If you find incorrect details on your credit report, such as unfamiliar credit enquiries, you can ask for them to be removed. Doing so will make your credit report more accurate and can help improve your credit score.
However, it's not possible to remove correct enquiries and listings from your credit report and the details on your credit report will typically be listed for between 1 and 7 years in Australia.
For example, normal credit enquiries (like applying for a credit card) will remain on your report for 5 years, while serious infringements can stay there for 7 years.
| Type of enquiry | How long it stays on your credit report |
|---|---|
| Serious credit infringement | 7 years |
| Bankruptcy | 5 years* |
| Court judgement | 5 years |
| Credit enquiry | 5 years |
| Debt agreement | 5 years** |
| Default | 5 years |
| Current credit obligation | 2 years |
| Repayment history | 2 years |
| Financial hardship information | 1 year |
*Bankruptcies will remain on your credit report for 5 years, but will disappear after 2 years from the point you are no longer bankrupt.
**Debt agreements will be removed from your credit report 2 years after they have been terminated, declared void or ended.
See what's on your credit file by checking your free detailed credit report with Finder. You can confirm what enquiries are still on your report and the date they were added.
You can't remove a legitimate enquiry from your credit report. In most cases, credit enquiries will be listed for 5 years before they are automatically removed from your report.
You can only get incorrect or inaccurate details removed from your credit report at a different time. Some examples of when you could request a correction include:
"While you can't get genuine inquiries removed from your credit report, chances are there's an error on your credit file that could improve your credit score if you get it removed. According to Credit Repair Australia, 70% of Australian credit reports have an error. Even a simple error like an incorrect address could be stopping you from getting approved for credit."
You can get a free copy of your credit report and score through Finder every month. You can also request a copy of your credit report directly with each of the credit reporting bodies in Australia (Finder gets its details from Experian).
Go through the details on your report and note down any that are incorrect or unfamiliar. This includes soft and hard credit enquiries for loans, credit card applications and utilities that you're not aware of or haven't approved.
Contact the lender listed for an unfamiliar credit inquiry and ask it for details of the enquiry. This will help you determine if you authorised it or not.
If the lender agrees it has made a mistake, it should correct the error on your credit report.
You need to do this directly through the credit reporting body that issued your credit report. For example, if you checked your report through Finder, you'd contact Experian. Or, if you requested a copy from Equifax, you'd contact it.
The credit reporting body will review your request for a correction and contact you with an outcome.
If you are successful, the details will be removed from your credit report.
If you are unsuccessful, the listing will remain on your credit report for the required time (e.g. 5 years from when a credit enquiry was made).
A credit enquiry is a record that shows when your credit report has been accessed by you or a third party. There are 2 main types of credit enquiries:
This request is recorded on your credit history as a "hard credit enquiry". Too many hard enquiries can lower your credit score and your chance of approval.
Both soft and hard enquiries stay on your credit report for 5 years.
Lenders use information from your credit history to help them determine your eligibility for loan products like credit cards and personal loans.
This includes the number of credit enquiries you've made. These enquiries stay on your credit report for 5 years and are then removed automatically.
If you have too many credit enquiries on your file in a short amount of time, it can negatively impact your credit score and your ability to get a credit card or loan.
| Response | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| None of the above | 84.55% | 82.79% |
| Loan | 6.71% | 11.28% |
| Credit card | 10.77% | 9.18% |
| Phone plan | 2.03% | 2.29% |
| Other | 1.02% | 0.76% |
Once you've got your credit report, here's a list of the details you should double check:
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Why is it showing 1 Hard Credit Enquiry and 47 Soft Credit Enquires on my report.
I haven’t authorised any enquiries. Is this a scam?
Hi Susan,
Soft credit enquiries are only shown to you and they do not impact your credit score.
A soft credit check is an inquiry into your credit report, made either by you or by a company. A soft inquiry can occur even if you don’t apply for credit and it does not affect your credit score.
The types of things that can trigger a soft credit enquiry include:
– When a credit issuer checks to see if you are eligible for offers (which you may or may not have not applied for)
– When a potential employer does a background check before hiring you.
– When you are checking your own credit score
Generally, you won’t be asked for your permission to have these soft checks carried out. They stay on your file for 2 years; are only visible to you when you view your credit report; and they are not visible to companies who check your credit file.
Hope this helps!
Hi,
It says I have 2 credit suppliers on my record. I know 1 is a default which I’ve nearly paid off but I’m not sure what the other 1 is. How do I find out?
Hi Kylee,
Thank you for getting in touch with Finder.
I understand that you’re seeing 2 defaults on your credit report. There are scenarios where the credit provider you have default with forwarded your defaulted balance to a debt collecting agency and the record will show 2 default – one from the original provider you had the default with and the other one is with the debt collecting bureau. You’d find out if it was a debt collecting agency once you see the provider’s name. If still unsure on this matter, you may contact our provider, Experian as we obtain credit info from their data.
I hope this helps.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
I have 10 credit enquires in my credit file! I knew that it will stay in my credit report file for five years ! But i don’t know how long does that credit enquires affect to my credit file ? Can i apply for a credit card again after 1 year passed? Or do i have to wait until 5 years passed before i can apply a credit card again ?
Hi Davin,
Thank you for leaving a question.
For a legit credit inquiry, you’ll simply have to wait two years to have a hard inquiry taken off your credit report — though it’ll only impact your credit score a year at most. On the other hand, a soft pull on your credit can only be seen by you and has no affect on your credit score. You may take out a free credit report from us after a year to check if an improvement is seen. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Reggie
I have 42 credit enquiries in my credit file other that my credit file is clear can I get them removed
Hi Pauline,
Thanks for leaving a question on finder.
You can’t remove a legitimate enquiry from your credit file. In most cases, you will simply have to wait until five years has passed and they are taken off your history.
In general, the only details that can be removed from your credit file are those that are incorrect or erroneous. For example, if a lender made an enquiry without proper authorisation from you, if your name was attached to an account you never opened, or if an account was incorrectly listed as “in default”. In these cases, you can submit a request to have the incorrect details removed from your file.
If the inquiries are unauthorized, the first way is to tackle the dispute process on your own. Get the address of each creditor whom you did not approve to perform a hard inquiry. Then send them a certified letter in the mail (make sure you keep a copy for your records) stating that the inquiry was unauthorized and should be removed immediately.
Cheers,
Joel
I have had over 5 enquiries this month on my credit file which I dont believe I have done how can I fix this?
Hi Yvonne,
Thanks for your question.
If you think that those enquiries are erroneous, you can directly contact your credit reporting body (CRB) and request to have those enquiries removed. Once you have submitted your request, the CRB will then review your request and the details, before providing you with an outcome. If you are unsuccessful, the listing will remain for the allocated time (eg. five years from when an enquiry was made), and if you are successful it will be removed.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Anndy