IF only...

Q Last year, Intelligent Finance incorrectly cancelled my credit card (I had actually lost my Switch card). It ordered me a new one and lost it, so it ordered me another one. Things seemed to be going fine until I was turned down for a loan and I applied for my credit reference file - only to find that there were three separate entries for my IF credit card, one of which showed a balance of ?513, with no payments made and no update of information since last year.

IF now says it can do nothing about this, although Equifax says that it should be doing something. I was paid ?50 compensation, though I didn't ask for payment - I just said I wanted the inaccurate data removed from my reference file.

Equifax says it can dispute the information but this could take up to two months.

RM

A When I originally spoke to IF about this, it seemed to think the matter had been resolved. It transpired, however, that the entries on your credit file had only been amended, not removed, which is clearly what you want. So IF pursued the issue.

As things stand, IF cannot change the entries on your file - even by checking the file, it would create a new entry of credit enquiry, which isn't going to help. According to Jennifer Blackwood at IF, it is now up to Equifax to remove the entries.

"We have already asked Equifax to delete these incorrect entries and we will be writing with the same request again," says Ms Blackwood. "We will also send a copy of all correspondence to your reader so that he can prove we have been in touch. But this is as far as IF can take things - the rest is up to Equifax."