Can you remove information from your credit report? If it is inaccurate, outdated, or fraudulent you certainly can! It is also easier than you may think, too. Today we are here to walk you through everything to know about disputing items on your credit report
How Do I Remove A Dispute From My Credit Report?
If you notice an item you would like to dispute on your credit report, it is as simple as opening a dispute with the credit bureaus. This is typically done online, via their main webpage, so it is easy to do. You will be asked to submit the details of your dispute alongside proof and supporting documents to substantiate your claim.
That is, of course, the key to the matter. It must be a genuine error or fraudulent activity, or something that should have been removed from the report and hasn’t. This could be a defaulted payment you have since resolved, for example. You can’t just apply to have anything you don’t like removed from your report, or we would all have excellent credit scores! So be prepared to explain and defend your request as needed.
To stay informed about changes on your credit report, we strongly advise you to monitor it regularly. In addition to helping you better manage your creditworthiness, it is the best way to identify and address errors, mistakes, and fraud quickly, before they can escalate or have a long-term impact on your credit score.
How Long Does It Take To Get A Dispute Off Of Your Credit Report?
Once you submit a dispute to the credit bureau, they have 20 working days to respond to you. You may receive a resolution in as little as 7 working days. If you have not had a response within 30 calendar days, or you are not satisfied with the response you receive, your next step is to approach the credit ombudsman. They will act as an impartial third party on the matter. Their decision will be the final one.
In most cases, provided you have strong proof that the issue is outdated, erroneous, or fraudulent, you will receive a positive judgment, and the issue will be immediately removed from your credit report.
It is important to remember that the credit bureaus can reflect different information. Although they all receive the same financial data, some institutions are slow to apply the data, or use different predictive models. Plus, mistakes happen, as does fraud. This means that, if you spot something you need to dispute on one credit bureau’s report, you should make the effort to check at least the ‘Big 4’ bureaus in South Africa. These are Experian, TransUnion, XDS, and Compuscan. While the error or fraud may not be present on every report, you will need to dispute things separately with each bureau if you need to. They will not update across different bureaus automatically. This is another good reason to regularly check your credit report with each bureau, rather than relying on just one.
If you are planning to apply for credit shortly, you can also ask the lender which bureau they work most closely with. This will allow you to get a comprehensive report from them in advance, check for errors and mistaken entries, and make sure your credit report looks as good as possible to the lender.
How Do I Contact A Credit Bureau To Remove A Dispute?
Luckily, removing a dispute from your credit report at the credit bureau is not a hard process. You can open the dispute online, by heading to the credit bureau’s website. Look for an option labeled something like, ‘file a dispute’ or ‘challenge credit report’. This will take you to an online form you can submit. This will also allow you the opportunity to upload your proof and supporting documents to accompany the dispute. This will start the dispute process.
Remember, you need to do this for each bureau where there is a problem on your credit report. The individual bureaus will address your dispute within themselves, but it will not be universally done across all bureaus.
What Happens If You Dispute A Credit Report?
Normally, once you have submitted the dispute form to the credit bureau in question, you will receive an acknowledgment of the matter. They then have 20 business days to evaluate your dispute and get back to you with the resolution. If they do not, or you are not satisfied with the answer you receive, you can then escalate the matter to the credit ombudsman. However, if you have a satisfactory resolution, you will be notified of it. There will be no need to do anything else- the disputed matter will be removed from your credit report internally by the bureau.
Depending on the service you use to view your credit report, it may take up to a month to reflect the changes. Many financial institutions only report their data once a month, and the bureaus receive a vast volume of information daily. If you use third-party sites like ClearScore or Kudough to monitor your credit report, it may also take some time for the changes to reflect there, as they are not themselves a credit bureau, just a third-party reporting service. This makes them reliant on the update cycle of the data they use.
Disputing incorrect information on your credit report is easier than you may think, so don’t hesitate to address any issues that arise as soon as you spot them.
