Who holds your credit information?
New Zealand has three main credit reporters:
- Centrix
- Equifax
- illion, now part of Experian following Experian’s 2024 acquisition
Each collects information from lenders, utilities, telcos, courts and public registers, and each can hold slightly different data. A default listed with one reporter may not appear with another. Lenders usually check one or two, so it’s worth checking all three.
How reporters collect, hold and share your information is governed by the Credit Reporting Privacy Code 2020, issued by the Privacy Commissioner.
Getting your reports
You can request your personal credit report from each reporter free. Under the Code, they must provide it within 20 working days. You can pay for faster delivery if you’re in a hurry. Most reporters let you request online, with ID verification; details are on each reporter’s website and on govt.nz’s credit report page.
For a company, credit reports are generally commercial products. Many small business owners find their personal files matter just as much, because lenders look at directors and guarantors as well as the company.
What’s on your file, and for how long
| Information | What it is | How long it generally stays |
|---|---|---|
| Credit enquiries | Each time a lender checks your file for an application | Five years |
| Defaults | A creditor reporting an overdue debt, typically $125+ and 30+ days overdue, after notice | Five years from listing |
| Repayment history | Month-by-month record of on-time or late payments (comprehensive reporting) | Two years |
| Judgments | Court orders to pay money | Several years |
| Bankruptcy or No Asset Procedure | Personal insolvency events | Up to four years after discharge (longer in some cases) |
| Directorships and company events | Links to companies, including liquidations | Drawn from public records |
Timeframes come from the Credit Reporting Privacy Code and can vary by information type; the Code and the reporters’ own guidance have the detail.
How to read your report
Go through each section slowly:
- Personal details. Are your name, date of birth and addresses right? Mixed files are a common cause of errors.
- Enquiries. Do you recognise every one? Unrecognised enquiries can signal identity fraud.
- Defaults. For each: who listed it, the amount, the date, and whether it shows as paid.
- Repayment history. Any months marked late that you believe were on time?
- Public records. Judgments, insolvency events, directorships.
- Score. Useful as a guide, but lenders read the detail behind it.
How to fix errors
If something is wrong, you’re entitled to ask for it to be corrected.
- Write to the credit reporter that holds it, explaining what’s wrong and attaching evidence such as a receipt, bank statement or settlement letter.
- Contact the creditor too, since they’re the source of the information.
- The reporter must respond within 20 working days. If they don’t correct it, they must add a note to your file that you’ve asked for a correction.
- If you’re still not satisfied, you can complain to the Privacy Commissioner.
Common errors worth checking: a default that was paid before it was listed, a default listed without prior notice, the same debt listed twice, and debts belonging to someone else with a similar name.
Paid defaults
Paying a default doesn’t remove it, but it changes its status to “paid”. Lenders look at paid and unpaid defaults very differently. After you pay, ask the creditor to update the credit reporter and check your file a few weeks later to make sure it’s been done.
Rebuilding
The most powerful thing on a credit file is recent behaviour. Lenders weigh the last 12 to 24 months more heavily than events from four years ago. To rebuild:
- Pay everything on time, even small accounts. With comprehensive credit reporting, on-time payments are now recorded.
- Stop applying for credit you don’t need. Every application leaves an enquiry.
- Resolve old debts where you can, and get them marked as paid.
- Keep your details up to date with the reporters.
- Let time work. Defaults and enquiries age off after five years.
Borrowing while your file is being fixed
You don’t always have to wait. For property-secured business loans, the lenders we work with consider bad credit, defaults and arrears case by case, because the property and the plan carry most of the weight. They lend from $20,000 to $1m as a first or second mortgage, and a loan can often pay out the defaulted debts at settlement, which helps the file. Unsecured options based on turnover also consider weaker credit for businesses trading six months or more.
If your credit file is what’s standing between you and funding, start an enquiry. It won’t affect your score, and a lending specialist will talk you through what’s realistic.