Your personal data rights
My lender's records about me are wrong
Inaccurate factual records — 'property vacant', 'borrower refused to engage' — can drive enforcement decisions. You can challenge accuracy.
What this problem looks like
- The file records the property as vacant when it is occupied or attended.
- The notes say you refused to engage on a date when you called, wrote or provided documents.
- Contact details, income figures, occupancy status or arrears history are recorded wrongly.
What you are trying to establish
- Precisely which recorded statement is inaccurate, and what the accurate position is.
- What evidence you hold that proves the accurate position, and its date.
- Whether the inaccurate data has been used in a decision about you — arrears management, refusal of forbearance, a receiver appointment, a possession step.
Evidence to collect
- The SAR response containing the inaccurate entry, with the date and reference of the entry.
- Your own proof: call logs, emails sent and delivery receipts, letters, utility bills, tenancy agreements, photographs with dates, agent correspondence.
- The decision letter that appears to rely on the inaccurate record.
What to ask for
- Rectification of the inaccurate personal data under Article 16 of the UK GDPR, identifying the entry precisely and enclosing your evidence.
- Completion of incomplete data by adding a supplementary statement where the record is misleading rather than simply wrong.
- Restriction of processing while accuracy is being checked, where that is available.
- Notification of the correction to anyone the data was disclosed to, and confirmation of who that was.
- Confirmation of whether any decision about your account relied on the inaccurate entry, and whether that decision will be revisited.
What a useful answer looks like
- The entry is corrected, or a supplementary statement is added, and you are told which.
- The organisation explains what it checked. The ICO's position is that where information is used to make important decisions, greater effort is expected in checking accuracy.
- Recipients of the wrong data are told about the correction.
What an inadequate answer looks like
- 'That is what our agent reported' — a record of what was said can be accurate as a record while the underlying statement is wrong, but the organisation still has to consider your evidence.
- A refusal with no reasons and no reference to the evidence you sent.
- Silence on whether any decision relied on the entry.
What this does not do
- Rectification does not stop mortgage enforcement. It addresses the use of disputed personal data, not the debt.
- Restriction of processing is available only in defined circumstances and is not a payment holiday.
Next escalation
- Complain to the organisation's data protection officer, then to the ICO if unresolved.
- Run a parallel mortgage complaint where the inaccurate record affected how you were treated — that part is for the Financial Ombudsman, not the ICO.
Example letters for this stage
- Request to correct inaccurate account information — A rectification request under Article 16 of the UK GDPR, with a request to restrict processing while accuracy is checked.
- Complaint to the ICO after a deficient subject access response — Used after the organisation has been given a chance to put a late or incomplete response right.
Official sources
More on: Your personal data rights
This is information, not legal advice
Nothing here is legal advice and no professional relationship arises from reading it. Time limits apply to complaints and to court steps. Free help is available from Citizens Advice, StepChange and Shelter.