Repayment history is one of the biggest influences on your credit score, and one of the least understood. It is the month-by-month record of whether you paid your credit accounts on time. This guide explains what the record actually shows, who can see it, how long it lasts, and when a wrong entry can be fixed.
What repayment history information is
Repayment history information (RHI) is a monthly grade on each of your credit accounts — loans, credit cards, and similar. For every month, the account is marked as paid on time or a certain number of days late. A run of “paid on time” marks builds your score; a string of late marks pulls it down.
What the numbers mean
Each month gets a status. In simple terms: a 0 means you paid on time (or within the grace period). A 1 means up to 30 days overdue, a 2 means 30–59 days, and so on up the scale to serious lateness of 180+ days. A blank or “C” can mean the information was not reported for that month.
Who can report and see it
This is important: only licensed credit providers can report and see repayment history. Banks and finance lenders report RHI. Telcos, utilities and most buy-now-pay-later providers cannot report repayment history — they can only list a default once one is due. So a late phone or power bill does not create a late RHI mark, though it can lead to a default listing if it goes far enough.
Late marks dragging your score down?
A $39.95 credit file assessment shows you exactly which accounts carry late repayment history, whether any of it looks wrong, and what a realistic plan to improve looks like.
How long repayment history stays
RHI is kept for two years on a rolling basis. Unlike a default, it is not a single event with a five-year clock — it is a moving two-year window, so as you build a run of on-time payments the older late marks age out and your recent history carries more weight.
When repayment history can be corrected
Repayment history is corrected rather than removed. Where a month is marked late but was actually paid on time, or the account was in an agreed hardship arrangement, or a payment was applied to the wrong account, the entry can be put right — often back to a 0. Grounds we see in practice include payments made within the grace period being marked late, and lateness reported during a period covered by an arrangement.
You can raise a correction with the credit provider or credit reporting body yourself for free. Where it is disputed or spread across several accounts, that is where a service helps. We do not guarantee a result — we tell you plainly whether the record looks challengeable.
Common questions
Does one late payment ruin my score?
A single late mark is not the end — because RHI runs on a two-year window, consistent on-time payments after it steadily rebuild your position.
Can a late phone bill show as late repayment history?
No. Telcos cannot report RHI. They can list a default if a bill goes unpaid long enough, but that is a different type of entry.
To rebuild from here, see how to improve your credit score, or read what counts as a bad credit score in Australia.
Start with the facts about your own file
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