I’ve paid off my debt, why is it still on my file?
The Savvy Team love to hear from our members and get all sorts of questions asked, so we thought we would share some of the most commonly asked questions we get:
Q. I’VE PAID OFF MY DEBT, WHY IS IT STILL ON MY FILE?
SHORT ANSWER:
Credit enquiries remain on your credit file for 5 years and do not indicate if the product was ever taken out, is still active or whether it has been paid off.
ALL THE NITTY GRITTY DETAILS:
When you apply for a credit product, such as a credit card, home loan or post-paid phone contract, the credit provider might check your credit file. This check is recorded as a “credit enquiry” on your file and will stay there for 5 years.
The enquiry details the name of the credit provider, the date of the application and the amount of credit applied for. It’s recorded on your file regardless of whether your application was approved or rejected and will remain even if you don’t take out the product or if you have paid off the balance and closed the account.
Credit enquiries can affect your credit score, especially if you make multiple applications in a short period of time. That’s why we encourage everyone to only apply for a product if they’ve done their homework and made sure that it meets their requirements.
If you want to check your credit report summary, you can do it for free at Credit Savvy.
