Credit repair can be how you make your dreams come true — whether it’s buying your ideal car, your first home or taking that big trip. With a poor credit history, it can be hard to find a loan or credit card that gives you access to the money you need in time to make these magical moments happen. That’s why it’s important to know what you can do when it comes to credit repair in Australia.
Hard-Won Results Make Your Credit Repair All the Sweeter
A proper credit fix doesn’t just come about waving a magic wand. You need to put in the challenging work to get your credit score up again and have it stay there. But the results are well worth it. Additionally, you’ll find that the steps you need to take to repair your credit become helpful lifelong habits that serve you well in all future personal financial management.
However, we understand that with a situation as distressing and potentially devastating as poor credit, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together this guide. From it, you’ll learn what the first steps people can take to repair their credit are and what to do next if the issue is more complex.
5 Simple Steps to Repair Your Credit
Step 1. Know Your Credit Score
If you don’t know the full extent of the situation, how can you expect to really fix it? That’s why you need to order a credit report. This will detail any actions or history that have negatively or positively affected your credit score. For instance, any time you’ve missed a bill payment or defaulted on a loan may be recorded, along with applications for credit cards.
At Credit Repair Solicitors, we can organise your credit report — either express or standard, depending on how soon you need it. All we need is a few details to help us make sure that we’re looking at the credit report of the right person. This includes your name and date of birth, and other identifying information like your drivers’ licence number. We can then pull up this extremely comprehensive report and you can get a full understanding of what has caused your credit score to be where it’s at.
Step 2. Check Your Credit Report
As with any paperwork, mistakes can be made and financial institutions like banks aren’t an exception! That’s why, when you receive your credit report, it’s important to go through it carefully, looking for anything that doesn’t seem quite right or seems to not make sense. These can be simple mistakes like recording a debt twice or having incorrect information about payments. Other discrepancies can even indicate that identity theft has occurred.
Working through your credit report and history can take some time, but it pays to be thorough. Check that any overdue payments are correctly listed, including the length of time they were overdue by. Be sure to also confirm that you have received correspondence from the creditor about the unpaid debt. You may be able to dispute this debt if you were not properly informed it existed. We’ll go into this in more detail a little later.
Make sure to note any issues that need to be corrected in your credit history. These will be important for Step 5.
Step 3. Review Your Budget, Debt & Credit Cards
Now you understand your situation more completely, you can start taking some actions to repair your credit. The tips we’ll explore below will all help, but it’s important to remember that your credit won’t be fixed overnight. That’s why you need to be prepared to commit to improving your credit score and money management overall.
First things first, you want to avoid adding any more negatives to your credit score. So, it’s time to bust out the calculator and figure out your budget. This should include all your essentials, like rent, groceries, and utilities, but also factor in regular debt payments. This may be loans or credit card bills. You want to be sure that when it comes time to pay them, you have the money ready.
It’s also an innovative idea to have a main place where you store all your bill information, so you can keep track of when payments are due without having to sort through piles of paper or a cluttered inbox.
As part of this budget review, take a long hard look at your credit cards. It’s a common misconception that a credit card is necessary to build up your credit score. In some cases, it can do worse than good by being a tempting source of instant cash for quick gratification, like grabbing lunch for the office or those new shoes. So, go through your credit cards and look at their limits and interest rates, along with any rewards. Ideally, you want a card that has a reasonable limit that won’t tempt you to overspend or that you will find too difficult to pay back on time, along with low interest rates and rewards you’ll use.
You can also look at lowering the limit on your credit card. This can help you better balance your budget and allow you to still have that credit card for emergencies.
If you find that your budget review reveals a lot of debt, it may be worth looking into debt consolidation. This can take some of the stress out of remembering when and how much money is due for each payment.
Alternatively, you can also look at debt negotiation services. For those affected by financial hardship and in perilous financial situations, this can be extremely worthwhile and give you back peace of mind. We’ll cover this more in Step 5.
Step 4. Find a Credit Repair Service You Can Trust
Now you’ve got your day-to-day money management under control, you can start addressing those discrepancies and issues you found back in Step 2. Of course, the first step to doing so is finding a reliable credit repair service.
Since you’re dealing with something as complex as credit and as important as your financial future, you want to put just as much effort into finding a credit repair service in Australia as you did go through your credit report. You want someone you can trust and who has a strong record of accomplishment of advocating for their clients and getting them the results they’re after.
Luckily, you’ve already actually completed this step! At Credit Repair Solicitors, we believe in always providing honest and transparent upfront advice, with a fixed fee service, so there’s no nasty surprises when you’re already trying to get your money in order. As a specialised lawyer, we have extensive experience arguing for our clients when dealing with creditors and ensuring that their credit report is completely accurate.
Step 5. Meet With Your Credit Repair Expert & Get Down to Business
At your first meeting — your no-obligation, free consultation if you select Credit Repair Solicitors — you should go through your credit report with the agent to confirm the issues you’ve picked up. Explain what you would like to change and why, along with any relevant information about your current financial situation, including any other debts.
From here, your credit repair expert will advise you of your options and how they can best help. This may include removing or changing certain parts of your credit history due to errors on the creditor’s part, like defaulting or late or missing payments. Similarly, credit enquiries may be removed from your history if they were not made with your express consent or knowledge.
Finally, they can also help you in matters of debt negotiation and financial hardship. This can be key to breaking free of that continuous cycle of debt and building up your savings, along with your credit score.
Take the First Step to Fix Your Credit Today
Repairing your credit can take some time; that’s why it’s important to act as soon as you can. You can take those first steps today by ordering your credit report through Credit Repair Solicitors, or, if you’ve already received and reviewed your report, be sure to book in for your free, no-obligation consultation to discover what your options are for fixing any incorrect information in your credit history. This includes removing any adverse entries and negative items, such as defaults and judgments from your credit report. Credit Repair Solicitors services are available Australia-wide, so contact us today to learn more!