Australians are copping the brunt of inadequate billing and complaints procedures from Telecommunications companies, and their credit files are getting the main impact, a national credit repairer warns.
Graham Doessel, Director of MyCRA Credit Repairs says over 50 per cent of his clients are made up of Telco customers, and many have experienced grave errors on their credit reports.
“Our clients are suffering greatly for the inadequate policies and procedures of many of the Telco providers in this country. We send out far too many complaints every day to the Telecommunications Ombudsman requesting investigations into errors that have found their way onto customer’s credit files,” he says.
This comes as The Australian Communications and Media Authority announced yesterday it will step in and use its powers to manage the Telecommunications industry and enforce penalties.
“This is all about the consumer—better customer care, better service and a new approach from the industry,” said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman, at the launch of the Reconnecting the Customer (RTC) draft public inquiry report.
Under the RTC proposals, more than a thousand Australian Telcos and ISPs will need to deliver on six major consumer protection measures, while coming under greater regulatory scrutiny to make sure they follow through.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s office received 87,264 new complaints between 1 July and December 31 2010, up 9% on the first half of 2010.
Ombudsman Simon Cohen said: “The increase, entirely reversing the positive trend seen in the first half of 2010, is extremely disappointing.”
Mr Doessel says many of his clients experience problems with complaints and bill disputes which lead to defaults being slapped on their credit files before the problem is even resolved.
“For instance, currently we have a client who is disputing with Optus over his mobile phone plan. He was sold the plan with the assurance he could get reception in his remote location, but when he got home this was not the case. Unfortunately he was still charged over a thousand dollars, even though he could not use the phone and had to sign up with an alternative provider. He now has a bad credit rating, and can no longer obtain further credit as a result,” he says.
The impact of a bad credit rating on someone’s life can be far reaching.
“Currently, defaults on our credit file will prevent us from obtaining a home or business loan with most lenders. In fact it may even prevent us from taking out personal loans, car loans, business accounts and even alternative mobile phone and internet plans,” Mr Doessel says.
Under current credit reporting legislation, a black mark (default) is listed by the Telco with one or more of the three main credit reporting agencies in Australia – Veda Advantage, Dun & Bradstreet or Tasmanian Collection Service (TASCOL).
This black mark remains on the person’s credit file for 5 years for defaults.
Listings are usually not removed unless the file holder can provide adequate reason as to why the listing should not be there. Defaults can be marked as paid if the account has been settled.
“What is not widely known is how difficult credit repair can be– even if our credit file contains errors, or if we have been the victim of identity theft, there is no guarantee that the defaults can be removed. We have to go about proving our case and provide copious amounts of documentary evidence to get a look in,” he says.
He recommends anyone who is credit-active obtain a copy of their credit file every twelve months.
“It might save us time, disappointment and money to sort a black mark out while the situation is not urgent,” Mr Doessel says.
Under current legislation, it is free for Australians to obtain their credit report every 12 months. People should contact both the major credit reporting agencies: Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet and also TASCOL (if in Tasmania).
The report will be mailed within 10 working days.
If people do find entries which contain errors, are unjust or just shouldn’t be there, there is a possibility they can be removed, however it may be difficult to tackle alone.
“Navigating credit reporting and its legislation can be problematic for the individual. Unfortunately in most cases, if we are attempting to remove the default ourselves we can do more damage than good by not understanding the process fully, almost like trying to defend ourselves in court. We might do OK, but we only get one shot at it and if we don’t get it 100% right, we will be unsuccessful. There is no appeal in most cases,” he says.
Mr Doessel says a credit repairer should be able to inform us whether the file can be repaired, and completely remove defaults from the credit files of any clients they take on.
“Prevention is better than the cure though, and any improvement on the current system will be welcomed in the interests of keeping clear credit files,” he says.
For more information on credit files, or for anyone that has a bad credit rating visit http://www.mycra.com.au/
About MyCRA Credit Repairs
MyCRA Credit Repairs is Australia’s leader in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.
