Credit files after someone dies

A credit file is a record of how someone has run their borrowing, and it does not disappear when they die. The three credit reference agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, each hold their own file, and they may each hold different information about the same person¹. Most of what is on a file stays there for six years, including missed payments, defaults and court judgments³.

If you are dealing with the affairs of someone who has died, the file matters for two practical reasons. It can help you work out who they owed money to, and it can show whether anyone is still using their name to borrow. Only a person who signed a credit agreement can be held liable for it, and money owed can be recovered from the estate⁴. Credit debts such as loans or credit cards should be written off if the debt was only in the deceased person's name and they had no assets when they died⁵.

You can ask for a copy of the file, and it is free. A report should be sent within seven working days unless the agency needs proof of identity and address first⁶. Where a record is wrong, an agency cannot change what a lender supplied without that lender's permission, but you can add a notice of correction of up to 200 words to explain the circumstances⁷.

Three agencies, three different credit files

There is no single credit file in the UK. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion each keep their own records, and they may each hold different information about the same person¹. The reason is that lenders do not all report to all three. Some lenders report to only one or two of the agencies, so a debt can appear on one file and be missing from another¹¹.

That has a direct consequence for anyone sorting out an estate. Checking one agency is not enough to see what the person owed or what is recorded in their name. Debt advisers say it is worth checking the file with all three agencies because they keep different records, so this is the way to check you have covered everything². The same point applies to the person's own affairs while they were alive: you have the legal right to check a report for free with all three main agencies¹².

The three files are also used differently by lenders. A lender searching a file sees the accounts reported to that agency, not a national picture. So a debt that is invisible at one agency can still be visible at another, and a dispute about a record has to be raised with the agency that holds it.

What a credit file holds and how long it stays: usually six years

A credit file tracks how someone used loans, credit cards, bank accounts, mobile phone contracts, car insurance paid in monthly instalments and some utility companies¹³. It does not hold everything about a person's money. Among the things not included are the amount of money in a current account, salary, savings accounts, student loans, criminal record, medical history, parking or driving fines, and council tax arrears¹⁴.

Most information stays on the file for six years. That covers missed payments, defaults and court judgments³. The same six-year period applies to records of a debt that was written off, and to court action, defaults, partial payments and missed payments¹⁵. A trust deed in Scotland also shows on a credit file for six years¹⁷. Information about a person is usually held on file for six years¹⁸.

The six-year clock matters when someone dies partway through it. The record does not stop running because the person has died, and it does not vanish from the file. What changes is who can be pursued for the money. Only the person who signed the credit agreement can be held liable, and the debt can be recovered from the estate⁴. Where the debt was only in the deceased person's name and there were no assets, credit debts such as loans or credit cards should be written off⁵.

Financial links: how a credit file connects to other people

A credit file can be linked to another person's file through a financial association. That happens when two people borrow together or hold a joint account. The link means a lender can look at the other person's credit history when you apply for credit, even if you apply in your name only⁷. When you have debt with someone, your credit history is linked to theirs, and a lender can take the other person's history into account as well as your own¹⁹.

The link cuts both ways. A record of reduced payments under a debt management plan may affect the other person's credit file and their ability to get credit⁹. Missed payments are marked on both credit files regardless of who missed the payment⁷. If you have a joint debt with an ex-partner, such as a mortgage or a loan, your credit files are connected, and how you manage the debts affects the other person if they apply for credit, and the other way round²⁰.

A financial connection stays on a credit report until a notice of disassociation is filed to end it²¹. That is the route for someone who wants to separate their file from another person's after a relationship ends or an account is closed.

Living at the same address does not create a link by itself. 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 created⁸. So a parent and adult child at one address, or two flatmates, do not become financially associated just by sharing a home.

Getting a copy of a credit file: free, online or by post

A copy of a credit file is free. You can ask the credit reference agencies to post a copy or view it online for free with adverts⁹. To get a free copy you contact the agencies and fill in an application form, usually in writing, by phone or online²³. The right to a copy comes under the Data Protection Act 2018, and there is no fee²⁴.

A report should be sent within seven working days unless the agency needs you to send proof of your identity and address⁶. That identity check is the usual reason a request takes longer, so sending documents with the request avoids a delay.

If you are asking on behalf of someone who has died, expect the agency to ask for evidence. When dealing with a deceased person's debts, you will usually have to provide a copy of the death certificate and explain whether the person left behind any assets or property²⁷. The same paperwork supports a request for their file.

There is a separate step for government records. The Tell Us Once service reports a death to several government agencies at once, including HMRC, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Passport Office and the DVLA²⁸. If the person was receiving benefits, Tell Us Once is the service to use²⁹. That does not cover the credit reference agencies, which are private companies and have to be contacted separately.

Correcting wrong information: the 28-day rule and notices of correction

If something on a credit file is wrong, the agency cannot simply change it. The Information Commissioner's Office says credit reference agencies cannot amend data on credit files provided by other companies without that company's permission³¹. In practice the agency passes the dispute to the lender that supplied the record, and the lender decides whether to correct it.

If the information is accurate, the agency will not remove it. What you can do is ask for a notice of correction, a note of up to 200 words explaining why the person got into debt or why you think information on the report is wrong⁸. It is free to add, and it can be added or removed at any time. Only organisations that check the credit file will see it³².

There is also a rule about defaults that predates the record. Industry guidance says lenders should notify consumers of their intention to register a default against them at least 28 days before doing so³³. That notice period is what gives someone the chance to catch a wrong default before it is registered, and it is worth checking whether it was followed if a default appears that the person never mentioned.

For a debt that is being collected after a death, the lender has a duty to deal with the right people. Where a lender knows or becomes aware that a consumer is deceased, it must take all reasonable steps to communicate instead with a personal representative of the consumer's estate or the beneficiaries of the estate³⁴.

Complaining about a credit reference agency

If a credit reference agency has not dealt with a file properly, there is a route to complain. You have the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service about how a credit reference agency has dealt with your credit file, after going through the agency's own complaints process first¹¹. The first step is a formal complaint to the agency, usually online, and if it is not resolved fairly the complaint can be escalated to the ombudsman³.

The ombudsman can also take complaints from people acting for someone else. It can help if you are bringing a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or does not have mental capacity¹⁰. That matters here, because the person whose file is in question cannot complain themselves.

If the problem is that someone is using the dead person's name to borrow, that is fraud rather than a credit file error, and it is handled differently. There is guidance on dealing with fraud, including how to report it and what to do about accounts opened in someone else's name³⁵. A notice of correction can also be used to flag that a record is disputed while the fraud is investigated³⁶.

Free, impartial help is available. Debt advice charities and the Money Advice Service's successor, MoneyHelper, provide free guidance, and debt advice services listed by the Credit Services Association can point people to regulated help³⁷. For anyone left with debts after a death, advisers can explain which debts fall to the estate, which are written off, and which pass to a surviving joint borrower.