Equifax Credit Score

Your free Equifax Credit Report doesn’t include a credit score because the score is created using Equifax's proprietary algorithms. To access your credit score and other features like alerts, you’ll need to sign up for one of their paid subscription plans.

No, checking your own Equifax credit report is a soft enquiry. It’s noted in your file as a ‘file access’ but has no impact on your credit score.

If you find incorrect or incomplete details on your Equifax credit report, it’s important to take action. Since credit providers such as banks, telcos and utility companies supply the data, the fastest way to fix an error is to contact the provider directly and ask them to review and correct the information. Equifax also offers a list of common creditor contacts to help. Alternatively, you can use the Equifax Corrections Portal to request an investigation and have any inaccuracies updated.

Your Equifax Score is ultimately a score of all the details of your credit file.

Basic personal information

This includes your full name, date of birth, gender, address, previous address, drivers licence number, employer and previous employer. If you're a director or proprietor you should check both the individuals and commercial sections of your credit file.

The type of credit provider you applied with There may be different levels of with each lender.

For example, credit unions and building societies often have lower risk customers than major banks who in turn have lower risk customers than specialist lenders. Applying with a ‘risky’ lender is likely to reduce your credit score and applying with a ‘safe’ lender can increase your score.

The nature of the credit or loan Home loans and HELP Debt are seen as a lower risk than car finance or payday lending. Contrary to popular opinion, applying for a home loan can actually increase your credit score.

Credit enquiries Credit that you have applied for in the last five years are listed as credit enquiries.

A variety of types of credit show up on your credit file including credit cards, home loans, loans you guaranteed for your business and even mobile phone contracts.

If you have a large number of credit enquiries in the last five years then this will negatively impact your score. Having no enquiries can also reduce your score as there’s little data for Equifax to work with.

Shopping pattern If you apply for many loans from different lenders in a short period of time then this looks like a sign of financial distress and so your credit score will be impacted.

Defaults Loans or accounts where you're more than 60 days overdue are listed as defaults. Defaults have a significant negative impact on your credit score.

Court writs A court writ is a formally written document that is issued by the court, usually because someone has lodged a court case against you.

Court judgments Judgments are listed when you're unable to come to a suitable agreement with the creditor

Bankruptcy history (including Part IX history)< Bankruptcy or entering into a Part 9 agreement will cause you to have a negative credit score. If you’ve been discharged from bankruptcy then you may be able to borrow from a specialist lender.

Buy now pay later Buy now pay later (BNPL) transactions and facilities appear on your file as either Accounts. Enquiries or Defaults. However, arrears on BNPL will not lower your score and making perfect repayments does not increase your Equifax score. Common buy now pay later providers in Australia are Afterpay, ZipPay, Humm, Openpay, Klarna, etc.

Many lenders have Equifax's score feed directly into their own scorecard that they use to assess loan applications.

Others ignore the Equifax Score and just use the data from your credit file.

Whilst your score with Equifax will not be the only factor that the lender considers, it will make a big difference to the lender's own credit score and the outcome of your application.

If this may be a problem for you then you can consider:

• Using our credit score calculator to identify the problems with your situation.
• Reading about lenders that don't credit score.
• Calling us on 1300 889 743 or completing our free assessment form so that one of our mortgage brokers can assist you.

Improving your Equifax Score /VedaScore is different to improving your credit score with a particular lender.

Equifax Score is calculated looking only at your credit file, whereas a lender is looking at all aspects of your application.

There are a few simple steps that you can take to improve your Equifax Score.

• Ask Equifax to fix up any data that's incorrect.
• Avoid moving address or employer unnecessarily.
• Avoid applying for credit that you don't need.
• Avoid applying for credit with less reputable lenders.
• Pay all of your debts and bills on time every time.
• If you have any defaults then make sure that they are paid.