How to correct wrong information on your credit report

A wrong entry on your credit report can stop a mortgage, a credit card or even a tenancy, and the fix is not automatic. You have the legal right to check your report for free with all three main agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion¹, and if something on it is wrong or out of date you can raise a dispute. The agency then has to look into it and should remove the information or explain why it will not within 28 days².

The catch is that agencies cannot change data a lender has supplied without that lender's permission². So a dispute usually involves both the agency and the company named on the entry, and a correction at one agency does not update the other two, because each keeps different records³. This page sets out the whole process: how to check, how to dispute, what a Notice of Correction is for, how long information legitimately stays, and where to complain if an agency refuses to act.

Check your credit file with all three agencies first

Before disputing anything, get your file from each of the three agencies separately. If you have ever had a credit card, a loan or a mortgage, one of the three main credit reference agencies holds a file on you⁷, and each agency gets different information from lenders, so your file may not look the same at all three³. Checking only one risks missing an error that exists only on another.

The three agencies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, formerly known as Callcredit⁸. You can view your file online for free or ask for a copy by post³, and the basic check does not have to be paid for⁹. A credit reference agency must give you a statutory credit report for free if you ask for it¹⁰, and a free copy can be requested under the Data Protection Act 2018⁶. Paid services exist, but they add scores and alerts on top of information you are entitled to see for nothing. The agencies are UK-wide, so the same three operate whether you live in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland¹¹.

When the reports arrive, compare them side by side. Look for accounts you do not recognise, addresses linked to you that you have never lived at, payments marked as missed when they were made, and entries that should have dropped off after six years. If you are being chased for a debt that is not yours, which can happen after identity fraud, you can request a free copy of your file from all three agencies to see what has been recorded in your name¹². The guide to checking your credit report for free covers the practical steps for each agency, and what is on your credit report explains each part of the file.

Wrong or out of date: which kind of error you have

Errors fall into two broad groups, and the group determines what you ask for. The first is information that is simply wrong: an account that is not yours, a missed payment that was made, a wrong balance, or a judgment registered against the wrong person. The second is information that was accurate once but has passed its time: a default that should have been deleted after six years, or a settled account still showing as open.

Some entries look like errors but are not. A default normally occurs when you have not met the terms of a credit agreement and your account is three to six months in arrears¹³, and a default usually happens after you have missed between three and six months of payments⁴. If you missed a payment and put it right quickly, the lender may not mark it on your file if you rectify the error immediately¹⁴. A late payment you genuinely missed is not an error, but you can dispute it as inaccurate if you can prove it was not late or the wrong amount was requested¹⁴.

Out-of-date entries are worth checking carefully, because agencies do not always delete them on time. If an entry has the name of a company on it, it is likely to be that company which is responsible for the entry, and the agency cannot amend it without that company's permission². That tells you who you need to persuade: the agency for its own records, such as linked addresses and aliases, and the lender for anything the lender supplied.

How to dispute an error with the credit reference agency

A dispute is a formal request to the agency to check an entry. Raise it with the agency you obtained the file from, which is the route the Information Commissioner's Office sets out for entries such as a county court judgment that has been mixed up with someone else's¹⁵. If the entry names a lender, contact that lender as well, because the agency will need the lender's permission to change it².

In practice the process runs in this order:

1. Get your file from all three agencies and identify the wrong entry on each file where it appears³.
2. Raise the dispute with the agency, telling it exactly which entry is wrong and why. If a judgment or register entry is involved, raise the dispute with the CRA you obtained your credit file from¹⁵.
3. Contact the lender named on the entry directly, since the agency cannot amend that data without the lender's permission².
4. Send any evidence you have: receipts, bank statements, letters from the lender, or proof the debt is not yours.
5. Keep a record of when you raised the dispute and what you sent.

Evidence is what moves a dispute along. A payment marked as missed needs a statement or receipt showing it arrived; an account that is not yours needs anything showing you never opened it; a settled debt needs the lender's confirmation. Where a debt is not yours because of identity fraud, the process also involves contacting each of the three agencies and having a notice of correction added to your report while the dispute runs¹⁷.

While the dispute is open, you can ask the agency to add a notice of correction explaining the situation, so that anyone reading the file in the meantime sees your side. The comparison of a notice of correction versus raising a dispute explains when each is the better tool. If the entry relates to a judgment that is not yours, the guide to wrong judgment entries covers the specific steps.

The 28-day deadline for the agency to respond

Once you raise a dispute, the agency should remove the information or explain why it will not within 28 days². That deadline comes from guidance the agencies work to, and it is the number to hold them to if nothing happens. In practice, correcting an entry may take up to 30 days, and timings differ depending on which agency you used to view your file⁵.

The 28-day figure appears elsewhere in the credit system too, which sometimes causes confusion. Lenders should notify consumers of their intention to register a default at least 28 days before doing so¹⁸. That is a different 28 days: it is the warning period before a default is registered, not the response time for a dispute. Separately, if a lender is taking court action over a hire purchase agreement, you will normally have a minimum of 14 days to fix things¹⁹.

If the 28 days pass with no reply, chase the agency in writing and start a formal complaint, which is the route described later in this page. Keep the date you raised the dispute: it is the anchor for everything that follows, including a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service later. The narrow guide to dispute timescales covers what to do at each stage of the wait.

Agencies cannot change lender data without the lender's permission

This is the rule that shapes every dispute. The Information Commissioner's Office says credit reference agencies cannot amend data on credit files provided by other companies without that company's permission²⁰. As a general rule, if the entry you are looking at has the name of a company on it, it is likely to be that company which is responsible for the entry².

The reason lies in how the system works. There is no requirement under data protection law for lenders to report data to all the agencies; it is up to each lender to decide which agency it uses, if any². A creditor is not required under the Data Protection Act to report such data and can only pass information about you to the credit reference agencies with your implicit consent⁸. Data protection law does not actually require the agencies, or any other organisation, to have your consent before processing your personal data².

The practical consequences are worth spelling out:

• A correction at one agency does not update the others. Each keeps different records³, so you must dispute the entry at each agency where it appears.
• The agency will check with the lender, and if the lender says the data is right, the agency will not change it.
• Some bodies cannot help at all. The Insolvency Service is not able to correct any information on your credit file; you must contact the credit reference agency to resolve any issues²¹.
• The information the agencies generate themselves, such as financial links, linked addresses and alias information, is their responsibility, and disputes about those go to the agency alone².

One further wrinkle: if a debt has been sold on, the entries must be recorded so they do not look like two different debts or stay on your file longer than six years from the original default. The Financial Ombudsman Service has said it is unlikely to consider that fair². The guide to duplicate debts covers what to do when a sold debt shows twice.

Notice of Correction: a statement of up to 200 words

A Notice of Correction is a short statement you can have added to your file. It can be up to 200 words²², a limit set in section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which provides for a notice of correction not exceeding 200 words²³. It is free to add²⁴, and you can ask for one at any agency holding a file on you.

The notice lets you explain your circumstances in your own words. It will be seen by anyone who looks at the entry on your credit reference file and should be taken into consideration if you apply for credit¹⁵. Common uses include explaining why you got into debt, why you think information on your report is wrong, or adding information about your situation, for example that you had a past debt but have now paid it off¹⁰.

A notice of correction is not the same as a dispute. A dispute asks the agency to check and change data; a notice of correction leaves the data alone and adds your explanation beside it. Agencies will not remove adverse information if it is correct, although consumers may ask to submit a notice of correction to explain the circumstances²⁰. So if the entry is accurate but the story behind it matters, a notice is the right tool; if the entry is wrong, dispute it.

There is also a specific version used after identity fraud: a password notice of correction, which adds a password to your credit report to help prevent someone applying for credit in your name²⁵. The guide to notices of correction covers drafting one, and the page on identity fraud and your credit file covers the fraud route.

How a Notice of Correction affects credit applications

A notice of correction changes how applications are handled. If there is a notice of correction on your report, your application must be referred for a manual decision²⁶. Adding one means your application is read by a person and not just given a computer score, and applications usually take longer to assess²⁷.

That cuts both ways. A manual decision means a human being reads your explanation, which can help where a computer would simply reject a file with a default on it. It also means every application takes longer, because it cannot be scored automatically, and some lenders' systems are slower at manual referrals than others. If you apply for credit often, or need a decision quickly, that delay is a real cost.

A notice of correction does not change your score. It adds no data and removes none; it sits beside the entries and asks the reader to take it into account¹⁵. If what you want is a higher score, the route is correcting wrong entries and letting time pass, covered in how to improve your credit score.

You can remove a notice later. It is your statement, added at your request, and you can ask the agency to take it off, for example once a dispute is resolved or your circumstances change. Some people remove one because the manual referral slows applications down. The narrow page on when an agency refuses your notice of correction covers the situation where an agency will not add or remove one.

How long information stays on your file: usually six years

Most information stays on your credit report for six years, but this is not always the case²⁴. The six-year rule covers missed payments, defaults and court judgments⁵, and it is the reason many disputes arise: entries that should have been deleted are still sitting on a file. The detail matters, because the six years run from different dates for different types of entry:

Two points catch people out. First, paying a debt does not remove the entry: a default stays on your report for six years from the date of default whether or not it is later settled¹⁸, and county court judgments are deleted six years from the date of the judgment whether or not they have been paid⁴. Paying can change how the entry is shown, but not how long it lasts. Second, if your report has not been updated after you paid off a debt, that is a dispute in its own right: the balance or status shown is out of date, and the lender is the company responsible for correcting it².

If an entry has passed its six years and is still showing, raise a dispute with the agency, citing the date the entry should have been deleted. The full guide to how long information stays on your credit file covers every entry type, and defaults covers the default rules in detail.

Who can see your file, and why there is no blacklist

A persistent myth is that there is a list of people banned from getting credit. There is not. Credit reference agencies do not have a blacklist of people who should not get credit⁶. Lenders see the information on your file and apply their own lending rules to it, so one lender can refuse what another accepts. The narrow guide to the credit blacklist myth covers this in full.

Who can see your file is narrower than many people fear. Employers and landlords can check your credit report, although they usually only see public record information such as electoral register information, insolvency records and county court judgments, or decrees in Scotland²⁵. The agencies' information is also used to verify identity, age and residency, to identify and track fraud, to combat money laundering and to help recover payment of debts². The guide to who can see your credit report covers each category.

People you live with do not appear on your file just because you share an address. Agencies should not include information about other people who happen to live with you, even if you share a surname, unless a financial connection has been created⁶. A joint account, loan or mortgage creates that connection: if you have a joint debt with an ex-partner, your credit files are connected, and how you manage your debts will affect your ex-partner if they apply for credit, and vice versa²⁹. The guide to financial associations covers how to remove a link that should no longer be there.

If the agency will not correct it: complaints, the ICO and the Financial Ombudsman

If the agency replies that it will not change the entry, or the 28 days pass without a proper answer, the next step is a formal complaint. Raise it with the agency through its own complaints procedure first; if you feel your complaint has not been resolved fairly, you can escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service⁵. If that does not resolve your complaint, you then have the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service⁸.

Two bodies oversee different aspects of the system, and the right one depends on what went wrong:

• The Financial Ombudsman Service handles complaints about credit reference agencies. Its compulsory jurisdiction covers complaints against designated credit reference agencies³⁰. It can ask a business to correct a credit file, refund extra costs, and pay compensation for distress or inconvenience³¹. Credit records complaints are not rare: 934 were opened in 2025/26²⁹, and in the first quarter of 2026/27 there were 5,783 complaints about credit cards and 33 about credit broking³², against 6,591 credit card complaints in the same quarter a year earlier³³.
• The Information Commissioner's Office looks at data protection failures. It can look at why a lender or agency has not corrected information, or refused to add a notice of correction, under the Data Protection Act 2018²⁶. You can complain to the ICO if an organisation has not kept your information safe³⁴, and its complaints process covers how organisations handle your data³⁵.

The ombudsman is free to use and does not require a lawyer. It looks at what happened, what the agency and lender did, and whether the outcome was fair; where a consumer gave incorrect information in their application, a complaint would usually not be upheld on that basis alone³⁶. The ombudsman's role includes checking that agencies followed their own procedures and the rules on responding within the expected time.

If a lender refused you credit and you believe the file was wrong, the law helps you find the source: where a creditor decides not to proceed on the basis of information from a credit reference agency, it must inform you of that fact and provide the agency's name, address and telephone number³⁷. A lender that refuses you credit after checking your file must tell you why and give you the details of the agency it used¹⁰. From there, the route is the one on this page: get the report, check the entry, dispute it, and escalate if the agency will not act. The guide to what to do if you are refused credit covers the wider options, and your data rights over your credit file sets out the legal basis for all of them.