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Credit information
In certain circumstances, we may provide credit to customers in connection with the provision of our services or goods. This occurs where we supply our services and goods to customers on a deferred payment basis.
Ausgrid may collect, use and disclose our customers’ personal credit information for the purpose of processing applications for credit in relation to our services or goods. We collect and handle this information in accordance with the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Code of Practice.
What kinds of credit information do we collect and hold, and how do we collect and hold this information?
The kinds of credit information that we may collect include:
- identification information, such as your full name, date of birth, driver’s licence number, gender, your current and previous addresses
- your consumer credit liability information, including details about your other current credit providers (such as their name and whether they are a licensee under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009), the type of consumer credit accounts you currently have, certain terms or conditions that apply to those accounts, and the maximum amount of credit available to you under those accounts
- your previous applications for credit, including when, with whom and for what type of credit
- your payment default records and whether overdue payments have been repaid
- information as to whether other credit providers have requested reports from credit reporting bodies about you
- personal insolvency information
- information as to whether you have committed serious credit infringements
- publicly available information about your credit worthiness.
We collect this information directly from our customers when they complete an application form for our services or goods. We also collect credit information about our customers from credit reporting bodies, such as Veda Advantage and Dun and Bradstreet. This information assists us in assessing a customer’s credit eligibility.
We treat credit information confidentially and takes reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. We make every effort to ensure that the credit information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant.
For more information about how we hold personal information, including credit information, please see section 2.4 of the Privacy Policy.
For what purposes do we collect, hold, use and disclose credit information?
We collect, hold, use and disclose credit information for the following purposes:
- to process applications for our services and goods, and to manage the provision of credit to our customers
- with the customer’s express consent - to process applications for commercial credit and to manage the provision of such credit
- to manage the collection of payments that are overdue in relation to consumer or commercial credit.
As a credit provider, Ausgrid participates in the Australian credit reporting system. To this end, Ausgrid discloses the credit information we collect about our customers to Australian-based credit reporting bodies.
These bodies use this information to prepare and aggregate credit information on individuals, which is made available to certain credit providers in Australia upon request and in accordance with credit reporting regulation.
We may also disclose credit information to our related bodies corporate and our service providers, who assist us with the management, storage and protection of the personal information we hold. This includes data storage providers and debt collectors.
Ausgrid does not use or disclose its customer’s credit information for the purpose of direct marketing.
Do we disclose your credit information to entities located overseas?
Our policy is not to disclose your credit information to entities located overseas.
How can you access and correct the credit information we hold about you?
For information as to how you may access, and/or correct, the credit information that we hold about you, please see section 5 of our Privacy Policy.
How can you complain about our handling of your credit information?
If you would like to make a complaint about our handling of your credit information, please send your complaint in writing using the contact details set out in section 7 of the Privacy Policy.
Our complaints handling process for the mishandling of credit information is a little different to the process we use for non-credit related personal information.
Within seven days of receiving your complaint, we will send you a written notice acknowledging your complaint and explaining how we deal with it.
We will endeavour to notify you of our decision about your complaint within 30 days of receiving it (or such other time as you agree in writing).
If you are not satisfied with our decision, you may take your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
A complaint must be submitted in writing, either via a form, an email, by fax or in a letter. Contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992.