In 2015-16 the Financial Service Ombudsman received 351 complaints about credit reference agencies, an 86% increase from the previous year.
Most of these complaints involving incorrect information held on file by the agency; disputes over whether a missed payment is the fault of the business or the consumer; and fees being charged for access to credit files.
The ombudsman said “The most common type of complaint we looked at last year relating to credit files is that there was an incorrect reading on someone’s file.”
This included cases where the wrong person’s details or debt had been recorded on file – for example, where family members’ details had been mixed up – as well as complaints that bankruptcy orders or county court judgments had been registered in error.
