How to Dispute Your Experian Credit Report (2026)

Important

This guide is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Wollit does not provide credit repair or dispute services. If you’re struggling with debt, contact StepChange (0800 138 1111) or Citizens Advice for free help. Contact details verified April 2026.

Key takeaways

Disputes are free — online, by post, or by phone.
Experian must respond within 28 days under the Consumer Credit Act (s.159).
Experian can’t change lender-supplied data without the lender’s say-so.
Check your Experian report for free at experian.co.uk.
Dispute rejected? Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman or ICO.

How to submit your dispute

Sign up or log in to your free Experian account at experian.co.uk. Navigate to Contact Us or the dispute area within your account. Identify the specific entry you want to dispute and submit your query describing the error.

Experian contacts the lender who reported the data on your behalf. A “disputed” note is added to the entry on your report while the investigation is underway. Once the lender responds, Experian notifies you of the outcome.

Experian contact details

You can call Experian’s consumer helpline on 0344 481 8000, or use the free complaints line on 0800 013 8888.

For general enquiries, email [email protected]. If you need to make a formal complaint, use [email protected] instead.

If you’d prefer to write, send your letter to Consumer Help Service, PO Box 9000, Nottingham, NG80 7WP.

For complaints specifically, the postal address is Customer Relations Team, Experian, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF.

What can you dispute on Experian?

Basically anything that’s inaccurate: late payment markers recorded incorrectly, defaults (especially if the Default Notice was invalid), accounts you don’t recognise, duplicate accounts, incorrect balances, old data that should have been removed (6+ years), CCJs, incorrect personal details, financial associations, and unauthorised hard searches.

Worth noting: Experian keeps hard searches on your report for 12 months (per their official CRAIN data retention policy), compared to 2 years at Equifax and TransUnion. Debt collection searches stay for up to 2 years.

What evidence can you upload?

Experian accepts evidence in PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, and TIFF formats. Maximum 5 MB per document, 15 MB total per session, up to 5 documents.

You can also post copies (never originals) to the PO Box address or attach files to emails to [email protected].

Always send copies, never original documents.

How long will it take?

Experian aims to respond to initial contact within 1–2 working days. The full investigation (contacting the lender and getting their response) typically takes up to 28–30 days.

The 28-day deadline under the Consumer Credit Act is fixed. Separately, if you make a data subject access request under UK GDPR, Experian has one month to respond, extendable by two months for complex cases.

What if Experian says no?

Don’t give up — a rejection from Experian isn’t the end of the road. You still have several options available to you.

You can try contacting the lender directly. Since the lender is the one who originally reported the data, going to them can sometimes be more effective than the CRA route.

Another option is to add a Notice of Correction to your file. This is a statement of up to 200 words explaining your side of the story. It usually takes 2 to 4 weeks to add, and lenders are legally required to consider it when making decisions.

If Experian doesn’t resolve things within 8 weeks, or you’re unhappy with their response, you can escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. It’s free to use, but you’ll need to complain within 6 months of Experian’s final response.

Finally, if you believe there’s been a data protection breach, you can raise the matter with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Breaking a financial link on Experian

To break a financial link with an ex-partner, use the online form at ins.experian.co.uk/disassociation. All joint accounts must be closed or transferred to one name first.

Experian may still break the association if you share a mortgage but have lived apart for 6+ months.