One in 10 Australians lie about financial circumstances

One in 10 adult Australians have misrepresented their personal financial circumstances when applying for credit, according to new research.

The survey, conducted by Galaxy Research for credit bureau Veda Advantage, found that 1.8 million Australians chose to misrepresent their circumstances, which amounts to 200,000 more than six months ago.

The favoured method of 1.1 million Australians was to understate total expenses, while 430,000 preferred to understate the amount of money currently owed on credit cards. Lastly, 330,000 chose to overstate their income.

The survey also found one in five Australians admit to finding it difficult to repay debt, and of these, 28 per cent were likely to apply for more credit in the next six months, while 14 per cent had missed a minimum bill repayment.

Head of consumer risk at Veda Angus Luffman said this was a worrying trend – particularly in light of the continuing financial vulnerability of many Australians.

Luffman said Australia’s credit system was lagging behind international standards, and that currently lenders can only see when a person has defaulted in the past five years and the number of credit enquiries made.

“They cannot see whether a consumer is financially overcommitted and whether they can meet their current repayment obligations,” he said.