When you’re looking to purchase a new car or house, the lender will often require a credit report. A credit report is a compilation of your credit history – what debts you have incurred and how regularly you’ve paid them back. Lenders use this information to assess your risk as a borrower. But what exactly is included in an Experian credit report?
The 12 parts to an Experian credit report.
1. Personal Information
Your personal information is included at the top of your credit report. Your personal information, such as name, gender, other names, driver’s license number, date of birth, employment history, and known addresses.
2. Experian Credit Score
The Experian Credit Score is a numerical score that determines how well you manage your credit. Your Experian Credit Score ranges from 0 to 1,000. The red boxes under “Your Credit Summary” show you the negative aspects that could be affecting your score. Information about defaults and late payments may be found farther down the report.
3. Open Accounts
This portion of the report provides information on current open accounts such as with credit providers and debt collectors that do not provide repayment history, as well as general financial details like income and assets.
4. Enquiries
When you make an enquiry for credit, whether it is approved or not, this information will appear on your Experian credit report. Enquiries can be things like credit cards, personal loans and even phone and utility accounts. These enquiries show lenders and borrowers what you have applied for and they can also decrease your Experian credit score if you enquirie for too many things, too quickly.
5. Credit Accounts
Experian credit reports contain credit accounts with revolving balances, including payment plan and retail installment sales (PIS) credit accounts. You’ll find information about the payments you’ve made in the last two years that have been reported by your credit providers to Experian here. It’s worth noting that not all of your credit providers will report your repayment history to Experian. Green ticks indicate that you paid on time for that month, while a number indicates missed payments for that month.
6. Defaults
This section shows how many defaults you have listed on your Experian credit report. A default is an amount you owe or owed when the account went into arrears and was unpaid for a specified amount of time. These defualt listings remain on your Experian credit report for 5 years or longer. The default will also be listed whether it has been paid off in full or not.
7. Serious Credit Infringement (SCI)
You will find information about serious credit infringements here, including any instances where your credit providers believe that you have committed or attempted fraud in applying for credit or evading your financial obligations, or that you have fraudulently evaded meeting your credit obligations. They would have tried to contact you before the listing and haven’t been able to do so because of an inability to reach you.
8. Commercial Credit History
Your Commercial Credit History is part of your credit report is where you can find out more about the applications you’ve applied for, as well as your past and present business credit relationships, including a company credit card or trade credit account.
9. Public Information
The portion of your credit report that tells about your financial circumstances that are public knowledge is called Public Information. It includes information regarding whether you’ve been declared bankrupt or have had a successful court action taken against you.
10. Personal Statements
In addition, your Experian credit report will include personal statements. In certain situations, you can ask Experian to include a brief factually correct statement to your credit report, such as a possible compromise of your personal identity information. This will then be visible to any entity that has access to your credit report. It’s worth noting that if you’re concerned about someone stealing your identity, you should request a temporary ban on your credit report.
11. File Access
Your Experian Credit Report includes records for each time Experian has accessed your credit report. These entries have no impact on your credit score because they are not recorded in this area of the report. This part is only used to show who has looked at your credit report. It’s possible that someone is checking their records against ours, and vice versa.
12. Financial Hardship
From July 1, 2022, ‘financial hardship’ was added to protect consumers’ credit histories. You and your lender agree on a financial hardship arrangement to change your payments as a result of an inability to repay. During the term of the agreement, your credit report will include a payment arrangement “flag” next to that month’s repayment history data. Any financial hardship arrangements you made before July 1, 2022 will not be recorded in your credit report.
Why do you need to understand your Experian report?
Understanding your Experian credit report can be tricky and we hope this article outlining the information that’s contained on the report will help. If you need assistance in understanding your Experian credit report you can submit an enquiry here or contact our friendly team on 1300 789 783.
