Not upheld: incorrect credit file reporting; handling of dispute and data subject access request complaint against Equifax Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss S complained that Equifax was reporting an account with company V on her credit file as being in arrears for approximately nine years without a default being registered. When Miss S contacted Equifax in June 2025 to dispute the account, Equifax raised a dispute with V, temporarily suppressed the information when V did not respond within required timeframes, and the account was subsequently removed by V in August 2025. The ombudsman found that Equifax acted fairly because it does not own the data it reports and cannot remove information without the data owner's consent, making it unreasonable to expect Equifax to take action before being made aware of the issue by Miss S. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Equifax does not own the data it reports and cannot update or remove information without the data owner's consent. Until Miss S contacted Equifax in June 2025, it had no reason to be aware of any issue with the account. Once Miss S raised the dispute, Equifax took prompt and appropriate steps to raise the dispute with V, suppressed the information when V did not respond within required timeframes, and communicated these actions to Miss S. The ombudsman found it unreasonable to expect Equifax to proactively contact V about an account before being made aware of a problem by the consumer.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website