Posts Tagged :

rights and privacy

Is Credit Simple legitimate and reliable? Our response to questions on Reddit, Geekzone and elsewhere online

Welcome to Credit Simple. If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve found your way here after asking a search engine if our business is legitimate (such as here on Geekzone and here on Reddit). So we thought we’d give you the low-down on myths and truths about our business, credit scores, and your rights and privacy. Pffffft. Everyone uses Veda! Nobody uses Credit Simple. There are three credit reporting agencies in New Zealand: illion (Credit Simple’s parent company), Equifax…

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Bill past due
How to deal with debt collectors – including your rights and privacy

There’s nothing like owning a ferocious guard dog for dealing with debt collectors. Chomp, chomp, chomp. There goes the arm of that dastardly fella. No, no, no. Stop there. Kiwis consider debt collectors to be a lower form of life. Regardless, setting the dog on them isn’t going to solve your problems – it’ll just make them worse. Debt collectors don’t even taste that nice. We know it’s common behaviour to stick your head in the sand when you can’t…

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So you think you don’t have a credit history …

An acquaintance said to me – rather smugly – the other day, “I don’t need to check my credit score, because I don’t have a credit history.” “Oh, you don’t?” I said. “Have you checked it in the past and discovered you didn’t have a profile in the system?” “No,” he said. “But I’ve never had any hire purchases or a car loan, so they won’t have anything on me.” Many people think that a credit history is built solely…

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Dog digging in the sand
Help! I want to delete my credit history

We got an email the other day from a guy who wanted his account deleted. He’d registered for Credit Simple, discovered his credit score was in the 200s, and decided the best thing was to just wipe it all off the history of the world, immediately and forever. Great idea in theory. And many people point to other parts of the world where there’s such a thing as “the right to be forgotten”, where you can apply to have things…

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My boss wants to check my credit score
Help! My new boss wants to check my credit report

Imagine you’re on the cusp of getting a hot new job, and your prospective boss says they’ll need to do a credit check. You’re pretty sure there’s some bad info on there, and anyway, isn’t it a breach of privacy? Fret no more, dear reader: we bring good news. Firstly, it’s true that other parties can check your credit report – landlords, recruiters, telcos, insurance providers and utility companies, as well as employers. However, they can’t do it without your…

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