Notice of Correction: When It Helps and When It Doesn't

A Notice of Correction is a short written statement — no more than 200 words — that an individual can add to their credit reference file held by a UK credit reference agency (CRA). Its purpose is to provide context or explanation alongside information the individual considers misleading, even if that information is technically accurate. Notices of Correction are most commonly associated with entries such as defaults, county court judgments (CCJs), or missed payments, where the individual believes the bare data does not reflect the full picture.

The right to add a Notice of Correction is established under Section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Credit reference agencies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC), specifically CONC 8 (Credit Reference Agency rules).

This article explains what a Notice of Correction is, how the system works, what it does and does not do, and the rules and timelines that apply.

A Notice of Correction is a statement of up to 200 words added to a credit reference file. It allows an individual to explain the circumstances behind information that may appear negative or misleading without additional context.

• It does not remove the underlying data.
• It does not change a credit score.
• It does not guarantee any particular outcome when a lender reviews a credit application.

What it does do is require that the Notice of Correction is included in the information supplied to any lender accessing the file and taken into account as part of their assessment. In most cases, this means the application is referred from automated processing to a human reviewer.

A Notice of Correction must be added separately to each of the three main UK credit reference agencies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — because they do not share Notices of Correction between them.

The statutory framework for Notices of Correction sits within Section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This section sets out a process that begins with a dispute and, where the dispute does not result in the removal or amendment of the entry, allows the individual to add a Notice of Correction instead.

1. Dispute: Under Section 159(1), a consumer may give notice to a credit reference agency that they consider information on their file to be incorrect and request that it be removed or amended.
2. Agency Response: The agency must then respond within 28 days under Section 159(2), confirming whether it has removed the information, amended it, or taken no action.
3. Notice Request: If the agency confirms no action or makes an amendment the consumer considers insufficient, Section 159(3) allows the consumer to serve a further notice requiring the agency to add a Notice of Correction of up to 200 words to the file.

Once added, the agency is required to include this statement whenever it furnishes information from that file.

In practice, the three main UK CRAs accept Notice of Correction requests directly, without requiring a prior formal dispute. This is a matter of agency practice rather than a strict reading of the statute, which positions the Notice of Correction as secondary to the dispute process.

The FCA assumed regulatory responsibility for consumer credit — including credit reference agencies — from the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April 2014. Section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 has also been amended by the Data Protection Act 1998 and Data Protection Act 2018 to update references to data protection legislation.

Word limit

A Notice of Correction must not exceed 200 words. This is a hard statutory limit set by Section 159(3) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and credit reference agencies enforce it strictly.

Content restrictions

The Notice of Correction must not be defamatory, frivolous, scandalous, or otherwise unsuitable for publication. It must not name third parties or apportion blame. Credit reference agencies review the proposed wording and may suggest amendments if it does not meet these criteria. If the consumer disagrees with the agency's suggested changes, the matter can be referred to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a final decision, as provided by Section 159(5) of the Act.

28-day response period

When a consumer submits a dispute notice under Section 159(1), the credit reference agency must respond within 28 days under Section 159(2), confirming whether the information has been removed, amended, or left unchanged.

Processing time

There is no statutory deadline for how quickly a Notice of Correction must appear on the file after submission. TransUnion guidance suggests this can take several weeks, often cited as up to six weeks.

Lender notification obligation

Under CONC 8, a credit reference agency must notify any person to whom it has provided information relevant to the individual's financial standing in the previous month about any correction or Notice of Correction added to the file. This one-month period was reduced from six months by the FCA in 2014, with the FCA stating that credit applications are generally processed in much less than a month.

Retention

A Notice of Correction remains on the file until the consumer requests its removal, or until the associated data item it relates to drops off the file. Most adverse credit information — such as defaults and CCJs — is retained for six years. The Notice of Correction does not extend the retention period of the underlying data.

Removal

A consumer can request removal of a Notice of Correction at any time, regardless of whether the circumstances it describes have changed.

"The credit score will improve."

A Notice of Correction does not affect a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries generated by credit reference agencies, and a Notice of Correction provides written context that sits alongside the data — it does not alter the data itself or the score derived from it. This is confirmed by guidance from all three main UK CRAs.

"It guarantees approval."

Adding a Notice of Correction does not guarantee credit approval. Lenders are required to have the Notice of Correction included in the information supplied to them, but the lending decision remains entirely at the lender's discretion.

"It automatically copies to all agencies."

This is not the case. Each of the three UK CRAs — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — maintains a separate database, and there is no statutory obligation for them to share Notices of Correction. To have a Notice of Correction on all three files, it must be submitted to each agency separately.

"I must dispute first."

The statutory framework under Section 159 positions the Notice of Correction as a step that follows a dispute. However, in practice, the three main UK CRAs accept requests for a Notice of Correction directly. This means the process may be more straightforward than the legislation alone would suggest.

Manual Reviews Slow Down Decisions

The presence of a Notice of Correction on a credit file causes applications to be removed from automated decision-making systems. Because automated systems cannot interpret the written content of a Notice of Correction, the application must be referred to a human underwriter for manual review. According to guidance from Experian, TransUnion, and National Debtline, this may result in slightly longer processing times for credit applications.

Commissioner Referrals

If a credit reference agency refuses to publish a Notice of Correction — for example, because it considers the wording unsuitable — and the consumer disagrees, Section 159(5) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 provides that the matter may be referred to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner may direct the CRA to add, amend, or refuse the Notice of Correction, and under Section 159(7), may vary or revoke any such order at a later date. There is no statutory timeframe specified for the Information Commissioner to reach a decision on such referrals.

A Notice of Correction is a mechanism for adding context to a credit file, not for changing the data on it. It exists to allow individuals to explain circumstances that the recorded data alone may not fully represent — such as a default that arose from a specific, identifiable event rather than a broader pattern of financial difficulty.

When a lender accesses a credit file that contains a Notice of Correction, the statement must be included in the information supplied to them and taken into account as part of their assessment. This means the explanation reaches the decision-maker, but the decision itself remains with the lender. The Notice of Correction does not remove adverse data, does not change the credit score, and does not compel any particular outcome.

Because the Notice of Correction triggers manual review, there is a practical trade-off: the explanation is seen by a human, but the application may take longer to process than it would through an automated system.

The Notice of Correction must be submitted to each credit reference agency individually. If an individual wants the statement to appear on all three files, three separate submissions are required.

• Statutory Right: Under Section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, individuals can add a 200-word explanation to their file.
• Effect: It does not change the data or the score. It ensures the explanation is seen by lenders.
• Trade-off: It forces applications into manual review, which usually takes longer than automated decisions.
• Separation: It must be submitted separately to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
• Removal: Can be removed at any time by request.