Defaults are the single biggest drag on an Australian credit file. Where one has been listed incorrectly or unlawfully, it can be disputed and removed — here is exactly how that works.
What a default is
A default is a listing a credit provider can make when a payment of $150 or more is overdue by at least 60 days and the required notices have been sent. It stays on your consumer credit file for five years from the date it was listed — paying it does not remove it, it only changes the status to 'paid'.
Because a default is visible to every lender who checks your file, it is one of the most common reasons an application for finance is declined or approved only at a higher interest rate.
When a default can be disputed
A default must meet strict requirements before it can lawfully appear on your file. Common grounds for a dispute include: the required notices were never sent, or were sent to an address the provider knew was out of date; the debt was under the $150 threshold; the 60-day period had not passed; the amount, date or account details are wrong; the debt was in genuine dispute at the time; or the listing belongs to another person.
There are also grounds relating to hardship, mistaken identity, and defaults that should have expired but are still showing. We assess all of these against your actual file rather than guessing.
When it cannot be removed
If the default is accurate, complete, current and was listed in line with the Credit Reporting Code, it cannot be removed and will stay on your file until it expires. We will tell you that at the assessment stage rather than take a fee for work that cannot succeed.
The process and what it costs
We start with a free review of your credit report. If there are grounds, we gather the evidence, lodge a formal dispute with the credit provider and the credit reporting body, and manage the correspondence. Most disputes are resolved within 30 to 90 days.
Fees are confirmed in writing before any fee-bearing work begins and are payable only where a listing is successfully removed or corrected — that is what no win, no fee means here.
Free alternatives
You can raise a correction request directly with the credit provider or credit reporting body yourself at no charge, speak with a free financial counsellor on the National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007), and complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority for free if the response is unsatisfactory.
Not sure whether your default is disputable?
Send us your credit report and we will tell you honestly, at no cost.
