RH.1How each month is written
A credit provider can list your repayment history on your report. For each credit product you’ve held in the last two years, Moneysmart says the report can show the repayment amount, when payments were due, whether you paid by the due date, and any missed payment, with whether and when you made it.
The OAIC says this information “appears on your credit report as a number (from 0 to 7) showing the age, in months, of your oldest missed payment.” The OAIC’s page on hardship lists the marks a month can carry:
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 or a tick | Payment received on time |
| 1 to 7 | Overdue: the number is the age, in months, of the oldest missed payment |
| A | Part of a temporary financial hardship arrangement |
| V | Part of a variation (permanent) financial hardship arrangement |
- M10
- M20
- M30
- M40
- M50
- M60
- M70
- M80
- M91
- M100
- M110
- M120
- M130
- M140
- M150
- M160
- M170
- M180
- M190
- M200
- M210
- M220
- M230
- M240
RH.2No letter comes first
A credit provider isn’t required to send you a written notice before it lists a missed payment. A default is different: it can’t be listed without notices, as below. The first you may know of a missed payment is when you read your report, which is one reason Moneysmart suggests getting a copy at least once a year.
RH.3A late payment is not a default
A default is a separate entry, and it stays for 5 years where repayment history stays for 2. A credit provider can list a default only when all of these are true:
- The payment has been overdue for at least 60 days.
- The overdue amount is $150 or more.
- A notice was sent to your last known address telling you about the overdue payment and asking for it.
- A second notice, at least 30 days later, said the credit provider intends to tell a credit reporting body if you don’t pay.
- At least 14 days have passed since that second notice.
A credit provider can’t wait more than 3 months after the second notice to list the default. Notices can be emailed if that is how the provider usually writes to you.
Addresses matter
If the notices went by mistake to an old address that wasn’t your last known one, the default listing may not be valid. If they went to an old address because you didn’t update your details, the credit provider is likely to have met the requirements.
Paying a default
If you pay after the default is listed, the listing stays, but the credit provider updates it to show the payment was made. Moneysmart adds that defaults can include unpaid utility and phone bills.
While a credit provider is deciding a request for hardship assistance, and until 14 days after it tells you it has refused, it can’t list a default. The exception is a request it reasonably believes is on the same basis as one you made in the previous 4 months.
RH.4Where hardship shows
Financial hardship information is recorded against your repayment history, as an ‘A’ or ‘V’ beside the months concerned, and stays for one year. A promise to pay is different: it isn’t a hardship arrangement, and any missed payments are recorded in your repayment history as usual. The detail is in hardship and your report.
RH.5What you can and can’t change
Correct repayment history stays. Moneysmart lists all payments in the last two years on credit cards, loans or bills, on time or not, among the information you can’t change or remove. A month recorded wrongly is different, and can be corrected: see fixing an error on your report.
Paying on time is first on Moneysmart’s list of habits that improve a credit rating, with reminders or direct debits to help.