Credit Report Errors: How to Identify & Correct Them

A credit report means much more than just the score. It holds all the details related to your lending and repayments, and any false data may cause you some trouble if you plan to borrow money or get a credit card. Thus, knowing what is a credit score is not enough – you also should be aware of what affects my credit score.

If you never checked your credit report before, then start with obtaining a free credit score check online.

Credit Report Error Meaning

The credit report error could be in the form of the loan which was never taken, duplicate entries, wrong overdue status, payment status incorrectly mentioned, or any other such kind of inaccurate information.

The information in the credit report is used for generating your credit cibil score, however, cibil score is not the only credit score in India, even a single day of delay in paying your credit card bill or a loan emi will reduce your cibil score does not apply all the time.

While you check cibil score, please note that cibil is just one of the credit bureaus and experian credit score would come from the information maintained by Experian.

Want to investigate a possible error? Start by checking your report and identifying the exact account, enquiry or payment entry that looks incorrect.

Credit Report Accuracy Verification

For those who would like to know about how to check credit score, you can get it by means of authorized services of credit bureaus and get to check credit score. While a credit score free check or credit score check may help you view your score, a detailed report will be helpful to detect the inaccuracies.

In examining my credit score, I would pay attention to the following things:

1. Unfamiliar loan or credit card account(s)

2. Incorrect balance amounts

3. Wrong payment or delinquent status

4. Repeated accounts

5. Inaccurate enquiries on credit history

6. Incorrect personal information

While consumers usually tend to check my cibil score or they want to know my credit score after noticing changes in it, one should not evaluate the state of his/her finances based only on the credit score value. Knowledge of how much credit score is good is helpful, indeed.

If you discover an error, collect payment receipts, bank statements, closure letters or lender correspondence before filing a dispute.

What Are Your Next Steps When You Detect an Error?

Determine which lending institution or credit reporting agency has provided the information that is being contested. Lodge your formal dispute backed by the required documentation.

A credit score check does not constitute a hard pull from the lending organization. It is advisable to periodically monitor your own credit report for any issues.

An individual who is looking to buy a home would find the use of a home loan emi calculator helpful alongside monitoring his credit profile.

PrimeScore can offer help in reviewing credit reports, compiling evidence and lodging a formal dispute when necessary.

Don't wait until your next loan application to discover a reporting problem—review your report, preserve your evidence and address genuine errors as early as possible.

FAQs

1. Can a wrong entry on the credit report be rectified?

Yes. If the information on your report is wrong, you could initiate a dispute with the concerned credit bureau or agency along with evidence.

2. Will checking my own credit report lower my score?

Checking your own credit report differs from the creditor pulling your credit report to check the credit score.

3. Is CIBIL the only credit bureau in India?

No. CIBIL is one of the credit bureaus in India. You could also have a credit report with other bureaus like Experian.

4. What documents can be used to prove a dispute on my credit report?

Bank statements, payment slips, closure of the loan and other corresponding documents can help substantiate a valid dispute.

5. Will a valid negative entry just be removed?

No. Credit rectification is done to remove any wrong or incorrect information on the report.