Zero score
If you got a score of zero, sad face emoji. Read more about zero scores and what to do here. If you’ve got a zero, you’ve got something bad on your file, such as a payment default, and potentially more than one naughty thing. You might have a court judgement, summons or bankruptcy. But you don’t need something that drastic to push your score down – even late payments look really bad to companies you want to get credit from. You’ve probably also got a few credit enquiries on your file; this looks bad to credit providers too. So make sure you check out your full credit history and ensure what’s on there is correct. Pay back your debts, or at least put a plan together with the credit provider or collection agency handling it to pay it back. 

You do also need to adjust your need for credit and spend the next few years building up a good history of not requiring credit. Potentially put some time into establishing a budget, use a prepay mobile, and try to save for  items rather than using credit. If you do have credit facilities make sure you pay these on time.  As you build up some good credit history your score will change to reflect this. Unfortunately there’s no magic bullet and you will need to work at this over the next two years or more.

So you got a low score: 1 – 299
If you’re here you’ve probably got payment defaults or other bad data on your file, but you’re saved from having a zero score by also having some positive account payment information (when you do pay your bills on time). If you don’t have defaults or other bad data such as a bankruptcy, then you’ve probably got poor payment history (such as paying late). You could also have a high number of credit enquiries, especially recent ones and for small amounts.

Room to improve: 300 – 499
If your score is between 300 and 499, you’re slightly below average, but you probably won’t have anything really negative (defaults, behind in your payments, judgements, summons, court writs) on your file. It could be that you are in the younger age bracket which is slightly more risky, and you may have recently applied for one or more smaller credit facilities or to credit providers that offer services to higher risk customers. Just 3% of people are in this section. 

Average: 500 – 699
A healthy 23% of Aussies are in this band. Smaller things will push the score up, such as your age or having a mortgage. There’s probably not much information available about your credit history, which on a positive means there’s nothing significantly negative. It could also mean that your good history with your current credit provider is not yet being reported (credit reporting bureaus don’t yet have all the information from all of the credit providers). 

Great: 700-799
Most people in Australia fall into this category (41% of Aussies). If this is you, you’re probably paying your bills on time, but you might have a number of credit enquiries or applications for loans against your name. And you might also be new to credit.

Wohoo! More than 800
You’re basically magical, and if you scored 1,000, you’re seriously a credit unicorn (among just 3.5% of Aussies). Scoring between 800 and 999 puts you into the high end of the score ranges, along with 22% of Aussies. Scoring in this range will often be associated with being in the older age groups, having been fairly disciplined with your applications for credit and not making too many applications, having a mortgage and/or an investment property. And constantly paying your accounts on time. 

If you’ve never applied for credit, you probably won’t have a credit score. However the majority of people have a credit history. If you’re under 18, you’re more likely to not have a credit score, as you need to have had a credit card, utility account or similar, which doesn’t usually happen until after you leave home.

You can end up with a bad score for many reasons, such as if you fail to pay your bills, if you apply for credit too often, and even if your partner defaults on a debt that also has your name on it. Your score is determined by how you pay your bills. People who have clear evidence of paying their bills on time will have higher credit scores than people who regularly pay their bills late or not at all. If you got a zero score, you can read more about that here.

Make sure you pay your accounts on time
As we transition to comprehensive reporting the easiest thing to do is to ensure you have your accounts up to date and keep them up to date. A consumer who has a good track record of paying for a credit product on time regularly is likely to keep doing that – and that’s what companies love.

Get older
We all do it, but we can’t control it: growing old. History shows that the older a person gets the more responsible they become with their credit and spending, so your credit score reflects this a wee bit. Young people will usually have a lower credit score than older people.

Don’t make too many applications for credit
Having a lot of enquiries in a short timeframe is not a good thing. Typical behaviour such as applying for a mortgage or the occasional personal loan or credit card are not necessarily bad, but if you’re constantly applying for small loans or have a lot of enquiries on your file within a short time period then this will negatively impact your score. Applying for a lot of credit cards within the last couple of years is not ideal.

This isn’t about how much credit you have (i.e. how many loans or credit cards) but if you have one reasonable loan you’re servicing well or if you’re in a position of having to keep applying for new loans. Having a mortgage is more a good thing than a bad thing. But having to constantly get new loans or credit cards doesn’t look good. Data shows that consumers who constantly apply for more credit end up significantly more likely to default.

There’s a difference between a credit enquiry and a credit access. You can access your credit history and credit score as many times as you want (such as with Credit Simple) and it won’t affect your score.

If you’ve defaulted, pay it up
The default will stay on your file for five years regardless of whether or not you pay it, but if you pay it up it will reduce the negative impact and make you look more responsible. Over time the impact of defaults will reduce. If you’ve got two or more unpaid debts then this will impact your score quite significantly, as well as not paying on time.

Our score comes from illion, an internationally trusted credit reporting agency that’s been operating in Australia since 1887. illion follows all privacy and data guidelines and requirements, and has a large team of people collecting information directly from companies you do business with (such as banks, telcos, insurance providers and utility companies). Your score is calculated from this information. If you find something you think is incorrect, you can query it directly while you’re logged in to Credit Simple.

Your score is made up of lots of aspects, such as payment defaults, court judgements, how often you’ve applied for credit, and even if your partner defaults on a debt that has your name on it. To make sure you get the best score possible, make sure you access your credit information through Credit Simple and fix up anything that’s wrong, such as bills you haven’t paid.

A credit score is a number that indicates how credit-worthy you are and how likely you are to pay your bills on time. Through Credit Simple, you can see what your score is and how you compare to others. A credit report is a full history of your bill payments, any defaults, court judgements, and how much credit you have (such as a mortgage or credit cards).

Nothing! You can access your credit score instantly here. It’s free, instant and easy. You can read more about credit reporting agencies and your rights and privacy here.

Companies that give credit (such as banks, telcos, insurance companies and utility companies) want to know that customers have a good track record and are likely to pay their bills on time. Credit agencies collect this information to help these companies make decisions about lending. You can read more about credit reporting agencies and your rights and privacy here.

There are a few reasons why your credit score can change, even though it doesn’t look like anything has changed on your credit history. Some of the reasons why your credit score may change are:

1.  Data is only held on your credit file for a certain amount of time, something that is decided by privacy laws. A default from 10 years ago (for example) won’t affect your credit rating today. Information can drop off your credit file as it gets older, which can change your credit score.
2. How old your credit information is can also have an effect on your score – for example, a recent loan enquiry is more relevant than one you made four years ago.
3. Credit providers sending monthly payment data to a credit bureau can also affect your score, as changes in the payment status of your account(s) happen. Even if you’ve been paying on time, the length of time you’ve been up to date could have an influence on your score. If you have specific questions about your credit file, you can email [email protected].

Using Credit Simple to access your credit history and credit score won’t affect your credit score.

Each Credit Simple access will be recorded (date & time) in your credit history for your reference, this will not impact your score or ability to obtain credit no matter how many times you view this information.

Remember…while your credit report is a powerful tool to help you access credit, it’s also a great way to double check that everything is alright.

If you find something on your credit report that you think is incorrect, you should query it immediately. You can do this while you are viewing the credit report after logging into your Credit Simple account. Just click on the relevant item and then click  ‘Request correction’

If you believe someone has fraudulently used your personal information (or is likely to do so), you can also request illion to place a ban on your illion credit report (you can also request illion to send your ban request to the other Australian Credit Reporting Bodies (Equifax & Experian), by visiting illion’s website at https://www.illion.com.au.

During the ban period, illion will not share your credit report unless you provide consent in writing or if required by law. If a credit provider requests your credit report to assess your application for credit, illion will explain that there is a ban in place and will not provide the report to the credit provider unless you have consented in writing. However, credit providers will still be able to provide illion with information such as confirmation that monthly repayments have been made.

If you wish to seek credit during this time, you can consent to the release of your credit reporting information during the ban period. The initial ban period is 21 days, but can be extended if needed. You can place a ban by clicking here.