Credit Basics & Guides Australia

Credit files are records held by credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, illion) containing your credit history, payment records, defaults, and court judgments. Lenders check these files when you apply for credit to assess your creditworthiness. Understanding how they work is crucial for managing your financial health.

Your credit score is affected by payment history (35%), credit utilization (30%), length of credit history (15%), types of credit (10%), and new credit inquiries (10%). Late payments, defaults, and court judgments significantly lower your score, while consistent on-time payments improve it.

Yes, by removing errors and defaults from your credit file, paying bills on time, reducing credit card balances, and limiting new credit applications. Professional credit repair can achieve 100-400 point improvements by legally challenging incorrect listings.

Late payments remain for 2 years, defaults and court judgments for 5 years, and bankruptcy for 5 years from discharge. However, many of these marks can be legally removed earlier if they were listed incorrectly or the creditor didn't follow proper procedures.

While you can dispute errors yourself, professional credit repair services have legal expertise and higher success rates. They understand the complex requirements creditors must meet and can often remove listings that individuals struggle with. Our legal team has a 98% success rate.