A credit provider may record an enquiry on your credit file when you apply for a credit product. It is recorded on your file regardless of whether your application was approved or rejected. It does not indicate if the product was ever taken out, is still active, whether it has been paid off or not or if the account is now closed.

Credit enquiries can stay on your credit file for five years and can only be removed if incorrect or out of date.

How enquiries affect your credit score depends on the frequency and recentness of the enquiries, the type of credit applied for and the provider of the credit.

Credit Savvy provides credit file information from Experian, one of Australia’s official credit reporting bodies. If there is incorrect information on your credit file, find out how to correct them here: How do I fix an error on my credit file.