Correcting credit reports and complaints

1 Feb

Written By For Good Digital

Individuals who believe their credit report includes inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading information have the right to request that either the credit provider (Privacy Act s 21V) or the credit-reporting body (Privacy Act s 20T) correct that information. (For the contact details of the credit-reporting bodies, see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter.)
To make a complaint in relation to a credit report, contact the relevant credit provider or credit-reporting body directly.
If there is a delay in making a decision about a complaint, the credit-reporting body or credit provider must:
- notify the person of the delay, the reasons for the delay, and the expected time when the matter will be resolved;
- seek the person’s agreement to an extension for a period that is reasonable in the circumstances;
- advise the person that they may complain to a recognised external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme of which the credit-reporting body or credit provider is a member – and provide the EDR’s contact details; and
- if the person has not agreed to the requested extension, provide a response to the correction request within the timeframe sought for extension.
All credit providers that participate in credit reporting must be a member of an EDR scheme that can receive and resolve complaints about them. In Australia, the EDR schemes are the AFCA, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria, and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter).
(See also ‘Solving disputes with creditors’ in Chapter 5.10: Unauthorised transactions and ePayments Code).