CREDIT REPORTING POLICY

Credit Reporting Policy

This Credit Reporting Policy applies to information relating to your credit worthiness (‘credit information’) collected by CHG-MERIDIAN New Zealand Limited (NZBN 9429038823695) (CHG-MERIDIAN) and outlines how we use and manage your credit information.

What are credit reports?

A credit report contains information about your credit history which helps credit providers assess your credit applications, verify your identity and manage accounts you hold with them. Credit reporting bodies collect and exchange this information with credit providers like us and other service providers such as phone companies.

The Privacy Act limits the information that credit providers can disclose about you to credit reporting bodies, as well as the ways in which credit providers can use credit reports.

This policy is to be read in conjunction with our Data Protection Policy, which can be found here.

What information do we exchange with credit reporting bodies?

The information we can provide to credit reporting bodies includes your identification details, any applications for credit you have made, any significant default we have notified you of and whether you have committed a serious credit infringement (such as fraud). Credit reporting bodies may include the information we provide to them in reports provided to other credit providers to assist them to assess your credit worthiness.

How we collect your credit information

We will collect your credit information from details included in your application for credit or finance and from the records we maintain about the products or services you receive from us.

We may also receive credit information from other sources, such as:

• credit reporting bodies;
• other credit providers; 
• your co-applicants or co-borrowers;
• your guarantors/proposed guarantors;
• your employer, accountant or other referees;
• your agents and other representatives like your referrers, introducers, vendors, brokers, solicitors and settlement agents;
• organisations that help us to process credit applications;
• organisations that check the security you are offering such as valuers;
• organisations involved in any securitisation of the credit facility as servicers, trust managers, trustees and security trustees;
• organisations providing relevant insurance either to us or you;
• bodies that issue identification documents to help us check your identity;
• our service providers involved in helping us to provide credit or to administer credit products, including our debt collectors and our legal advisers; and
• other publicly available sources.

How we hold your credit information

We store credit information in a combination of computer storage facilities, paper-based files and other records. These are held on our premises and systems as well as offsite using trusted third parties. Some personal information may be held by data service providers located overseas (such as ‘Cloud’ service providers for data storage and management purposes). We maintain effective control of the information under contractual arrangements. We will take reasonable steps to protect credit information from loss, interference or misuse, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Where personal information is no longer required to be retained, we will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to de-identify the information or put it beyond use.

Purpose for which we collect, use and disclose your credit information

We will collect, use and disclose your credit information in accordance with this policy so that we can:

• assess your credit application for a product or service and transact business with you;
• manage our relationship with you.

If you do not provide all credit information requested to us, or do not consent to how your credit information and credit eligibility information is managed in accordance with this policy, then we cannot carry out an assessment and may not be able to transact business with you.

In addition to using your credit information to evaluate whether to extend credit to you, we may also use your credit information and credit eligibility information to:

• assess whether to accept a guarantor or the risk of a guarantor being unable to meet their obligations;
• notify other credit providers or a credit reporting bodies of a default by you;
• assess whether to securitise and/or arrange for the securitising of the credit facility;
• where applicable under the law, consider hardship requests;
• assess whether to vary a credit facility we provide to you; or
• to comply with New Zealand legislation, including the Companies Act 1993, the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act 2009, Anti-Money-Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2009, Privacy Act (2020), the New Zealand Information Privacy Principles and amendments to these acts or regulations or codes made pursuant to these acts.

We do not collect, use or disclose your credit information for direct marketing of our, or any third party’s, goods or services to you.

Which credit reporting bodies do we use?

• Equifax
• Experian
• Illion

We may use one or more of the above listed credit reporting bodies. Each body has a policy which sets out how it deals with information it holds and you can obtain a copy of the policy by contacting the body using the contact details above.

What rights do you have to access or correct your credit information, or make a complaint?

You can access credit-related information we hold about you, request us to correct the information or make a complaint to us about your credit-related information.

What can you do if you think the information on your credit report is not correct?

Contact the applicable credit reporting body or the credit provider who listed the information and they will investigate the matter for you.

Contacting us

If you would like more information about how we manage your credit information and credit eligibility information, our Inside Sales  team is available Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 5:00pm EST, and can be contacted on 1800 339 988 or write to us at the following address:

CHG-MERIDIAN Australia Pty Limited

Attention: Privacy Officer

Level 11, 118 Mount Street

North Sydney NSW 2060

Or send an email to: privacy_anz@chg-medirian.com

Changes to the credit reporting policy

We may, at our discretion, change our approach to the handling of credit information and will, in such instances, update the Credit Reporting Policy to reflect these changes. The most up-to-date copy of the Credit Reporting Policy will be available at chg-meridian.co.nz.