Comprehensive credit reporting
CCR provides a more complete picture of consumers’ credit history. As part of CCR, RAMS is required to share your account information with the credit reporting bodies.
Comprehensive Credit Reporting
Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) enhances Australia's credit reporting system. Learn what CCR means for your credit report.
About credit reporting
Australia operates a comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) system. This means we are required by law to share certain account information with the credit reporting bodies to be included in individuals' consumer credit reports.
As well as credit enquiries, defaults and serious credit infringements, the information shared for CCR about RAMS home loans includes:
- the date the account was opened or closed
- the type of credit
- the credit limit
- repayment history information
- financial hardship information.
What CCR means for you
CCR means it’s more important than ever to pay your home loan on time so your repayment history information is shown favourably on your credit report.
If you’ve missed a repayment, restarting your payments, and getting back up to date as soon as possible, will help improve your credit report.
Your credit score may change more regularly with CCR as monthly account information is being shared. See more on credit scores below.
CCR and hardship customers
The Government has legislated how hardship should be reflected in consumer credit reports across the industry. If you enter a hardship arrangement with us from 1 July 2022 this may be shown on your credit report as an:
- ‘A’ which indicates a temporary arrangement or deferral; or
- ‘V’ which indicates a permanent change where the loan is varied.
This information is included in a consumer credit report for 12 months alongside repayment history information.
The hardship arrangement is intended to support you to get back on track with your finances and can make a positive difference on your credit report if you repay on time according to the new arrangement.
The reason for the hardship arrangement is not included in the credit report and credit reporting bodies may not use financial hardship information when they calculate a credit score.
If you’re having trouble making your repayments, we may be able to help. Please contact the RAMS Customer Assist Team on 1800 143 075 - operating hours 8.30am – 6.00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday for a confidential conversation about your situation.
Get a free copy of your credit report
You can request a free copy of your credit report from each credit reporting body at least once every three months. You can also request a free copy if:
- you’ve been refused credit within the past 90 days, or
- your credit-related personal information has been corrected.
Outside the above, a credit reporting body may charge a fee for generating your credit report.
Each credit reporting body has its own credit report format and method for calculating a credit score so you may want to see how they compare.
Checking what’s on your credit report is important to see if there are any fraudulent applications made in your name and to check your information is correct. If you see something that doesn’t look right on your report, you can contact us or the credit reporting body to get it looked into. If there is a mistake, we will fix it for free.
Further information and support
The Credit Smart website has further information on CCR and credit reporting in Australia or you can contact us.
FAQs
What is a credit report?
A credit report is a summary of someone’s credit history information, personal information and relevant public records created by a credit reporting body and provided under Privacy Act laws to credit providers.
Each credit reporting body produces its own version of a credit report which may be used by a credit provider to inform their credit decision and the amount of credit offered.
| Section | What information does it contain? | Stays on for? |
|---|---|---|
| Personal information | Customer name, address, date of birth, employer, driver’s licence number | Permanent |
| Consumer credit liability information | Product type, account limits, account open and close dates | Closed accounts may stay on the report for up to two years after the account is closed |
| Repayment history information | 24 months of rolling repayment history information | 24 months |
| Financial hardship information | Indicates that a financial hardship arrangement is in place for that account. | 12 months |
| Enquiries | Applications for credit products | Five years |
| Defaults | A credit provider may record a default if you are more than 60 days late and they have attempted to get payment from you | Five years |
| Serious credit infringements | For example fraud or deliberately evading your obligations | Seven years (unless you pay the debt) then it will revert back to being reported as a default |
What is repayment history information?
Repayment history information (RHI) is a number listed each month on a credit report that indicates whether someone is up-to-date or late with their repayments. It is an important indicator of someone’s management of their credit accounts.
What is financial hardship information?
Financial hardship information (FHI) is a letter A or V listed each month on a credit report which shows there is an agreement between you and your lender to adjust your mortgage loan repayments because something has happened which has impacted your ability to repay.
- ‘A’ indicates a temporary arrangement or deferral; or
- ‘V’ indicates a permanent change where the loan is varied.
Repayment history information is shown alongside the FHI to indicate if the revised repayments are being made on time.
To understand more, see ‘Financial Hardship Assistance and Credit Reporting’.
What are credit reporting bodies?
Credit reporting bodies are businesses that give credit reports to credit providers to help them decide whether to lend money. Each credit reporting body will have a privacy policy on its website which outlines how your information is used.
We work with three credit reporting bodies:
What is a credit score?
Generally, a credit score is a number that summarises the information held on a credit report and is calculated by that credit reporting body. Each credit reporting body has its own method for calculating the credit score so you may want to see how they compare by getting a free copy of your credit report from Equifax, illion and Experian.
The score is one indicator of how likely you are to pay back the money you owe to a credit provider and demonstrating good credit management and consistent and timely repayments will help improve your credit score.