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Personal Loans and Your Credit History

Tuesday 11 August 2015, 12:00PM

By NZCU South

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Have you ever wondered what your credit check says about you and how it affects your ability to get an NZ loan? After giving permission for a credit check to be completed, the personal loans provider will then review your credit check which will assist in making a credit decision. One of the main lending criteria is that you have good credit history.  If you have a bad credit history this will show on your credit check and will affect your ability to borrow. 

A credit check is normally completed when you apply for a hire purchase, car loan or a personal loan of any sort.  A credit check will show if you have any defaults to other personal loan NZ providers. A default is failure to make a payment on a loan or an invoice.  If you do have defaults these will stay on your credit record for five years even if you have paid them.  

If you are applying for a personal loan it is important to know what is on your credit check.  This information can be provided by the credit provider or any of the three NZ credit reporters below.  If you disagree with what is on your credit check you can ask the organisation to investigate this. 

There are three New Zealand credit reporters.

  • Veda
  • Dun and Bradstreet
  • Centrix

You can also ask for a personal alert so if your identity has been stolen or copied and someone uses your identification to obtain credit you will be alerted to this as soon as possible. Your Credit Check will include your name, date of birth, gender, current and previous address, employer and occupation. It will also include who has made credit inquiries and bills you have defaulted on.  The report will include if you have been bankrupt, or had a ‘No Asset Procedure’ or ‘Summary Instalment Order’.

When you are applying for personal loans online or in person you will have to give consent for the financial organisation to check your credit history with external agencies. They cannot do this without your permission.  It is important to protect your credit history by ensuring it is up to date and kept clean so it does not affect your ability to lend in New Zealand.

For more information on credit checks and how it affects your ability to obtain credit please contact NZCU South on 0800 86 56 36.