I wondered if you can give me advice on credit reference agencies and whether information they hold on you can be altered. As you can see from letters enclosed, I made a late payment of £6.99 on a credit card. I didn’t receive the first two bills due to a computer glitch but paid as soon as I received the final request.
I realise that it was my error for not paying the bill on time but I’m really upset to have a black mark on my credit rating for what was an oversight. Had the bill been larger I probably would have remembered and checked my account.
Can I do anything to rectify the problem?
CW
I have arranged for Equifax one of the credit reference agencies to write to you to offer you a complimentary copy of your credit file and to go through the file with you once you have this. It will then help you add a notice of correction.
Meanwhile here are some answers to questions others in a similar predicament might want to ask.
TRUE INFORMATION CANNOT BE OBLITERATED FROM A CREDIT FILE
Historical information will not be altered unless the lender agrees the data was incorrect. Information will go back six years or even longer.
WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT THEN?
However you can explain to a would-be lender or other interested party how the black mark came to be there via a note of correction.
THE FIRST STEP
To implement this you will need to find out what is on each credit report. Reports held by each agency may differ slightly. A single report from Experian at www.experian.co.uk and 0844 481 8000 and Equifax at www.equifax.co.uk and 0844 335 0550 will cost £2 apiece while Callcredit’s via www.noddle.co.uk is free. The number to call is 0845 366 0071.
HOW DOES A NOTE OF CORRECTION WORK
A note of correction put on a credit file can explain the background to any arrears shown. It doesn’t cost anything but will need to be submitted by email or letter. A lender will review this when assessing any credit applications.
It can be up to 200 words, should be accurate, short and to the point and not frivolous. It may, for instance, say there has been a silly oversight or an illness or is a one-off. Yours might read “I would like to explain the circ*mstances that led to me not paying my credit card……. It was a very small amount. I paid it back as soon as I realised something was wrong but this was not in time to stop it appearing on the file. It was a genuine oversight.”
The note will stay on the individual’s file until the record expires or the organization that put it there asks to have it taken off.
With a note of caution James Jones of Experian comments that, although a note can be very useful, it can cause a delay when getting credit because lenders’ credit scoring systems cannot read prose like this. This means the report will then have to be read manually which could cause a delay of a couple of weeks.
HOW LONG UNTIL THE NOTE OF CORRECTION CAN BE SEEN ON THE FILE
Experian says that normally a notice would take up to a couple of weeks to appear after it receives it and that it would write back and confirm it. Callcredit says that in a non contentious case like this where it did not need, for example, to refer back to a lender the notice should go up at once.
WILL IT HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE IN SERIOUS FINANCIAL TROUBLE
A notice of correction probably won’t make much difference if someone has a long-term poor credit history but this doesn’t apply here.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE LIKE THIS READER WHERE THERE HAS BEEN A MINOR LAPSE
With the explanation in place the lapse you describe is unlikely to have serious consequences.
HOW COULD THIS BE STOPPED HAPPENING IN FUTURE
For the future why not set up the kind of direct debit from your main bank account which will pay off any outstanding balances in full each month? This should prevent the problem you have written in about arising again.
WHAT IF SOMETHING APPEARS ON THE REPORT THAT IS WRONG
Also if you do find anything on your report that isn’t true such as, for instance, a case of mistaken identity Experian says you should ask the credit reference agency to challenge it on your behalf with the organisation that has sent in the information.
