Your Rights Explained
The information we use to operate our Consumer Credit Reporting Business is obtained from selected sources and in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act 1993. We believe in and respect this important legislation, and our own business activities are strictly governed by its principles.
Overview of Your Rights
As a New Zealander, you have rights under the Privacy Act 1993 in relation to the access, storage and use of your personal credit information.
The Privacy Act promotes and protects consumer privacy. It has established privacy principles in relation to:
- The collection, use and disclosure by public and private sector agencies, of information relating to consumers; and
- The access by each consumer to, and correction of, information relating to them which is held by public and private agencies.
The Privacy Act establishes 12 privacy principles:
- Principles 1,2,3,and 4 relate to the collection of personal information
- Principles 5 and 9 relate to the storage of personal information
- Principles 6 and 7 relate to the access to and correction of personal information
- Principles 8 and 10 relate to the use of personal information
- Principle 11 relates to the disclosure of personal information
- Principle 12 relates to the use of unique identifiers.
The Credit Reporting Privacy Code 2004 has been issued under the Privacy Act and provides specific rights in relation to personal credit information held by Veda Advantage as part of our Consumer Credit Reporting business.
Veda Advantage supports the Code's approach to promoting fairness, accuracy, and privacy in the practice of credit reporting.
You can find the complete version of the Privacy Code at www.privacy.org.nz and the Privacy Act at www.legislation.govt.nz
You have certain rights with regard to personal credit information we hold about you. In particular you can:
- Access your own personal credit information
- Request incorrect information be amended or a statement of correction be added to your credit file
- Expect the information to be safely stored, and used by or disclosed only to authorised people.
Your rights are summarised below.
What kind of information does a Credit File contain?
If you do not use credit no information is likely to exist about your credit history.
If you do use credit, your credit file is likely to contain the following details:
- Name
- Last reported and previous addresses
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Occupation
- Employer
- Company directorships (if any)
- Who has made credit enquiries and when (if any)
- Payment default or collection agency records (if any)
- District and High Court judgments (if any)
- Bankruptcy listings (if any).
Where does this information come from?
Veda Advantage collects credit information directly from the consumer concerned, from our subscribers (who are banks, finance houses and other credit providers), or from public sources.
Our subscribers may supply your name, addresses, and date of birth, gender, employer, occupation and the type of account you applied to them for. Details may also be provided relating to the conduct of your account.
We also use information from public sources such as Court records and newspapers, and other publicly available publications and databases.
What information do we not hold?
We do not hold any non-business-related details about you including your:
- Political, social, religious or ethical opinions, beliefs or affiliations
- Criminal record, other than fraud related transactions
- Medical history
- Colour, race ethnic or national origins
- Sexual orientation or sexual life.
How many years is information held on your Credit File?
All adverse information (i.e. collection data, default data and judgment records) and previous enquiry information remains on your credit file for five years. Bankruptcy information remains on your credit file for seven years.
How does Veda Advantage use and store your information?
We may use your credit information for the following purposes:
- Complying with relevant legislation and regulations
- The administration and updating of the Credit Reporting database and our records.
We may disclose information on your credit file to subscribers to Veda Advantage's Consumer Credit Reporting services. Most credit checks can only take place with your authorisation. However, your authorisation may not be required in all cases, such as access by certain public sector agencies and those involved in court proceedings.
Credit information is stored electronically with security measures in place. We employ sophisticated electronic security systems to record the details of authorised subscribers that view your credit information.
Accessing your Credit File
You are entitled to access any credit information that we hold about you.
If you want the information quickly (within five working days) you may be required to pay a reasonable charge, but otherwise no charge may be made.
We offer a number of services for you to easily access your personal credit file so that you can understand and manage the credit information that is reported about you:
My Credit File - for the free of charge delivery option we will process and dispatch your personal credit file within twenty working days.
My Credit File Express - for $51.95 we will process and dispatch your personal credit file within one working day.
My Veda Alert - for $59.95 per year we will notify you of specific changes to your personal credit file and dispatch your personal credit file within one working day.
Please visit www.mycreditfile.co.nz for any of these services.
Please note that you may only request a copy of your own credit file.
If you would like to know more about these services or how to order these services please visit www.mycreditfile.co.nz to obtain a Request For Access To Your Personal Credit File form.
Amending your Credit File
We must take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of credit information we hold about you and must act promptly to correct any errors we become aware of. This will usually involve checking the information you provide with the source, such as a subscriber (or creditor) who submitted a default.
If you think there are inaccuracies in your credit file there are steps you can take to request that we correct them or have them investigated. These steps are outlined in the My Credit File Explained brochure, which will be provided to you when you order your personal credit file.
We must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, decide whether to make the correction you have requested or to confirm the accuracy of the information. If we need longer than 20 working days to make a decision we must notify you of the extension and the reason for it. If the requested correction is not made, we must tell you the reason and you may ask to have a statement of the correction sought but not made. This statement will be included in your credit file.
If a correction is made or a correction statement added, we will send an amended report to any Veda Advantage subscriber recorded as having accessed your credit file within the last 30 days.
We note that a credit file describes your credit history, not simply your current debts. Information about a bankruptcy that has been discharged or a default that has subsequently been paid in full can continue to be reported on your credit file, provided it is updated to reflect the later developments, as it remains an accurate statement of those historical events.
Complaints Procedure
Veda Advantage has a complaints procedure in place that we must follow if you believe we have breached the Code. The object of our complaints procedure is to facilitate the fair, simple, speedy and efficient resolution of complaints.
Under our complaints procedure:
We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 working days of receipt, unless it has been resolved to your satisfaction within that period
Within 10 working days of acknowledging your complaint we will continue to investigate your request and advise you if it is justified, or if additional time is required to investigate and the reasons why.
Upon completion of our investigation we will advise you of our decision, the reasons for it and any action we propose to take.
If you have utilised our complaints procedure and are not satisfied with our resolution you may wish to appeal. If you have any further information that we should consider, then please forward the details with your appeal to:
Public Access
Veda Advantage Information Services & Solutions (NZ)
Veda Advantage (NZ) Ltd
Private Bag 92156
Victoria Street
Auckland.
If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may choose to complain to the Privacy Commissioner who has statutory powers to investigate the matter. Some cases that cannot be settled can be taken to the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
How do I find out more about information held on my Credit File?
If you have any queries about any information on your credit file, please contact the Public Access Team on 0800 692 733 or
Public Access
Veda Advantage Information Services & Solutions (NZ)
Veda Advantage (NZ) Ltd
Private Bag 92156
Victoria Street
Auckland.
Find out more at www.mycreditfile.co.nz