A New Zealand consumer campaign
In New Zealand, debt collectors and credit reporters can wreck your access to loans, rentals and even a phone plan, with no licence, no dedicated regulator, and often no dispute scheme that can step in.
A debt collector can damage your credit for five years, even after you've paid in full.
They don't need a licence. No regulator watches them the way one watches a bank. They don't need your consent to pull your credit file. And the dispute-resolution schemes that can force a bank to put things right can't touch a collector who isn't a member, and many aren't.
If they have that much power over your life, why aren't they regulated?
What's at stake
These aren't edge cases, they're the everyday cost of an industry that lists first and answers to no one.
A default sits on your credit file for five years from the date it's recorded, even once you've cleared it in full. That can shut you out of a loan, a rental, or a phone plan the whole time.
Debt collectors are bound by the Fair Trading Act and little else, no licence to lose, no dedicated regulator. And if a collector isn't a member of a dispute-resolution scheme, even those schemes can't make them put it right.
A debt can be reported on one party's say-so, with no independent check that it's accurate and owed, and no requirement to notify you. Many people only find out when they're declined.
"That could never happen to me"
Here is how a missed notice and one unverified listing can pull someone from comfortable to cornered. Press play, or scrub through it yourself.
In December 2023, the Commerce Commission issued a warning to a debt collection company over conduct it considered likely to breach the Fair Trading Act, including misleading representations to the people it was pursuing.
Source: NZ Commerce Commission, December 2023.
What we're asking Parliament for
This is exactly what the petition asks the House of Representatives to do.
Introduce licensing and oversight for debt collection and credit reporting agencies, with clear standards and a regulator that can act.
Require independent verification that a debt is accurate and owed before it can be reported to a credit file.
Strengthen the regulation and accountability of credit reporting agencies, clearer rules, faster corrections, real consequences.
How it works now vs the reform we want
About the petition
Debt Reform NZ supports a petition to the House of Representatives asking Parliament to introduce licensing and oversight for debt collection and credit reporting agencies, to require independent verification of debts before credit reporting, and to strengthen the regulation and accountability of credit reporting agencies.
Anyone can sign, it costs nothing, and once it closes it's presented to the House and can be considered by a select committee. Signing adds your name to the call for an industry that's licensed, overseen, and has to prove a debt before it can damage your file.
This campaign is about consumer-protection rules, not any individual company, and is not affiliated with any political party.
Straight answers
No. If a debt is real and owed, it should be paid, we're clear about that. This is about making sure it's actually accurate, owed and verified, and that someone is accountable when it isn't. Real debts still get collected; people just stop getting wrecked by mistakes and unproven claims.
Debt collectors are bound by the Fair Trading Act and little else, there's no licensing regime built specifically for them or for credit reporting agencies, so no dedicated licence to lose for doing it badly. A debt can be reported without an independent check that it's correct and owed. And if a collector isn't a member of a financial dispute-resolution scheme, those schemes can't take a complaint against them.
A default stays on your credit file for five years from the date it's recorded, even after you've paid it in full. Over that time it can affect loans, rentals, phone plans and more.
Before a debt lands on your file, the party listing it should be able to show it's accurate and actually owed, checked against the underlying contract and records, not just asserted.
You have rights today. New Zealand has three credit reporters (Centrix, Equifax and Experian). You can request your report and ask for wrong information to be corrected under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code and the Privacy Act 2020, they must respond within set timeframes and note your dispute even if they decline to change it. If you're not satisfied, complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. A free financial mentor (MoneyTalks, 0800 345 123) can also help. This is general information, not legal advice.
Anyone who supports the ask can sign, and it's free. Signing adds your name to a petition that will be presented to the House of Representatives.
Add your name
Back one overdue fix: an industry that's licensed, overseen, and has to prove a debt before it can damage your credit.