How to Dispute a Mistake on Your Credit Report

Credit reports are not always accurate. Accounts that are not yours, late payments you never made, and old defaults that should have dropped off can all find their way onto your file and quietly drag down your credit score. The good news is that you do not have to live with a mistake. You have a legal right to have inaccurate information corrected, and the process is more straightforward than most people expect. Here is how to dispute an error on your credit report and get it fixed.

Why credit report errors matter

Lenders use the information held by credit reference agencies (CRAs) to decide whether to approve an application and what rate to offer. If your file shows a default or a missed payment that never happened, a lender may decline you or offer a higher interest rate, often without you knowing why. A single error can make the difference between a fair offer and a rejection, which is why it is worth checking your report regularly and correcting anything that is wrong before you apply for credit.

Common credit report errors

The mistakes that show up most often fall into a few clear groups. You might see an account that belongs to someone with a similar name, or a financial association to an ex-partner that should have been removed. A late payment might be recorded on the wrong date, or a settled account might still show as outstanding. Old defaults and County Court Judgments (CCJs) should fall off your file after six years, so if one is still showing after that, it needs to be removed. Duplicate entries for the same account are also common.

How to dispute an error, step by step

The process is similar across the three main UK credit reference agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Follow these steps:

• Get a copy of your report. You can check your credit report for free with each of the three main CRAs. Look through every section and note down anything that looks wrong.
• Gather your evidence. Collect anything that supports your case: bank statements, receipts, confirmation letters showing a balance was settled, or correspondence from the lender. The stronger your evidence, the faster the correction tends to happen.
• Raise a dispute with the credit reference agency. Each CRA lets you dispute an entry online. You usually need to log in, select the item in question, and explain what is wrong. They are required to investigate and to correct, block, or delete data that turns out to be inaccurate.
• Contact the data provider as well. The company that supplied the information, often a lender or utility provider, can correct the record at source. Contacting them directly can speed things up, because the CRA may refer your dispute back to them.
• Track the outcome. The CRA should tell you the result of its investigation. If the information is corrected, ask them to update all three agencies, because your report at each CRA is stored separately.

Your legal right to correction

Disputing an error is not a favour you are asking for. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to have inaccurate personal data corrected, which is known as the right to rectification. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) oversees this area and expects organisations to respond to a request within one month. If a credit reference agency or lender does not correct information that is genuinely inaccurate, you can raise a complaint with the ICO. You also have the right to add a short explanatory statement to your file while a dispute is being resolved.

What if your dispute is rejected?

Not every dispute ends with the information being changed. If the CRA decides the entry is accurate but you disagree, you can ask to add a notice of correction: a statement of up to 200 words that appears alongside the entry whenever your report is viewed. If the problem is with a lender that will not correct its records, you can escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Free, impartial help with debt and credit issues is available from Citizens Advice if you are unsure where to turn.

Keep your report healthy before you apply

At Mini Money, we work with lenders who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and they will check your credit file when you apply. A clean, accurate report gives you the best chance of a fair offer, which is why checking for errors is one of the most useful things you can do before applying for credit. Fixing a mistake can take a few weeks, so it is worth doing well before you need to borrow. To understand how your report is used, read our guides on what a credit score is and how credit reference agencies work.