A default on your credit file tells every lender you failed to pay a debt. It stays there for five years, it drags your score down, and it can turn a routine loan application into a string of knock-backs. But here is what most people are never told: a default can only stay on your file if it was listed correctly. If it wasn’t, it can be challenged.
Australian Specialist
Credit Clean Australia
Find What Is Hurting Your Credit Score
Understand what's affecting your credit score and what options you may have to fix it by booking a credit file assessment below.
Your Assessment Includes:
- Both Equifax & Experian credit files audited
- Potentially incorrect or disputable listings identified
- Understand what’s affecting your credit score
- Clear options and next steps
ASSESSMENT
EXPERIAN
GUIDANCE
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Book Your Credit File Assessment
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Open selected time in a new tabWhat You Get in Your Assessment
Next Steps
Next Steps After Your Assessment
Investigation
We investigate the circumstances behind each listing on your credit file, identifying potential breaches of the Privacy Act or non-compliance with the Credit Reporting Code. This is completed with you over the phone through 40+ simple yes, no, or unsure questions, along with your personal circumstances at the time.
Approved or Denied
If our investigation identifies multiple potential breaches, you may be approved for our credit restoration services. If not, your application will be declined, and your consultant will explain why, providing complete clarity.
Note: Approval does not guarantee the removal of any listing.
Disputes & Result
Formal removal requests are lodged with Equifax, Experian, and relevant credit providers, with escalation to AFCA, the OAIC, courts, or other bodies where required.
If a breach is confirmed, listings may be removed, in most cases boosting your credit score and helping future finance applications.
When a default can be removed
Under the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Code, a creditor must meet strict conditions before listing a default against you. The debt must be at least $150. It must be more than 60 days overdue. You must have been sent the required written notices to your last known address before the listing was made. The amount, the dates and your identity details must all be accurate.
When any of those requirements is not met, the listing is open to challenge. In our experience reviewing credit files, listings fail these tests more often than people expect: notices sent to old addresses, amounts that don’t match the actual debt, listings made while a dispute or hardship arrangement was in place, debts listed twice by a creditor and then again by a debt collector.
To be upfront, because the law requires it and because it’s true: no one can guarantee the removal of a correctly listed default. A company that promises to “wipe” any default regardless of the facts is misleading you. What we do is investigate whether your default was listed lawfully, and where it wasn’t, pursue its removal with the creditor and the credit reporting bodies until the matter is resolved.
How our default removal service works
Step one: the credit file assessment
For $39.95 we obtain your credit file as an access seeker (no enquiry is recorded on your file) and review it with you, identify every default, judgement and enquiry, and tell you plainly which listings have grounds for challenge and which don’t. If there’s nothing we can help with, we tell you that too — before you spend another dollar.
Step two: the investigation
Where grounds exist, we put the creditor to proof. Creditors must be able to demonstrate the debt, the overdue period and the notices. We correspond with the creditor and the credit reporting body (Equifax, Experian or illion) and press the matter through their dispute processes, escalating where the responses don’t stack up.
Step three: the outcome
When a listing cannot be substantiated or was made in breach of the rules, it must be corrected or removed. When it drops off, your file changes the same day the bureau processes it, and lenders no longer see it.
Why defaults matter so much
- They stay for five years from the listing date, even if you pay. Paying updates the status to “paid” but does not remove the listing. Read more: paid vs unpaid defaults.
- Most mainstream lenders treat any default, paid or not, as a red flag. See getting a home loan with a default.
- One default is often not the only problem — files with a default frequently carry incorrect enquiries or duplicated listings too.
For the full picture on timing, see how long a default stays on your credit report, and for the process in detail, how to remove a default from your credit file.
Removing defaults before a home loan application
If you’re preparing to apply for a home loan, the order of operations matters. A challenged and removed default before you apply can be the difference between a mainstream lender at a standard rate and a specialist lender at a much higher one. The assessment tells you quickly whether your listing has grounds for challenge, so you can decide whether to hold your application or proceed as-is. Timing, lender behaviour and what’s realistic are covered in our home loan with a default guide.
What we don’t do
We don’t guarantee removals. We don’t invent disputes for correctly listed debts. We don’t lend money or arrange loans. What we do is know the credit reporting rules in detail, hold creditors to them, and get wrongly listed defaults off your file.
Start with the assessment
You’ll know exactly where you stand for $39.95 — every listing on your file, what can be challenged, and what we’d charge to act. No lock-in, no ongoing fees, no surprises.
Book your credit file assessment
Frequently asked questions
Can you remove a paid default?
Payment status doesn’t decide whether a default can be removed — lawfulness of the listing does. A paid default that was listed incorrectly can be challenged on exactly the same grounds as an unpaid one.
How long does default removal take?
Credit reporting bodies and creditors are required to respond to disputes within set timeframes, typically 30 days. Some straightforward disputes resolve within that timeframe, while more complex matters can take longer as we escalate. We keep you informed at each step.
What if my default was listed correctly?
We tell you at the assessment stage. You’ll still leave knowing exactly what’s on your file, when each listing expires, and what you can do in the meantime to improve your position.
Will removing a default improve my credit score?
A default is one of the most damaging entries a file can carry, and scores generally recover once one is removed. The exact movement depends on what else is on your file.