Credit Score Basics > How to add a Notice of Correction with ClearScore

How to add a Notice of Correction with ClearScore

Wollit Team3 minute read · Updated 1st July 2024

Adding a Notice of Correction to your Equifax credit report (offered for free via ClearScore) is a crucial step if you want to make sure that lenders get the full context of your financial situation. Lenders might be less likely to reject your applications if they understand that your negative credit history is due to serious factors outside of your control, like job loss or illness.

Let’s see how adding a Notice of Correction via ClearScore in the UK works, and how to make the most of it.

How does ClearScore work?

ClearScore is a free credit scoring service that provides users with their credit score and report.

It does not calculate the score itself but rather gets it from Equifax, one of the UK's three main credit reference agencies.

ClearScore is basically not a credit reference agency, and lenders do not use it for credit checks. In other words, any errors or inaccuracies in your ClearScore report are likely to be due to mistakes made by Equifax or the companies reporting data to them.

What are some of the most common issues with ClearScore reports?

There are several common issues that users may encounter with their ClearScore reports. These include:

Missing accounts: some financial products may not show up on a credit report, either because they have not been reported yet or because they are not included in the reporting process.
Incorrect information: errors can occur due to mistakes made by the companies reporting data to Equifax or by Equifax itself.
Fraud or identity theft: in some cases, errors may be a sign of fraud or identity theft.

How do I add a Notice of Correction to my Equifax credit report through Clearscore?

If you have found an error or inaccuracy in your Equifax report, you can add a Notice of Correction to explain the situation. This can be particularly useful if you have missed payments due to unusual circumstances such as job loss, illness, or relationship breakdown.

To add a Notice of Correction with Equifax, you have two options:

Contact Equifax directly to report the error and request a Notice of Correction. You can do this through their website or by contacting their customer support team. However, you’ll need to be a subscriber to Equifax’s premium credit report and score service, which costs £14.95 a month.
Fill out a dispute form on the ClearScore website: The great thing about this is that you can fill it out straight through ClearScore website and without having to subscribe to Equifax. This form should include details about the error and the explanation you want to provide for the discrepancy. Once you have completed the form, submit it to ClearScore. They will then forward it to Equifax for review and potential correction.

If the error is not resolved through ClearScore, you can also contact Equifax directly to raise a dispute.

Can a Notice of Correction submitted via ClearScore improve my Equifax credit score?

A Notice of Correction does not directly affect your credit score. However, it can influence how lenders perceive your creditworthiness. By giving a clear and short explanation for errors or adverse events, you can help lenders understand your situation better and make more informed decisions about lending to you.

When a lender reviews your credit report, they will see the Notice of Correction and take it into account when making a lending decision. This can be great if you have gone through serious situations which affected your financial stability and were outside your control.

For example, if you were made redundant due to company restructuring, a Notice of Correction can help explain the situation and show that the missed payments were not due to you being “bad with money” but rather due to a change in your employer’s activity.

However, the most important factor in lender’s decisions is your credit score.

The good news is that there are many ways to improve your credit score. One of the best ones is to download a specialised credit-building tool like Wollit.

Wollit works by reporting a fixed-fee monthly subscription as a loan repayment to all credit reference agencies, including Equifax (the agency that ClearScore uses).

This helps you build a history of timely debt repayments, which is the main factor that matters for your credit score.

Over time, this will reduce the impact of a negative entry in your credit report much more than a Notice of Correction ever could. It will also give you an opportunity to show lenders that you truly have been improving since the negative event happened, and it will make your Notice of Correction seem like less of an excuse.