Its worthwhile noting that you should obtain a copy of the credit reports that the reporting companies hold against you. In my case when payments have been made in full the finance companies won’t always update your credit file to show an amount paid. They may even leave the account open. So this may affect you negatively when you want to obtain further lending and affect your credit score.
There is also another register called the Personal Properties Securites register that shows securities owed to creditors. Some finance companies will list debt there if there is an asset that it is secured over the money. This may not apply with the case of unsecured lending but its worth knowing that some banks and finance companies will put blanket clauses in the personal properties securities register which will give them priority over all other creditors. Entries on the PPSR stay on there for 5 years or until paid.
In another case regarding a loan I had with the bank (earthquake relief loan), it wasn’t listed on the PPSR but the contract did contain a blanket security clause which I didn’t know about until 3 months after I borrowed the money because the contract didn’t need to be signed until then. That security clause means the bank would be able to take any security for debt repayment at any point in time forever. I expect there were a few people who got stung like this after the earthquakes because the contract wasn’t provided until 3 months after the money had been given out.
This probably doesn’t resolve your issue, but worth noting anyway.