How Rate Challenge handles feedback, complaints and personal information.

Compliments

Rate Challenge welcomes feedback about the service. Positive feedback helps identify what worked well and can be used to recognise the people involved. You may provide a compliment by phone or email.

Complaints and concerns

If you are dissatisfied with the credit assistance, communication, information handling or another part of the service, contact Rate Challenge as soon as practical. Provide your name, contact details, the issue, relevant dates and the outcome you are seeking.

How the complaint is handled

• Rate Challenge will try to resolve straightforward concerns immediately where possible.
• The complaint will be acknowledged and investigated fairly, with requests for further information where needed.
• A written internal dispute resolution response will generally be provided within 30 calendar days. Some complaint types, including certain financial-hardship matters, may have shorter regulatory timeframes.
• If the complaint cannot be resolved within the applicable timeframe, you will be told why, what remains outstanding and your external dispute-resolution options.

Australian Financial Complaints Authority

If you are not satisfied with the internal response, you may be able to complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), a free and independent external dispute-resolution service. Visit afca.org.au or call 1800 931 678. AFCA eligibility and time limits apply.

Personal information we may collect

Depending on the enquiry or application, Rate Challenge may collect:

• identity and contact details, including name, date of birth, address, phone and email;
• employment, income, expenses, assets, liabilities and financial goals;
• property, loan, lease, business, trust, company, guarantor and security information;
• identification and verification information required by law or a lender;
• credit information, repayment history, credit enquiries or information relevant to credit assistance;
• communications, forms, call notes, document records, website interactions and consent preferences;
• technical information such as IP address, device, browser, page source, referral and campaign parameters.

Rate Challenge generally does not need your tax file number. You may redact it from documents unless it is lawfully required for a specific purpose and you are asked to provide it.

How information may be collected

• directly from you through website forms, calls, email, meetings, applications and documents;
• from a joint applicant, guarantor, authorised representative, accountant, lawyer, conveyancer, real-estate agent, employer or referrer;
• from lenders, lessors, mortgage insurers, valuers, aggregators, credit-reporting bodies and identity-verification providers where permitted;
• from public records and lawful data sources where relevant to the service;
• through website analytics, cookies and form-processing systems.

If you provide information about another person, you should have authority to do so and tell them how to access this policy.

How information may be used and disclosed

Information may be used to provide credit assistance, understand the enquiry, compare options, prepare and manage applications, communicate with you, verify identity, prevent fraud, improve the service, meet legal obligations and handle complaints.

Where relevant and permitted, information may be disclosed to lenders, lessors, mortgage insurers, valuers, aggregators, the Australian Credit Licence holder, service providers, professional advisers, government or regulatory bodies, and people you authorise. Rate Challenge does not sell personal information.

Cloud, analytics, communications, document, customer-management and form-processing providers may process information on Rate Challenge’s behalf. Some providers may store or process information outside Australia. The countries involved can change with provider infrastructure and should be confirmed where material to a specific service.

Credit-related information

When providing credit assistance, Rate Challenge may collect and handle information about credit applications, liabilities, repayment history, defaults, credit enquiries and creditworthiness. A lender or credit provider may separately obtain a credit report and has its own privacy and credit-reporting policy.

Rate Challenge does not lodge a lender application merely because you use a calculator or submit an initial website enquiry. A credit enquiry generally occurs only later where a credit provider or authorised party obtains a credit report as part of an application or assessment.

Direct marketing, cookies and analytics

Rate Challenge may contact you about the enquiry and, where permitted, related services that may be relevant. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time. Service and application communications may still be sent where necessary.

The website may use first-party and third-party cookies or similar technologies for security, performance, analytics, attribution and form processing. This can include Google Analytics and services such as Zapier that help transmit an enquiry to Rate Challenge. Browser controls can restrict cookies, although some website functions may not work as intended.

Storage, security and data breaches

Rate Challenge takes reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Information may be stored electronically or physically, including with contracted service providers.

No internet transmission or storage system is completely risk-free. Do not send passwords or internet-banking credentials. Use the secure document method provided when sensitive records are required.

If an eligible data breach is likely to cause serious harm and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies, Rate Challenge will take the required assessment, mitigation and notification steps, including notifying affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where required.

Access and correction

You may ask to access personal information held about you or request correction where it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. Rate Challenge may need to verify your identity and may refuse or limit access where permitted or required by law. If access or correction is refused, the reasons and available complaint options will be explained where required.

Send requests to admin@ratechallenge.com.au. A reasonable response period will be used, with 30 days treated as a useful general benchmark unless another legal timeframe applies.

Complaints about personal information

Contact Rate Challenge first with the issue and the outcome you are seeking. If the privacy complaint is not resolved after a reasonable period, you may be able to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

OAIC enquiries line: 1300 363 992. Visit oaic.gov.au for current complaint requirements. Privacy complaints to the OAIC generally need to be made in writing, and you should normally give the organisation a reasonable opportunity to respond first.

Changes to this policy

Rate Challenge may update this policy to reflect legal, regulatory, technology, provider or business changes. The current version will be published on this URL with an updated date. Material changes may also be communicated through another appropriate channel.