Can a credit repair company remove bad credit from my file?

What a credit repair firm can and cannot do

Helping someone get information on their credit file corrected, removed or changed is a regulated activity, so a firm offering it needs FCA permission. You can check a firm on the FCA Register. Our guide to checking your credit report covers the basic rules. This table sets the FCA rules beside what you can already do yourself.

Warning signs to look out for

• A promise to clear defaults, missed payments or court judgments that are correct. FCA rules ban this claim.
• Advice to move address, or to apply in a slightly different name, to start a new credit file. The FCA bans firms from claiming a new file can be created this way.
• An advert for credit repair that turns into an offer of a loan or credit when you get in touch. FCA guidance says this is likely to breach the Consumer Duty.
• A firm that does not tell you the credit reference agencies will only deal with you, not with it.
• Pressure to give false information to a credit reference agency or a lender. Citizens Advice warns that some credit repair companies charge high fees and sometimes get people to lie to try to clear their records.

How to challenge a wrong entry yourself, for free

1. Check your credit report Look at your report from each agency, as lenders do not all report to the same ones. Check personal details, accounts, payment history and any links to other people.
2. Contact the agency or the lender Tell the credit reference agency which entry is wrong and why. The agency cannot change the data itself without the lender that supplied it, so it will ask the lender to check its records. You can also contact the lender directly.
3. Use your legal right if needed Under the Consumer Credit Act, if you write to the agency saying an entry is wrong and likely to harm you, it must reply within 28 days to say whether it has removed it, amended it or left it as it is.
4. Add a notice of correction If the entry stays, you can ask for a notice of correction of up to 200 words, written by you. It goes out with that information in future, so lenders see your explanation, though they do not have to take it into account.
5. Complain if it is still wrong If the agency and the lender will not correct something you believe is wrong, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). If the dispute is about how a lender treated you, see how to complain about a lender.

If the bad credit is accurate

An accurate default stays on your file for 6 years from the default date, even once paid, but it is marked as settled and its effect fades over time. A county court judgment paid after the first month is marked as paid but still stays for 6 years. Our answer on defaults and missed payments explains how each is recorded.

If the entries come from debts you are still struggling with, free debt advice is a better first step than any paid service. An adviser can look at your whole situation without charging you.

Sources

Every fact in this page was checked against these official sources on 7 November 2026.

1. CONC 8.10: Conduct of business: providing credit information services Financial Conduct Authority
2. Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 159: correction of wrong information legislation.gov.uk
3. How to dispute my credit report Experian
4. County court judgments and your credit rating Citizens Advice

Written and fact-checked by the PiggyBank editorial team. Last reviewed 7 November 2026. This answer is general information, not financial advice. How we write and check our guides.