Notice of Disassociation

From Consumer Wiki

Originally posted by TalbotWoods on Debt Questions Forum


Notice of Disassociation

These are placed on your credit file when for some reason a link ‘previously’ existed between you and another person, some examples of links are:


  • Marriage or Civil Partnership (where there are joint finances or joint income)
  • Joint Bank Account
  • Joint Loan
  • Joint Mortgage
  • Joint Court Action, such as joint CCJ’s
  • Etc.


Now as you may be aware CRFs are based on individuals not addresses, but in the above circumstances it can ‘link’ individuals CRFs and if one person has bad credit or indebtedness, then this can impact on the links persons CRF.

However, there are circumstances where you can ask for a Notice of Disassociation to be placed on your credit file (and it is also recommended that one is places on each linked file).


Examples where this is prudent and what you need are:

  • Marriage - Where there are NO joint finances or incomes and one person is in debt and may be considering an IVA, Bankruptcy or CCJ action is going to be taken against them
  • Separated – You will need proof of divorce/separation or that you are no longer co-habiting.
  • Joint Accounts - You will need proof that any joint accounts are no longer joint, such as a letter from the bank showing that a person has been removed from the account.
  • Joint Loans – You will need proof that the loan no longer exists and where necessary that it has been satisfied
  • Joint Mortgages – You will need proof that the mortgage is no longer in joint names, such as correspondence from the mortgage lender that this is the case.
  • Joint Court Action – You will need proof that this no longer applies to the person, or that the matter has been fully satisfied.
  • Etc.


Now the key to this is the proof you present, it must be conclusive and complete. It is no good saying that two people had a joint account and you don’t use it, if your name is still on it then it is STILL a joint account, so you must make sure your evidence shows it is no longer joint in name or any other way.


Now regarding past joint accounts / loans / etc.

It is no good getting a Notice of Dissociation for a past account that had bad debts on it in the hope that it will clean your CRF – it won’t!

If the joint account had a bad debt then that bad debt was jointly between all the people associated with the Joint Account, and that will still show on your CRF after Disassociation, sorry but that is how it works, you were jointly (legally) responsible for the debt, so you jointly (and legally) share ownership of the bad debt, irrespective of if it was your fault or not.

However, what Dissociation does is prevent the information from becoming worse, for example, two people have a joint account that is in debt, this account is settled and the joint account properly closed. Then a Notice of Disassociation is put on to the CRFs, and one person then goes bankrupt, then only the CRF from the bankrupt person will show the bankruptcy and it will not impact on the other persons CRF.


So how do I do this.

Each CRF has a different process so you need to contact each of the three CRA’s and ask what they need, you will also need a copy of each of your CRFs as they will need the CRF Reference Numbers (which must be no older than 90 days)

You then send the information that they request and the CRA has 28 days in which to place the Notice of Disassociation. If they refuse they must tell you why they refuse to do it, normally because you have filed to send in something they have asked for.

If they refuse you can raise a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office to enforce them to place the notice. But you must be aware that this can take about 3 months!

You can find the contact details for the CRAs here:

Credit Reference Agencies

It is also recommended by both the CRA's and the ICO that you check your CRF's at least once a year to ensure that here are no incorrect financial associations that have crept onto you file in the past year!!


Related Pages

Credit Scoring