An error on your credit report can have a significant impact. Find out what to do when it happens.

Key Takeaways

• Errors on credit reports can significantly damage your credit score and affect loan approvals and interest rates

• Common errors include incorrect personal information, wrong account balances, incorrect credit limits, and unrecognised hard inquiries

• It is best to contact the credit provider first before disputing with credit reporting bodies

• Credit reporting bodies must investigate and respond to disputes within 30 days by law

• Regular monitoring of your credit report is essential to catch and dispute errors quickly before they cause long-term damage

There are many factors that can directly impact your credit score and influence the decision of the lenders to extend a new line of credit to you. An error on your credit report can have a significant negative impact on your credit score and even make it difficult for you to get approved for new credit card offers or loans. It can also affect the interest rates you get offered by banks and financial institutions.

It's important to dispute errors on your credit report to get them removed as soon as possible and ensure they don't cause any long-term damage to your credit score.

In this article, we discuss how you can dispute errors on credit reports and get them removed quickly:

Why is there an error on my credit report?

Finding an error when you are reviewing your credit report can be a confusing experience, especially if it's the first time. Now, there can be several reasons as to why an error has ended up on your credit report.

Maybe you made a mistake when filling out a form with a lender, which led to the error on the credit report. Maybe the creditor or the banks just ended up sending the wrong information to the credit bureau. Or maybe there was an issue with the credit bureau itself, which led to wrong information being uploaded on your credit report.

In some rare cases, fraudulent activity led by scammers can also lead to suspicious loans or hard credit inquiries on your credit report. There have been instances of scammers stealing personal and banking information of unsuspecting people to initiate identity theft and take out new loans or credit cards.

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You may not even realise there have been loans or credit cards issued under your name without your knowledge, until you end up checking your credit report or receiving a credit card payment bill that you didn't know even existed. All of this can impact your credit score directly. Therefore, it is imperative to routinely monitor your credit report and scan it for any discrepancies.

Errors on your credit report can include:

• Incorrect personal information like misspelt names, wrong addresses or incorrect phone numbers

• Incorrect accounts listed on your credit report. Closed accounts may still be listed as open or vice versa

• Incorrect account balances on the accounts

• Incorrect credit limits can directly affect the credit utilisation ratio

• Incorrect hard inquiries that you don't recognise. Credit card providers or loan providers cannot initiate hard inquiries without your consent. When financial institutions automatically check your account for pre-approved offers, it is still counted as a soft inquiry, and it doesn't get added to your credit report.

• Bill payments that are reported as late or pending when they have already been paid from your end.

How to dispute an error on your credit report

Australia has three major credit reporting bodies: Experian, Equifax, and illion (which is transitioning to operate under the Experian brand as of late 2024). All the major credit reporting bodies in Australia provide free credit reports to individuals upon request. You can sign up with a free credit monitoring service like ClearScore to access your credit report and check for discrepancies.

In case you do see some errors, the first thing you need to do is contact the credit provider (e.g., bank or lender that reported the information) first. This is to ensure that the discrepancy isn't from their end.

If that doesn't work, you should then reach out to the credit bureau about it. All the major credit reporting bodies allow you to dispute inaccuracies in credit reports. You can either file a complaint online or you can also directly contact them by mail.

Here's the information for filing disputes with the major credit bureaus:

All the major credit reporting bureaus provide free credit reports to individuals. You can sign up with a free credit report provider like ClearScore to get your credit report directly emailed to you and check for any discrepancies.

In case you do see some errors, the first thing you need to do is reach out to your credit provider, such as banks, utility companies, or telecom companies. This is to ensure that the discrepancy isn't from their end.

If that doesn't work, you should then reach out to the credit bureau about it. All the major credit reporting bodies allow you to dispute inaccuracies in credit reports. You can either file a complaint online or you can also directly contact them by mail.

Here's the information for filing disputes with the major credit bureaus:

Experian

To dispute an error on your Experian credit report, you can follow one of the following steps:

• Fill out the dispute details online on Experian's online dispute form, present on the Experian Dispute Centre. You will have to click on 'Start a new dispute' and then add the reason for the dispute.

• Write a dispute letter mentioning all the inaccuracies and why they should be removed/ replaced from your credit report. You can then mail the letter directly to Experian.

Here’s a handy link to Experian’s correction page

Equifax

To dispute errors on your Equifax credit report, you can follow one of the following steps:

• File an online complaint through the Equifax correction portal

• Mail a dispute letter to Equifax detailing the errors and the Equifax corrections. Note that in case of a letter, you will have to provide identification information and follow-up documents so Equifax can verify your identity and make the changes.

Here’s a handy link to Equifax’s correction page

illion

Note: As of late 2024, illion has been transitioning to operate under the Experian brand.

To dispute errors on your illion credit report, you should use the Experian corrections portal.

How long does it take to remove a credit report error?

The exact time it takes to remove a credit report error can depend on the type of error and the time that it takes for the credit reporting bureau to verify the information. The time will also vary according to the credit reporting bureau and the way you register your error dispute.

For instance, if you file your dispute online it is likely to be received faster than via mail. On the other hand, when you file a dispute through the mail, it may take longer for it to get resolved since you have to take into account the time that it takes for the letter to reach the credit reporting agency.

Credit reporting bodies must investigate and respond to disputes within 30 days.

What happens after you dispute information on your credit report?

Credit reporting companies start by looking into the dispute and investigating it. The credit reporting body assesses if sufficient information is provided within the first 7 days; if not, it may request more details. They then have up to 30 days total to investigate by contacting the credit provider.

If the claim is considered not frivolous at the start, the reporting bureau will then look at supporting documents to analyse the accuracy of your claims.

In case your claim is considered true, the credit reporting company will have to update your credit report with the accurate information and notify you about the same. If the information is found to be accurate, the body must explain why and inform you of your rights to external dispute resolution (e.g., AFCA) or a complaint to OAIC.

What's next?

Whenever you end up seeing an error on your credit report, it's important to dispute the error as soon as possible so that it can be corrected before it can cause any permanent damage to your credit score. Sure, disputing errors on credit reports can be time-consuming, but getting higher credit scores and lower interest rates from lenders can be beneficial.

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