Your credit file is meant to be an accurate portrayal of your credit history — something credit card companies use to determine your creditworthiness. Having incomplete, out-of-date, or otherwise inaccurate information in your credit file can hurt you in the future. You may not get approved for a new line of credit. If you do get approved, you may receive a lower than expected credit limit or less than optimal interest rates.

It’s in your best interest to get a copy of your credit file from both Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet regularly to review them for inaccuracies. If you find one, the first step is generally to contact your creditor (they’ll submit the corrected information to the credit bureaus). But how do you do that? It’s best to report errors using a credit file dispute letter, so you have a record of the dispute in writing. Here is a simple sample letter you can use as a model, where the error was a failure to report that a delinquent balance was paid off in full.

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Your name
Your address
Your phone number
Your account number (or credit card number)

31 July 2009

Dear [insert credit card company / bank name]

This letter is a request for you to correct inaccurate information on my credit file with Veda Advantage, due to a failure to update my account status.

My credit file currently reflects an outstanding and delinquent balance of $500 on my credit card with your company. This debt was paid in full to you on April 3rd (verified through my enclosed credit card statements issued by you).

A copy of the disputed credit report is also enclosed for your reference, with the disputed item highlighted.

I request that you promptly submit a correction to the credit agency, reflecting the paid status of this debt.

Sincerely,

Your name (and signature)

Enc. (stands for “enclosures”)
-    Credit card statements (April – June 2009)
-    Veda Advantage credit file

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Your credit file dispute letter may vary. The basic goal of the dispute letter is to demonstrate an inaccuracy, provide evidence that the information is outdated or incorrect, and to request appropriate changes to be made by the creditor. While you may be able to change some inaccurate information directly through the credit bureaus (such as an outdated address by sending current utility bills and other proof of current address), account information generally needs to go through the creditor first.

If for any reason the credit card company ignores your request, then you may be able to dispute the information directly through Veda Advantage or Dun & Bradstreet. In that case, you’ll also need to provide proof (such as court records, statements, or other supporting materials). Then the credit agency will contact the creditor directly to verify the information before making changes.

You can find the mailing addresses and further dispute processes for the two mentioned credit bureaus in our article, How to Correct Errors in Your Credit File.