When you apply for credit, lenders will look at your credit report to help them decide if they’ll lend to you. They’ll want to see how you’re managing any current borrowing you have (such as if you’re making your payments on time and in full) as well as how you’ve managed credit in the past.
To give yourself the best chance of getting credit and at a good rate, it’s important the information on your credit report is up to date and correct.
If you're worried there may be information on your report that’s wrong or out of date, you can ask to have it changed.
If there’s anything on your credit report that you think is misleading or needs explaining, you can ask for a Notice of Correction to be included.
What is a Notice of Correction?
A Notice of Correction is a short statement which you can use to add further information to an entry on your credit report. For example, you could use it to explain why you fell behind with the repayments on a particular loan or credit agreement. Any lender checking your credit report will see your statement and should take it into account when assessing your creditworthiness.
Is a Notice of Correction right for me?
A Notice of Correction can be useful, especially if you missed regular repayments due to unusual circumstances, such as the loss of your job, a relationship break-up or having to stop work due to ill health. While there’s no guarantee it’ll change the outcome of a credit application, the Notice of Correction will be provided to any lender checking your credit report in the future.
How can I add a Notice of Correction to my account?
The simplest way is to contact us and tell us what you want to say in your Notice of Correction and which entries on your report it applies to. You'll need to contact the other main credit reference agencies as well to ask them to add a Notice of Correction on the reports they hold about you too, if those reports include the relevant entry or entries.
What should I include in my Notice of Correction?
Please provide a statement that is clear and concise, outlining the facts as you see them. Your statement must be no longer than 200 words and must not be defamatory, scandalous, or unsuitable for publication for any other reason. We recommend not naming any specific organisation.
If you provide a statement that we feel unable to add to your credit report, we’ll let you know and will usually suggest an alternative. If we can’t agree on the wording, we can ask the Information Commissioner’s Office to review it.
My credit report looks wrong, is a Notice of Correction the next step?
If there's something on your Experian Credit Report that doesn't look quite right, contact us straight away to let us know there might be a problem.
We'll then contact the company that provided the information to us and check if it’s correct or if they’ve made an error. While we’re doing this, we will usually add a short note to your credit report explaining that the entry is disputed.
We can only change or remove information on your Experian Credit Report if the company providing the information agrees to this. If the lender says the information is correct and you still don’t agree, you should contact them directly to sort out what's gone wrong and ask us to keep the dispute notice on your credit report.
Will a Notice of Correction affect my ability to borrow?
A Notice of Correction will not affect your credit score but it may affect how quickly lenders deal with any new borrowing you apply for. This is because it will take the lender extra time to read and consider the Notice of Correction on your report.