Error on your credit report? How to get it fixed

Wrong entry on your credit report? Dispute it with each agency and the lender. US bureaus have 30 days to investigate, up to 45. Disputes are free.

Updated 5 November 2026 · 4 min read

A wrong entry on your credit report can cost you a loan, a rental or a better rate, and it will not fix itself. Dispute it in writing with every credit agency that shows it and with the lender that sent it, with your proof attached. In the US a bureau generally has 30 days to investigate, up to 45 in some cases, and must correct or delete anything it cannot verify. In the UK and the EU you have the right to have inaccurate personal data corrected. Disputes are free.

Get every report first

Lenders send data to credit agencies, and each agency keeps its own file. One error can sit on one, two or all of them, so check them all before you write anything.

Where you live	Main agencies	Getting your report
US	Equifax, Experian, TransUnion	Free from all three at AnnualCreditReport.com
UK	Equifax, Experian, TransUnion	Statutory reports are free from each agency, and a data request must be answered within one month
Canada	Equifax, TransUnion	Free reports and disputes with each
Australia	Equifax, Experian, illion	Free from each agency; a correction request must generally be dealt with within 30 days
EU	Varies by country	Free access under the GDPR, answered within one month

Save a dated copy of each report before you dispute. Online views change.

Is it an error or just bad news

This is the honest question, because it decides what you can ask for.

Errors you can fix: an account that is not yours, a payment shown late when your bank records show it on time, a debt shown unpaid when you have a paid or settlement letter, a closed account shown open, a wrong balance, one debt listed twice, an entry older than the reporting limit, or a person linked to you who is no longer financially connected.

Accurate entries that stay: late payments that were late and defaults that happened. In the US most negative items can stay up to 7 years, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy up to 10. In the UK defaults, late payments and settled accounts usually stay 6 years from the date recorded, paid or not. A paid default is marked satisfied, not deleted.

Anyone who promises to remove accurate negative entries for a fee is not telling the truth.

Dispute with the agency and the lender

Do both. The agency must investigate, and fixing the lender stops the error coming back at the next update.

With each agency: use its online dispute portal and screenshot the confirmation, or send a tracked letter. One dispute per error.
With the lender: write to its complaints address with the error, the fix, the proof, and a request to update every agency.
In the US the bureau must pass your dispute to the lender and send you the results in writing. You can also dispute directly with the lender, which must investigate.
In the UK the agency checks with the lender and may flag the entry as disputed in the meantime. Ask for its timescale.

How to dispute, step by step

Download every report. List each error once, with every place it appears.
Gather the proof. Statements, a settlement or closure letter, bank records.
Not your account? Deal with identity theft first: in the US report it at IdentityTheft.gov, in the UK to the national fraud reporting service and the lender's fraud team.
Write one dispute per error. What it says, what it should say, the proof attached.
Ask for one thing. Delete or correct the entry, and confirm in writing by a date.
Check again after the time limit and download every report.

The message to send

Subject: Request to correct reporting: account ending 4417

Your company is reporting a default of £412 on my mobile account ending 4417, dated August 2026, to Experian and Equifax.

This is wrong. I cancelled the contract by email on 10 March 2026, at the end of the minimum term. I paid the final bill of £38.50 on 4 April 2026. Copies of the cancellation email and my bank statement are attached.

Please remove the default, tell Experian and Equifax to delete it, and confirm in writing by 3 December 2026.

Please treat this as a formal complaint and send me the reference.

Send it to the lender's complaints address, then raise a dispute with each agency online with the same proof.

Time limits and what to do if it stays

US: a bureau generally has 30 days to investigate, up to 45 in some cases. Information that cannot be verified must be corrected or deleted. You can ask how it was verified.
"Verified as accurate": ask which records were relied on, and dispute again with new or clearer proof.
Still there: in the US add a brief statement of dispute; in the UK a notice of correction of up to 200 words, which lenders who search will see.
Escalate: in the US, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In the UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service after 8 weeks or a final response, and the ICO for data protection. In the EU, the national data protection authority or financial ombudsman.

The short version

Get every agency's report, list each error once and gather your proof. Dispute each error with every agency that shows it and with the lender, in writing, asking for written confirmation by a date. Accurate bad news stays for the reporting period, but a real error must be corrected. If it is not, take it to the regulator or ombudsman.

Error on your credit report? How to get it fixed — Save this guide

Questions

Does it cost anything to dispute a credit report error?

No. Disputes are free, and in the US your reports are free at AnnualCreditReport.com. In the UK statutory credit reports are free from each agency.

Can I get an accurate late payment removed?

Not as of right. Accurate negative information can stay for the reporting period, but you can write a goodwill letter asking the lender to change an isolated late payment, which it may refuse.

The agency says the entry was verified. Is that the end?

No. Ask how it was verified and which records were relied on, then dispute again with new or clearer proof. If it still stays, add a statement to your file and take it to the regulator or ombudsman.

How long do negative entries stay on my file?

In the US most negative items stay up to 7 years, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy up to 10. In the UK defaults and late payments usually stay 6 years from the date recorded, paid or not.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on where you live: check the official source before you rely on a date or an amount.

Sources

The pack for this

Fix a Credit Report Error$12Get errors on your credit report fixed. It checks each entry, writes the disputes to every agency and the lender, and answers their replies.