Why would you dispute?

It may seem that credit report services wield quite a lot of power over consumers. That report can help a potential lender decide whether you will be getting a mortgage, a credit card or even a job offer.

Fortunately, there is a series of regulations in place to make sure that if you access your credit report and feel the information held is incorrect, and even damaging, then you can dispute it.

UKCreditRatings.com offers you the chance to see what’s on your credit report for free!

The First Step

While viewing your credit report, you will notice an exclamation symbol next to each item. This is the dispute button. Once you click on this symbol, you will fill out a short form explaining why you believe this information is incorrect. Once you submit the form, it will go to the disputes team who have 28 days to investigate the issue for you. If after this period the dispute has not been resolved, the disputed item will be temporarily removed from your report until the investigation is over.

You can track all of this in our Disputes Centre when you log into our portal. Make sure to check this regularly for updates.

Why is it helpful?

Reporting an error can help prevent detrimental decisions being made. A possible second step is to contact the provider that the error is connected with (such as a credit card issuer that has reported you as missing payments when you haven't).

If you can prove it is the provider's error then they should contact the credit report service and furnish them with the correct details.

And Finally

Finally, if all else fails, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) as a last resort. They deal with many aspects of data protection and can help you make a complaint.

So if you find a County Court Judgement (CCJ) on your credit report that you never actually received, you need to contact the credit report service immediately, because errors like that can seriously damage your financial life.