Fixing an error on your credit report
You have the right to challenge anything on your credit record, and the bureau must investigate at no cost to you. Errors are more common than most people assume — settled accounts still showing as in arrears, duplicate listings, and entries belonging to someone else are the three that come up most.
What this actually means for your application
Get your free report first. Every registered bureau must give you one free report a year, and you need to see the actual entry before you can challenge it.
Lodge the dispute directly with the bureau, in writing, identifying the specific entry and why it is wrong. Attach evidence if you have it — a settlement letter, a paid-up confirmation, proof that the account is not yours. The bureau must investigate and either correct the entry or explain why it stands.
If the bureau does not resolve it, escalate to the Credit Ombud, and to the National Credit Regulator where a credit provider is supplying information it knows to be wrong. None of these steps costs you money, which is precisely why paying an agency to do it is unnecessary.
Check these three things before you sign — here or anywhere
- The lender’s NCRCP number is published on its own site, and it checks out in the National Credit Regulator’s register.
- The pre-agreement quote breaks out the total cost of credit: interest, initiation fee, service fee and VAT — as one figure you can compare.
- Nobody asks you for an upfront “release fee”. A registered credit provider never charges you before it pays out.
Related
Sources and last checked
- National Credit Regulator — register of credit providers — Regulator, as at 10 August 2026.
- National Credit Act 34 of 2005 and its regulations — Government, as at 10 August 2026.
Page last checked 10 August 2026. Statutory caps and lender terms change — confirm anything you intend to rely on with the provider or the National Credit Regulator. Found something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it.