Credit-reference agencies display and process credit data, but much of the account information originates with lenders and providers.
The UK’s main consumer CRAs include Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They receive account-performance information from participating organisations and provide credit-reporting and identity services.
If an account entry is wrong, you can dispute it with the CRA, but the organisation that supplied the information may need to correct its source data.
Key points
- Check more than one CRA because datasets differ.
- Use the CRA dispute process for visible inaccuracies.
- Also complain to the lender/data supplier when the source record is wrong.
- A CRA dispute is not a substitute for resolving the underlying account dispute.
What CRAs do
CRAs maintain datasets used by lenders and others for creditworthiness and identity checks. They do not normally decide whether you owe a disputed telecom charge or whether a lender breached a contract; they record data supplied under established sharing arrangements.
What happens when you dispute an entry
A CRA may mark or investigate the disputed item and contact the data supplier. If the supplier confirms the entry, ask for the reasoning and consider challenging the supplier directly with the underlying evidence.
Your data-protection rights still apply
CRA processing is subject to data-protection law. Accuracy, transparency and access rights can be relevant. If the dispute cannot be resolved with the CRA or supplier, the ICO may be an escalation route.
In practice
- Save the CRA’s dispute reference and outcome.
- Do not accept “the lender confirmed it” as the end of the analysis if you have evidence the lender’s data is wrong.
- Compare reports to identify whether the problem is at one CRA or in the source data sent to all of them.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Obtain reports from the relevant agencies.
- Use each CRA’s formal dispute route.
- Raise the same evidence with the source lender/provider.
- Ask who supplied the disputed field and when it was last updated.
- Keep screenshots before and after changes.
- Escalate unresolved accuracy issues appropriately.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- A credit score is a product/model, not a single statutory record.
- Different agencies can legitimately display different accounts because participation differs.
- A Notice of Correction is not the same as correcting an inaccurate entry.
Evidence worth keeping
Use the ICO for data accuracy, not the underlying financial merits.
The ICO can consider whether personal data has been handled accurately and lawfully, but it does not decide every underlying contractual dispute. If the real disagreement is whether a lender correctly calculated a debt or treated you fairly under FCA rules, a lender complaint/FOS route may run alongside the data-protection complaint.
Evidence pack.
Keep dated copies of all three reports, lender statements, settlement letters, dispute results and screenshots before and after any correction.
A dispute marker is not the same as a correction.
CRAs can investigate and contact the data supplier, but the aim should be a substantive determination: amend, remove or explain why the entry is accurate. If the lender insists the data is correct, ask for the underlying records rather than accepting a generic “verified by supplier” message.
Check all three files where the outcome matters.
Not every lender reports to every CRA and updates can appear at different times. A clean record at one agency does not prove the other two are correct. Obtain the free statutory report or equivalent data from each main CRA and compare account name, opening date, balance, payment history, default date, settlement status, addresses and searches.
| Mismatch | Likely next step |
|---|---|
| Wrong balance/status | Send statements/settlement evidence to lender and CRA. |
| Account not yours | Raise identity/data dispute promptly and consider fraud-protection steps. |
| Wrong default date | Ask lender for account chronology and reporting rationale. |
| Duplicate account | Identify account numbers and explain why entries duplicate the same liability. |
The CRA displays data, but the original lender often controls the account information.
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion receive account data from lenders and other providers. If a balance, default date or payment marker is wrong, complain to the CRA but also identify the organisation that supplied the data. The ICO says lenders have facilities to make their own updates, so “we are waiting for the CRA” is not always a satisfactory explanation from the data furnisher.
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.