Over 1.5 million Australians have ‘bad credit’ because of because of overdue bills and credit card debt.
Most people do not realise how easy it is to damage a clean credit history and the repercussion of this damage. Even paid defaults stay on your credit report for up to five years and can make getting new loans very difficult.
Figures released to the Herald Sun this week, reveal about 350,000 Victorians have developed bad credit for not paying utility bills, skipping loan repayments or declaring bankruptcy.
Hundreds of thousands of Victorians are among those risking finance knock backs for taking too long to pay utility bills or missing loan and credit card repayments. The revelation comes as financial counsellors expect to be swamped with households struggling to pay higher water and power bills this year.