Frequently Asked Questions

Your credit report is a vital part of assessing your financial history and will dictate your ability to gain access to finance for wealth creation, subject to other Lender terms and conditions.
Your credit report contains your historical ‘footprint’ of your financial behaviour, including:

• How often you apply for credit
• What type of credit you apply for, i.e., home loan, personal loan, payday loan etc.
• How you repay those loans if payments are late, or you overdraw your accounts.
• If you have defaults if you are in collections or judgements or court rulings.

People often think that it’s just their credit score that is important. But this is not true, although your score can be important to some Lenders, it’s the contents of your credit report that the credit assessment teams look at in deciding to approve you for finance or not.

Your credit score is a quick indicator of your creditworthiness. The score is based on your current credit report, but there are different scores.

If you take the Equifax scoring system for example, you have the following scores:

• Comprehensive Score and the new Equifax One score – Your overall score including all consumer and commercial data
• Negative Data only – Score based on Defaults and Judgements only and ignores repayment history information
• Vedascore 1.1 – The old system, still used by some lenders for Auto-Declining applications

However, there are 3 credit reporting agencies in Australia. Not just Equifax.

There is also Illion and Experian.

If you run a company, there are 3 credit reporting agencies for your company credit reports as well.

These are Equifax, Illion and Creditor Watch.

In general, scores and reports should all be the same, but they can sometimes be different.

This is because some Lenders may choose to report to Equifax and/or the other credit reporting agencies, which in turn can give us different reports and scores.

Overall, it is important that you check and read through all 3 credit reports before applying for finance.

We don’t know which Lenders are checking which report(s).

So, we should be looking at all 3 of them.

In addition, it’s a good idea to visit a finance broker before you apply for finance.

This is because brokers are trained to know which Lenders accept what.

And they will assess everything, including your credit reports, before submitting a loan to a Lender.

You can get your free personal credit reports from all three agencies in Australia.

Company reports are free with Creditor Watch, but you pay a fee with Equifax for a company report.

Inquiries stay on credit reports for 5 years.

You have a 5-year history of where you have applied for finance.

Inquiries for all types of credit are included in the 5-year history, including:

• Mortgage inquiries
• Car Loan / Vehicle finance inquiries
• Personal Loan inquiries
• Commercial inquiries (if you apply for finance for your business for example)
• Phone Plan inquiries
• Gas and Electricity Plan inquiries
• Buy now Pay Later inquiries

Inquiries can also affect your credit score.

Inquiries for good debt, don’t drop your score too much.

But some low-grade inquiries can really drop your credit score.

In fact, we’ve seen people’s scores dramatically drop for applying a few times in a short period of time.

Just 2 or 3 online inquiries could drop your score from good to average, for example.

It’s important to remember that even if you don’t get approved for the finance you apply for, the inquiry will remain on your report.

Think about it, before you apply for finance.

Use a local accredited finance broker before you apply for finance.

Repairing credit is something we have done for many years.

It takes time, patience, and knowledge of certain legislation to dispute data on credit reports.

But it is something you can try yourself.

For example, have you been a victim of fraud?

Get in touch with the credit providers that have listed information on your report.

The information that is not yours.

They will help you run a fraud complaint.

Maybe you dispute a default on your credit report?

Again, you can lodge a request for the credit provider to investigate this for you.

You need to allow them 30 to 45 days to respond.

This is called an internal dispute resolution process.

You cannot just go straight to the Ombudsman.

This is because you need to allow the credit provider the opportunity to resolve the matter ‘in house’ before you take them to the Ombudsman.

Ombudsman services are there to use if you are unhappy with the credit providers internal response.

If you are disputing a default, it can only be removed if found to be listed in error.

You cannot have defaults removed because you’ve since paid it.

A default stays on your credit report for 5 years.

If and when it’s paid, the default listing will be updated to ‘paid’ or ‘settled’.

Yes, credit repair actually works. Our CEO, Victoria Coster, has been a credit repair specialist since 2010.

She established Credit Fix Solutions in 2013 to offer credit repair services for finance brokers and their clients.

Since 2013, the team at Credit Fix Solutions have helped thousands of Australians to fix their credit reports.

We have been asked, ‘does credit repair actually work?’ many times.

But we wouldn’t be in business so long and be so successful unless it did work.

We’ve established referral relationships with thousands of finance brokers over the years.

They have entrusted their clients to us for credit repair services.

We offer free assessments on credit reports and educational tools for finance brokers and for consumers.

We help consumers read and understand their credit reports.

If there is something a person can do themselves for free, then we absolutely encourage this.

Our CEO has a long-term vision for the business, and our core values are ‘Help, Learn, Grow’.

If you can fix your credit report yourself, we say go for it!

There may be things that you don’t want to work on though, and we are happy to help!

We will only take on clients for credit repair if:

1. It is a benefit for them to fix their credit report
2. We seem to have legal grounds to remove or amend their credit report
3. They can afford our services

Credit repair really does work.

Sharing a client success story:

A lady came to us with a default on her credit report.

She was referred to us by her mortgage broker.

At that time, she was paying $2,000 per fortnight on her home loan.

Her interest rate was quite high.

She had got in touch with her mortgage broker, because she wanted to refinance to a better interest rate.

He couldn’t do that for her because of the 1 large default on her credit report.

This was the only thing stopping him for getting her approved for a refinance.

We removed the default for her, within 8 weeks, and she was able to refinance.

When we called her after we finished our work, (we contact all clients after we finish working for them to make sure they are happy with our services) she mentioned to her consultant that she was over the moon.

Her mortgage broker was able to refinance her to a much lower interest rate.

Why?

Because the default was removed from her credit report.

In fact, she was now saving $1000 per fortnight on her new home loan.

If the default had remained, it was staying on her file for a further 2 years.

So yes, again, credit repair really does work!!

The Credit Repair Process:

Defaults

We run a high-level investigation with the credit provider who has listed the default on your credit report.

We request documents from them containing notes and other information on the account leading up to the default listing.

As a default can only be removed when it is listed in error, we then go through the documents we receive with a fine-tooth comb trying to find any errors with the listing.

If we find an error (e.g., failure to offer financial assistance when needed) in the default listing we have the credit provider ask the CRB (Equifax, Ilion, Credit Watch and/or Experian) to remove the listing.

Timeframe

In most cases a default removal takes up to 4 to 8 weeks. In complex cases it can take up to 12 weeks.

By law, credit providers have 30 days to respond to any request for information.

In some cases, we can have defaults removed in a matter of 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the urgency of the situation and how responsive the credit providers are.

This is something you can try yourself of course!

DEFAULT AND COURT ACTION FEES

Our fees range from $1,650 (for a default under $5,000), no application fee or upfront fee.

The fee is usually split into 2 payments:

• $50% when a credit provider agrees in writing to remove a default further to our written negotiations and investigations in around week 4 of our work.
• $50% when we get the credit report showing the default is removed around 2 weeks later.

Our fees start at $2500 for a court action.

The fee is paid in 2 stages of success:

• $50% payable when the plaintiff agrees to sign the orders we need to remove the judgment (around week 2 of our work).
• $50% payable when we email you the cleared report further to attending to Court and Equifax / Illion to remove the judgment around 6 weeks later.

You will need to confirm that you can afford our fees and have the fees available to pay when our invoices fall due before we will accept you on board as a client. We do not accept payment plans and we can enter a default judgment against you if we remove data from your report and you do not pay us. We appreciate prompt payment for our hard work and trust you to pay for our services once we are successful.

REPAYMENT HISTORY AMENDMENTS and ENQUIRY removals

We do not charge anything upfront. We assess your data and your score and gauge whether we can improve your report and score by amending or removing data.

Timeframe to carry out our work is 4 to 8 weeks.

Our fees start at $1500 plus GST, $1650, per success but this will increase if there are multiple matters to work on.

PLEASE NOTE if you cannot afford our fees, or are currently experiencing financial hardship we cannot accept your application. Please go to www.moneysmart.gov.au for free tips and tools. Charities such as The Salvation Army and Anglicare also offer assistance or you can call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.

REPAYMENT HISTORY AMENDMENTS and ENQUIRY removals

We do not charge anything upfront. We assess your data and your score and gauge whether we can improve your report and score by amending or removing data.

Timeframe to carry out our work is 4 to 8 weeks.

Our fees start at $1500 plus GST, $1650, per success but this will increase if there are multiple matters to work on.

PLEASE NOTE if you cannot afford our fees, or are currently experiencing financial hardship we cannot accept your application. Please go to www.moneysmart.gov.au for free tips and tools. Charities such as The Salvation Army and Anglicare also offer assistance or you can call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.

Since 2014, Credit Fix Solutions has helped thousands of people across Australia to fix their credit.

Click here to send an email to our team.

What does it cost?

As a strict rule, we don’t charge application fees or any upfront holding fees for default and/or court action removals. You only pay upon confirmation that a default or court action has been removed when we send you a cleared credit report. Part of the fee is payable once we receive written confirmation that the listing is definitely going to be removed as per our legal grounds, and then the remainder of your fee when we email you the cleared report.

You will need to confirm that you can afford our fees and have the fees available to pay when our invoices fall due before we will accept you on board as a client. We do not accept payment plans and we can list a default judgment against you if we remove data from your report and you do not pay us. We appreciate prompt payment for our hard work and trust that you will pay us for our hard work.

Send an email to a credit repair expert OR call us today for a quote 1300 43 65 69.

Be mindful of credit repair scams! Know how credit repair works.

1. Do NOT pay upfront for credit repair unless there is a clear refund policy in place.
2. Do NOT let a credit repair company do a credit check for you (this will put an unwanted enquiry on your report).
3. Do NOT use a credit repair company with no office or ‘real people’. There are some great websites that are designed to suck you in to paying money upfront but are based overseas or are set up by people with no experience.
4. Do NOT sign any online forms or do any verbal authorities over the phone. This can mean that the bogus credit repair company has taken your details, has got you into some sort of contractual agreement or may be able to chase you for money.
5. Do NOT use a credit repair company who has no track record or history within the Australian market.
6. DO send us an email to discuss your credit report needs FOR FREE!!

Maybe you want to read more about credit repair first? Our Director, Victoria Coster, is an expert blogger, and she has written 100s of credit repair articles on various topics. Please enjoy the articles and we hope you get something out of them!

The Credit Repair Process:

Defaults

We run a high level investigation with the credit provider who has listed the default on your credit report. We request documents from them containing notes and other information on the account leading up to the default listing. As a default can only be removed when it is listed in error, we then go through the documents we receive with a fine tooth comb trying to find any errors with the listing. If we find an error (e.g. failure to offer financial assistance when needed) in the default listing we have the credit provider ask the CRB (Equifax / Ilion or Experian) to remove the listing. Find out more about your credit report or get a copy first and then we can discuss the contents and see if you need help clearing any bad marks.

Time-frame

In most cases a default removal takes up to 4 to 8 weeks. In complex cases it can take up to 12 weeks. By law, credit providers have 30 days to respond to any request for information. In some cases we are able to have defaults removed in a matter of days depending on the urgency of the situation and how responsive the credit providers are.

This is something you can try yourself of course! PLEASE NOTE if you cannot afford our fees, or are currently experiencing financial hardship we cannot accept your application. Please go to www.moneysmart.gov.au for free tips and tools. Charities such as The Salvation Army and Anglicare also offer assistance or you can call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.

No, it is not required that a default be paid in order for it to be removed. We have successfully removed unpaid defaults of over $500,000. Often we can have clients enter a payment arrangement or help you organise to settle the account.

Call our friendly staff today on 1300 43 65 69 or email a credit repair consultant! Don’t delay getting your life back on track today with one of the most trusted and experienced credit repair companies in Australia!!

We obtain confirmation from the credit provider and/or Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet (Ilion) and Experian that the listing has been permanently removed.