ConsumerWise hub

Credit Reporting

Understand arrears, defaults, credit-reference data, PRAAD, sector reporting, accuracy disputes and the routes through providers, CRAs, the ICO, FOS and ombudsmen.

Reviewed 10 September 2026General information

Official sources

Check the current source material.

ConsumerWise explains these materials in plain English. Check the live source where a deadline, rule about what the body can deal with or legal requirement may have changed.

Who can deal with it?

Provider and CRA accuracy disputeChallenge the underlying reporter and the CRA using the actual account history.Rectification and data accuracyUse data-protection rights where personal data is factually inaccurate.ICORegulatory route for data-protection accuracy/fairness issues.Financial Ombudsman ServiceFor eligible disputes about regulated financial firms.Sector ombudsman / ADRTelecom, energy and other service disputes may use a different scheme.

Common credit-reporting problems.

  • A default date that does not match when the relationship actually broke down.
  • A default balance or current balance that ignores payments, credits or later corrections.
  • A Consumer Credit Act default notice being confused with a CRA notice of intention to file a default.
  • A maintained payment arrangement reported as though it never existed.
  • A debt sale creating duplicate-looking entries, different default dates or an incorrectly extended six-year period.
  • A provider or CRA rejecting an accuracy challenge by merely repeating the same disputed source data.

Start with the entry, then identify the provider type.

The same word on a credit report can hide very different legal frameworks. A default reported by a regulated lender may sit alongside Consumer Credit Act requirements. A telecom or energy default may arise from a service contract instead. PRAAD and data-protection accuracy questions can cut across both.

Do not start by asking “is the default legal?” in the abstract. Identify who reported it, what account it relates to, the arrears history, the notice given, the default date and the information held by each credit-reference agency.

What this hub is for.

Credit reporting is not a sector by itself. Banks, lenders, telecom providers, energy suppliers and other service providers can all share account information, but the underlying contract and complaint route can be different.

Guides and tools

Explore this area.

Credit filesHow account information reaches your report.DefaultsAudit missed markers, default dates, balances, notification, debt sales, CCA/PRAAD distinctions and correction routes.PRAADIndustry principles for arrears, arrangements and defaults.Inaccurate credit dataChallenge factual errors, dates, balances and attribution.Credit-file data rightsAccuracy, rectification and data-protection routes.Credit-reporting checkerAudit the evidence and route.

Do not collapse different problems into one complaint.

Separate the underlying transaction or service dispute from any data-protection, credit-reporting, complaint-handling or professional-conduct issue. They can arise from the same events while using different legal frameworks and different escalation routes. This separation is one of the easiest ways to keep a complex case understandable.