Hands up if you have checked your credit file in the last 12 months? Don’t worry if you haven’t. 75% of the Australian adult population haven’t either. But you absolutely, positively should. Identity fraud has never been more widespread and with the over-sharing of personal data on social media these days, is it any wonder? For those thinking “but I wouldn’t know where to start”, fortunately I have done all the hard work for you. Firstly, dispelling a myth- you don’t just have one credit file. You actually have three. There are 3 credit reporting agencies in Australia- Equifax, Illion and Experian and you may have a different credit file with each. Every 12 months you are entitled to a free copy of every one and for my own piece of mind and research for this post, I have obtained all 3 of mine in the last week.
Equifax
1. Click or copy and paste this link: https://forms.mycreditfile.com.au/Apply/Index…
2. Enter all the details required (Licence number, Medicare card number, current and previous address etc)
3. Choose “Just curious” as the reason.
4. Choose “By email” as the delivery method.
5. Click submit
You will receive a confirmation email, and they will send you the credit file as a PDF attachment. I submitted mine and received it back within an hour, so the process is very quick. Basically it will list all your credit enquiries in the last 5 years, plus current credit accounts (bills you are paying). Your repayment history for each current bill will also be listed, with a score from 1-10 representing the level of arrears (0 to 30 days late = 2), (30 to 60 days late = 3) and so on up to 180 days. Also listed will be any defaults or judgments. The Equifax report doesn’t give you a credit score, but its level of detail is good and it is quite easy to understand and interpret. Equifax are the biggest of the 3 and easily have the market share.
Illion
1. Click or copy this link: https://www.creditsimple.com.au/Auth/Index
2. Click “Sign Up”
3. Enter your email address and choose a password.
4. Enter your details (name, address, DOB) and click “See your score”
You will get your score instantly. No waiting for this one. You will be redirected to Credit Simple, who are just a subsidiary of Illion. The first number you will see in the Dashboard is your credit score and it will be between 0 and 1000. The higher the better. It will also tell you whether your score is poor, average, good, very good. Mine was 757 and “Very Good” which was nice to see. Click on the tab “Credit Report” and you will see your whole report. Unlike Equifax, this report is much more simple to read and it lists all your information in sections which you can click on to open. Now, if you are wondering whether the information is the same across both credit files (Equifax and Illion) no, it isn’t. My Illion credit file had an enquiry I made with Car Next Door back in April- this didn’t show on my Equifax one. So that is interesting. Perhaps each credit provider chooses one of the 3 to use when credit checking people (Car next Door obviously use Equifax). All the big banks however use all 3, as do all the telco’s.
Experian
1. Unlike the other 2, this company make you fill in a form and send it in along with 3 pieces of ID. Here is the link:
https://www.experian.com.au/order-credit-report
As for the results, I am actually still waiting. 7 days later.
I hope this helps guys. Remember, knowledge is power and knowledge about your own personal, private and incredibly powerful information is vital.