How to Notify a Credit Reporting Agency

You may need to notify a credit reporting agency of an error in your credit card information.

Experian, Equifax, and Transunion are the three major credit reporting agencies. Even though they collect your personal financial information, they can be very difficult to contact when you need to notify them of something. They also have different notification methods, depending on your reason, You can notify them more easily if you know the proper contact information for your particular situation.

Instructions

1. Clarify the reason why you need to notify a credit reporting agency. Are you notifying them of fraud committed against you? Are you notifying them of a dispute that you're filing about incorrect information on your credit report? There are different notification methods for various reasons, and you must use the correct method to make sure your information gets to to the correct person or department at the credit reporting agency.

2. If you are reporting fraud and need to notify the credit reporting agencies immediately, call their fraud departments. Equifax can be reached at [phone], Transunion's number is [phone], and Experian's number is [phone].

3. If you are notifying the credit reporting agencies of a dispute, use their online dispute forms. You can find the appropriate form in each individual agency's website.

4. If you are notifying the credit reporting agencies of something other than fraud or a dispute, contact them via postal mail. You can find the appropriate address on each agency's website. You can also call them on their general phone lines. For Equifax, the number is [phone]. For Experian, you can call [phone], and Transunion can be reached at [phone].

Tips & Warnings

• If you are trying to notify the credit reporting agencies using their general phone lines, it can be difficult to get a live customer service representative on the line. Visit the Get Human website to find out how to move through the phone prompts for each agency to get to a person more quickly.

References

• Fraud alert information
• General contact information

Resources

• Get Human website