Credit enquiries sit on your file for five years and are visible to every lender who looks. Where one was recorded without your consent, it can be disputed.
What an enquiry actually records
Every time you apply for credit, the lender asks a credit reporting body for your file. That request is logged as an enquiry and shows the date, the type of credit and, in most cases, the amount applied for. Enquiries are visible to every lender who looks at your file for the next five years.
Enquiries are not the same as a default. They are not a black mark in themselves — but a cluster of them across a few weeks is read by underwriters as shopping around under pressure, and that can affect an assessment even when everything else on the file is clean.
Enquiries that should not be there
The enquiries worth challenging are the ones you did not authorise. That includes applications made in your name through identity fraud, brokers who submitted to several lenders when you agreed to one, a single application logged twice by the same lender, enquiries recorded against the wrong person with a similar name, and enquiries logged by a party with no permitted purpose under the Privacy Act 1988.
We ask the enquiring party to produce evidence of your consent and of a permitted purpose. Where it cannot be produced, the enquiry should not stand.
How the dispute works
We review your reports from Equifax, Experian and illion, because an enquiry can appear on one and not the others. We then write to the enquiring credit provider and the relevant credit reporting body setting out the specific obligation in question, and follow the matter through to a written outcome.
Doing it yourself
You can dispute an enquiry yourself at no cost by contacting the credit provider or the credit reporting body directly, and escalate free of charge to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. Free financial counselling is available on 1800 007 007. Our service is an optional paid alternative for people who would rather not handle it themselves.
Accurate, complete, current and lawfully recorded enquiries cannot be removed. Outcomes depend on the facts of each file.
A credit enquiry generally remains on an Australian consumer credit file for five years from the date it was made, whether or not the application was approved.
Do enquiries lower your credit score?
Enquiries are one of the factors credit reporting bodies use in their scoring models. Several applications in a short period can be read by lenders as a sign of credit stress, though the weighting differs between Equifax, Experian and illion.
When can an enquiry be removed?
An enquiry can be disputed where it was recorded without your consent, was made in someone else's name or as a result of identity fraud, was duplicated for a single application, was logged as a credit application when it was only a quote, or was recorded by a party with no permitted purpose under the Privacy Act 1988.
Can a legitimate enquiry be removed?
No. An enquiry you consented to as part of a genuine credit application is accurate information and will remain on your file until it expires.
