Letter from the director

From mid March this year, changes will allow credit bodies to share data on borrowers among themselves, which could cause Australians strife when it comes to their credit rating. Since December 2012 everyone’s repayment history information (RHI) began being recorded in full. From 14 March 2014, under the Privacy Amendment Act 2012, credit reporting bodies can disclose your RHI, along with other credit-related personal information, to licensed credit providers. This means that anyone who has failed to make any payment on time since December 2012 could be blacklisted. This alarming new amendment is going to hit Aussies hardest when they’re ready to apply for a car or home loan and learn that they’ve got defaults against their name. Below are some tips to help avoid the pain of credit defaults:

1. Pay your bills on time - paying your personal loan, credit cards and utility bills on time does matter.
2. Know what you’re getting into - Read the fine print when signing up for anything financial, like a hire purchase agreement, which are popular for big-ticket items like furniture or TVs. These agreements can have ‘interest free’ periods - understand the repayments and the consequences of not repaying within the required time.
3. Take responsibility for your own bills - especially if you’re in a share house and your name is on the utilities bills. Don’t assume someone else will take care of it.
4. If you move out, take your name off the bill - even if it causes short-term pain for your mates.
5. Keep track of your credit record - to check what your credit history looks like and to get alerts on any changes made to your credit file, go to: www.mycreditfile.com.au. This helps you proactively manage your personal credit finance and may reduce the risk of being denied credit in future.

We hope that these changes do not affect your credit ratings. But keep in mind, in many instances we may be able to assist you financially where the banks won’t. Contact us to make an enquiry to see if we can be of assistance. All the best, Rafer Hart Safe Financial Managing Director