Credit Report

[dj_pnevans]

Can any one explain to me how they work. I have done 2 credit checks on myself over 3 years only to the first one show that I had 3 defaults which worked out not to be mine. The other 2 showed no defaults. I'm still trying to get one default fixed. I question is how can they say the default belongs to me when all the person did was have the same name as me. The funny thing this is I don't have anything in my name it is all in the wife's name as I spend a bit of time away from home. I don't want to go into to much details until the police sort it out but would like to know how it works. Do you have to get a credit report done with all credit agency's or should they pick it up that another agency has a default against you. David

[Christos]

I will be watching this thread as well. It is always good to have some knowledge on the credit rating.

[Master Splinter]

The words 'complete lack of diligence or care' enter my mind when it comes to both credit rating and debt collection agencies.

I had a debt collection agency call me a few months ago for a ten year old $300 Telstra bill. As I couldn't recall having anything to do with Telstra back in 2004, I asked them to send me a copy of the invoice so I could work out the who/what/where of it. After several reminder 'pay us you deadbeat' phone calls from them, and a 'please send me a copy of the bill details so I can verify the outstanding amount' reply from me, they finally forwarded the last few statements of the bill...this included the account closed statement showing that the account had a zero balance.

Idiots.

[John Saxton]

The words 'complete lack of diligence or care' enter my mind when it comes to both credit rating and debt collection agencies.

I had a debt collection agency call me a few months ago for a ten year old $300 Telstra bill. As I couldn't recall having anything to do with Telstra back in 2004, I asked them to send me a copy of the invoice so I could work out the who/what/where of it. After several reminder 'pay us you deadbeat' phone calls from them, and a 'please send me a copy of the bill details so I can verify the outstanding amount' reply from me, they finally forwarded the last few statements of the bill...this included the account closed statement showing that the account had a zero balance.

Idiots.

It seems Idiots have continually perpetuated with the computer age.

They were less on the ground before they relied on computers where good hard copy had a place to play.
The same problem reared its head before we told them to take a high jump ...the higher the better... over an account they said was'nt paid until we quoted the receipt date stating a/c settled.

Some companies need a swift kick in you know where with their accounting practices!

Be aware they are out there and amongst us!! The Idiots that is.

[FenceFurniture]

As a former mortgage broker, I have some experience in this. There are several credit reporting agencies, and it depends on which financial institution you are dealing with which determines which agency they use. The different agencies can have completely different information on you, and this can be a result of having the same christian name as your parent (coz you would have lived at the same address for at least a while), the same name as some other dropkick who defaulted etc etc etc.

It is far from an exact science. More like a wet finger in the wind.

However, the financial institutions will not usually budge if there's an adverse flag comes up. Sometimes they will accept an explanation, but usually my clients had to grin and bear it (over - say - an $80 "unpaid" phone bill) because it was pretty small beer in the context of a $200,000 home loan refinance where they would save more than that per month in interest (for argument's sake). Commercial realities.

It's not particularly difficult to get a report put on to a database. I don't know what's specifically involved but I doubt that there's much proof of debt required.

Due diligence - wassat?

[dj_pnevans]

What I have been told if it is more then 5 years it is wiped from your credit report if it only a small amount or it will take 7 years. If it comes out that the debit is not yours who is held accountable for this error and can you get some sort of compensation from it. I myself only want back the money that I paid for the credit reports and let the law deal with this person. Years ago they wanted to bring in the Australian card to stop this sort of thing would this of helped who knows but there need to be some thing put in place to stop or if not stop it make it harder for it to happen. Maybe if the collection agency are held a bit more accountable less of this may happen. David

[smidsy]

A friend of mine applied to his bank for a loan so he could pay out his credit card - also with the same bank.
The bank refused his application saying he didn't earn enough to carry that level of debt even though he already did with the same bank.

Ah bring back the days when on a Friday arvo your boss would hand you a nice little baggie of cash and the bank was a place where you parked when the KFC carpark next door was full.

[Sturdee]

This may be of interest. It's from ASIC website dealing with credit reports.

Peter.

[dj_pnevans]

Peter thanks for that but the end of the day when there is a mistake it can really make things hard for you. I did email the ombudsman and was told that the company did all the right things so they were unable to help me. My reply was that the point has been missed and that is it is not me so after sending them the information again they are going to look into it better this time I hope. David

[rrich]

I used to work for TRW Credit which is now Experian. While this was in the US, how the system works should be the same.

There are four parts to your credit bureau file, identity, credit granted, payment record and defaults.

There are reporting agencies and credit granting agencies. The vast majority of these agencies are honest and competent. There are some agencies that are reporting only and do not grant credit. These are governments and collection agencies.

Here is the first tip. If a collection agency is attempting to collect on a legitimate or false debt, do not give them anything. In the US we have a law that says that the charge off or loss must be removed from a credit report after 7 years FROM THE LAST PAYMENT. (I think that you law is 5 years based upon what the OP said.) If you give them anything, they can start the 7 year clock again. In the US a bankruptcy is on your report for 10 years.

If the report is in error, contact the credit bureau. You'll need a summary of the facts as to why the report is wrong. The credit bureau should assist you in straightening things out. If the error is not resolved, you may put a statement in your file. Something simple like "I have never done business with Telstra and this derogatory is just an attempt by a collector to make some fast money."

Here in the US we have a national identity number (Social Security number) that never changes. That number is probably the most important bit of identity information in your credit file. I assume that you have a similar number system for identity there in Australia. When items are disputed, the bureau can go to the reporting agency and demand verification based upon the identity number.

The vast majority of problems with credit reports arise because of reporting agencies managing workers by the number of default entries made into the credit bureau's data base. Does the data entry operator care that the default goes into the wrong file? Of course not because the complaints will arise only after a year or so when the data entry operator has moved on.

The worst of these type of offenders are government agencies looking for child support. The bureaus are reluctant to deal with governmental reporting agencies.

I got into a conversation with a remote state wanting child support. I asked if I paid would that state pay college tuition, health insurance, car insurance and car payments. It didn't matter that they were using the wrong middle initial and wrong SS number. They asked if I was trying to be a wise guy and I asked if they were trying to be competent. I wound up writing a letter to the governor. I got a response back from the governor, attorney general and finally the idiot that screwed up in the first place.

[Master Splinter]

Nope - we don't have a unique identifier here. Every time an 'Australia ID card' type proposal comes up, the voter backlash sees it go away.

The closest we would have would be tax file number, but only the federal government uses that (for tax purposes), followed by the medicare number, but that's only used by healthcare providers.

Data matching here is generally done on name, date of birth and driver's licence number.

[Sebastiaan56]

From the other side I just want to record how absolutely enraging it is when I get stiffed by a customer who is a serial defaulter. It happens a lot less than it used to since I took a couple of self preservation measures (including credit checking) but it is still the worst part of being in business. There is only one bit of Sharia law that appeals to me, cut their greedy hands odd I say.

[kyaden]

Peter thanks for that but the end of the day when there is a mistake it can really make things hard for you. I did email the ombudsman and was told that the company did all the right things so they were unable to help me. My reply was that the point has been missed and that is it is not me so after sending them the information again they are going to look into it better this time I hope. David

Your best bet is continue with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You will need to do a lot of the leg work yourself with those guys. You don't mention what area the default was for but if it was say for a mobile phone you could provide FOS with your bills and payments of your current phones. You need to be clear with them that this person is not you and you haven't had any engagement with the company that has listed the default. FOS should then pursue the company to provide the original contract information. Basically, that's what you need them to do. Keep pestering them, it's worth working towards having it removed.