Why your credit history is never history

Ever heard lenders say “your credit history is history” and wondered what they mean? Walshy discusses how your credit history is never truly history, but whether your credit history is bad or good it is still an asset and can save you money.

Transcript

Hi, Paul from Fair Go Finance here and welcome to another Whiteboard Wednesday.So today we’re going to look at the slogan we’ve seen in the marketplace about “your credit history is history” and what does that mean?

Will my credit history be fixed?

Well the first thing it doesn’t mean is that any issues or problems on your credit history are going to go away.  They’re on your credit file, they’ll be there for up to five or even seven years in the case of bankruptcy, but no one can make that disappear instantly.

What it does mean is that when you’re applying for a loan with a lender who promotes this slogan is that typically they’re not going to look at your credit profile or credit history when making an assessment about an application for a loan or a lease.

Now what that does though, it reduces the amount of information that a lender has when making a determination or assessment about your application.  Typically it’s going to make a lender act conservatively which means they’re going to pass that on in the form of higher costs to you as a borrower.

Your credit history is an asset; whether bad or good

By being able to look at your credit history, it gives a lender more information to assess your application and gives them a greater insight; because there’s a big difference between people who’ve got a tarnished credit history or a slight blemish there from an unpaid utility bill from four years ago, to someone who’s a serial offender and habitually doesn’t repay loans and/or leases.

So we’d encourage you to look around and be wary of lenders or credit providers when you see them displaying this sign.  Your credit history is important, a valuable asset, and is something you should protect and leverage to help you get a fair price on a loan.

Hopefully you found this useful.

Thanks very much.