications for credit, or have to at least compromise with a higher interest rate (to compensate for the ‘higher risk’ of the bank lending to someone who is more prone to credit defaults).

During the 5-7 years you’ll have to wait for your black marks to be erased, treating the credit you own responsibly will improve your file.

What Happens If I Have Good Credit

If you have been responsible on your credit repayments and acted responsibly with your credit, you should have a strong credit standing. This will open you up to easier approval for financial products and put you in a position to negotiate lower interest rates with your banks.

Tips On How To Maintain A Good Credit Rating On Your Credit File

If you have any type of credit, you possess a credit file.

There are a few ways in which you can ensure that you don’t get a bad credit rating. The most obvious one is to be a responsible individual and pay your bills on time. However, the other involves being proactive and checking your credit report and making sure that it does not have any errors on it that will affect your chances of getting additional credit. You should always know your credit rating.

Creditor Mistakes

Failing to be responsible with your credit and not monitoring your credit rating can cause you some major problems when you try to get credit in the future. Most people believe that if they pay their bills on time, they will never have problems with their credit reports. However, this is not always the case. In a perfect world, your credit history should be properly updated each time that you make a payment. However, creditors have been known to make mistakes from time to time in reference to updating your credit history.

Unfortunately, many people do not realize that these mistakes have given them a bad credit rating until they apply for a new loan. That is the wrong time to find out because if you have already applied for the loan, you will be denied because of a mistake that was on your credit report. In addition, this denial will be placed as a permanent part of the credit file. This denial could have been prevented if the credit report error had been found before the application was filed. This is why it is important to always know your credit rating. Find and correct all mistakes before you apply for new credit.

Check Your Credit History

By law, you are entitled to see what is in your credit file. However, there are many money hungry companies that want you to pay money to access this information. My Credit File is a free website that gives you access to your credit report. Check it for blemishes and ask your creditor to correct any mistakes that you might find. This is the best way to ensure that you do not have a bad credit rating. Know your credit rating before you attempt to apply for any new credit. If you fail to do this, this could put even more blemishes in your credit file.

Having good credit is just as simple as being responsible and making sure that your bills are paid on time within the terms of service. In addition, you should also be proactive and monitor your credit file on a regular basis. This will ensure that there will not be any future surprises that could stop you from getting the credit that you need.

What Are My Options For Credit Cards If I Have Bad Credit?

Approval for credit card application is easy if you have little/no credit file let alone a good credit file. Unfortunately in Australia credit card approval for bad credit applicants is tough, particularly during the economic downturn.

My financial position is quite poor. I don’t think I could meet the requirements for any credit card.

Are you finding your debts hard to handle and finding it harder to find a good debt consolidation program?

You know that your credit file is checked each time you apply for a credit card or a mortgage or any type of credit. Creditors will get a bird’s eye view of your report, but how often do you see it?

Just like a car needs regular maintenance, the same can be said for your credit file. Checking in on your credit report regularly will help you to maintain it and keep it free of errors and misinformation.

How Often Should You Check Your File?

If you are looking for information on your credit file, you will find that a lot of places can offer you an instant credit report, but for a fee. If you are willing to wait a little longer, there are some agencies that can provide you with a copy for free. You can request a copy whenever you want, which gives you absolutely no excuse for not knowing how your personal financial records stand.

It is a good idea to review your credit file once a month. This means that you can be up to date with any changes and you will notice any errors as soon as they occur. If you don’t want to do this as frequently, then it is a good idea to review your credit history before you apply for any new financing. This way you will notice any red flags before the potential lenders do.

Checking your credit report is vitally important. Here are some specific times when you should make it a priority.

Check prior to applying for new credit cards

If you have plans to apply for a new credit card or cards, you should get a peek at your file beforehand. If you do so, you will be able to head off any problems before they become an issue. You might find that there are some inaccuracies or misrepresentations so if you check it prior to applying then you can clear them up.

Prior to applying to get a car loan, mortgage or other type of personal loan

It is important to check your credit report before applying for any of these types of loans because if there is some type discrepancy or error, you will want to take care of it before you let a mortgage or car lender take a look at your credit.

After you have been declined credit

If you did not check your file prior to applying for credit and were declined then it is very important that you find out what happened and why. Looking at all aspects of your credit report will give you a clear picture of why you were not a desirable credit candidate.

Prior to marriage or other major life change

Getting married is a major life event. You will be combining many things, i.e. households, lives and money. When you are pooling your resources, it is important to know where both you and your spouse stand in terms of credit worthiness. You should both have your credit pulled before getting married or any other major life change so you have complete information about what you are about to embark upon.

On a regular basis

Your credit file must be maintained but it is not possible unless it is checked at regular intervals. Some choose to check it once a year and others choose to do so more often. It will depend on your situation what works best because there is no hard and fast rule about it.

Once you are fully aware of your credit information, you can then move forward to correct any errors and keep your file as clean as possible.

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Reasons To Check Your Credit File Regularly

It is always a good idea to regularly reassess your financial situation. A great way to do this is by reviewing your credit file. Let’s have a look at some of the important reasons why is it beneficial for you to look at your credit history and how this process can help you.

You should also look for any accounts that you have closed and paid off. Sometimes these accounts may still be listed as credit providers and since the account is closed, they will have to be removed. If your prospective credit provider sees old lenders on your list, they may be under the impression that you already have access to too much available credit and will refuse your application.

Remember that it is important to monitor your financial records on a regular basis. Think of it like a health check up. Regular monitoring and fully understanding your financial situation will mean that you will not have to worry about any nasty surprises when you next apply for credit.

Is the current economic situation affecting credit applications?

The current state of the economy is causing banks to become stricter on credit approval criteria, as they can not afford to take on bad debt.

What does a credit rating report look like?

Veda have posted an example credit file which can be viewed here:www.vedaadvantage.com/dotAsset/514934.pdf

Where can I view my credit file? Does it cost to view my credit file?

Yes. For current pricing you can order a copy from Veda here.

Where can I find out more information about my credit file and history?

This page features a summary of the key points regarding Australian credit files. For more information, visit Veda’s online inquiry

If you know that you have always made your payments regularly and that your credit file should be fine, you still need to look at it. A lot of people get a copy of their credit file only to notice a mistake or two. If the listing has been added by mistake, it is your responsibility to get credit repair and fix it.

You must also take into account the possibility of identity fraud. If anyone gets a hold of your personal information and uses it for the wrong purposes, it can seriously affect your credit rating. The only way to monitor this type of activity on your credit file is to regularly request a copy of it from the credit agencies.

When you are examining your credit file, take a look at the following list for some possible indications that you have become a victim of fraud.

• You see a contract for a mobile phone that you did not set up.
• You are receiving receipts, invoices or bills for items that you never ordered.
• Entries have been made on the file from businesses that you have never contacted.
• You are no longer receiving statements for your credit card from your bank.
• You have recently lost your driver’s license or your passport or have had them stolen.
• You are receiving mail from debt collectors and you do not recognize any of the debts.
• You have applied for some kind of financial service but have been declined even though you thought your credit history was fine.

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