Been Declined Credit? What Now?

Don’t panic – Follow these 3 steps

1. Find out why

When you apply for credit either with a phone or utility company or a loan with a bank or finance company, they generally assess both the information on your application as well as information on your credit report against their own lending policies to make a decision on whether they will give you credit.

As part of completing your application, you will have given a lender, phone or utility company permission to view your credit report held by a credit reporting body such as Equifax, Australia’s largest consumer credit reporting agency.

There are a number of factors that may result in an application for credit being refused including:

Level of income and other resources to meet the loan repayments
Number of other loans and other financial commitments you have
How secure your employment is
Your credit history which can include information such as previous bankruptcy, defaults, serious credit infringements, high number of credit applications and poor repayment history.

If you have been declined credit and the information on your credit report was a factor, the lender, phone or utility company will give you details of the credit reporting body they used. If it was Equifax, the first step in understanding why your credit report has contributed to you being declined credit, is to obtain a copy of your credit report.

It’s important to know that Equifax does not decide who should get credit, however, the information we provide may form part of some lenders’ decision making. What Equifax can do is to help you understand the information on your credit report.

What is a credit report?

Your credit report holds information relating to your credit history. If you’ve ever applied for credit or a loan it is likely you will have credit information held by a credit reporting body like Equifax. Credit can come in many forms. Along with credit cards, personal loans and mortgages, credit also includes mobile phone, electricity and gas contracts as well as store and rental finance.

Your credit report helps lenders, phone and utility companies get a clear picture of your credit worthiness. It helps them understand your current credit commitments and how likely you are to be able to make repayments on future loans.

Your credit report includes information such as:

Personal details such as your name, address and date of birth
Consumer credit information
Credit enquiries (applications you have made for credit for personal use)
Credit account information – Date account opened and closed, type of credit account, credit limit
Repayment history information
Overdue debts like payment defaults (paid and unpaid)
Serious credit infringements

Publicly available information such as personal insolvency information, court writs and judgements and directorship information can also be included as part of your consumer credit information on your credit report.
When you ask for a copy of your credit report we will also provide you with any commercial credit information such as credit enquiries and overdue debts like payment defaults that we hold on you.

Getting a copy of your Equifax credit report as well as your Equifax Score (or credit rating) can help you understand where you stand when it comes to applying for credit. It is important to check your credit report regularly to ensure it is accurate and by knowing your Equifax Score you can manage your credit profile and improve it over time.

What is an Equifax Score?

Your Equifax Score is a credit rating between 0-1200 that lenders can look at when deciding whether to accept your application for a loan or credit. Generally, the higher your score, the better as it indicates a lower risk.

Your Equifax Score is calculated using the information on your credit report at a certain point in time and can be used by lenders to assess your application for a loan. Your Equifax Score is dynamic and changes as information is added to or deleted from your credit report.

Your Equifax Score is also a great tool in helping you understand the information on your credit report. If you’ve ever looked at your credit report, you’ll know that it can contain lots of unfamiliar information that can be difficult to understand. When you obtain your Equifax Score as part of one of our annual subscription plans, not only do you find out your credit rating, but you’ll also learn what information on your credit report is contributing to your credit rating, good and bad. We call this information ‘contributing factors’. This is really helpful to know as there are some things you can do to improve your Equifax Score credit rating if required.

2. Get your credit report

If you have been declined credit you are entitled obtain a free credit report if you apply within 90 days of being declined and provide evidence that a credit provider has declined your application for credit. You can order your free report below. The free service provides a credit report only and does not include your Equifax Score (credit rating) or Equifax Score contributing factors which summarise the major items impacting your credit rating.

3. Improve your credit report to get credit in the future

There are two things you can do to help improve your credit profile:
Check your credit report to see if the information is accurate.
Find out your Equifax Score (or credit rating). Your Equifax Score contributing factors can help you understand the items on your credit report that impact your score. You can obtain your Equifax Score by subscribing to one of our annual subscription plans.
Correcting your credit report