Correcting credit reports and complaints
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Correcting a credit report
Individuals who believe their credit report includes inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading information have the right to request that either the credit provider (s 21V PA 1988) or the credit-reporting body (s 20T PA 1988) correct that information.
For the contact details of the credit-reporting bodies, see ‘Contacts’.
Making a complaint about a credit report
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; and
- 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 Australian Financial Complaints Authority, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria, and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (see ‘Contacts’).
(See also ‘Solving disputes with creditors’ in Chapter 5.10: Unauthorised transactions and ePayments Code).