You have the right to access your information
You have the right to access your information held by a responsible party. Under the NCA, you can request free access to your credit information. Under POPIA, you can request, free of charge, whether or not Experian holds personal information on you or to request the categories of information that Experian holds on you. Should you wish to request a copy of the personal information that Experian holds, a fee may be charged. However, most of the information a bureau holds on an individual consumer (person) is contained on their credit report; so our advice is to get your free credit report instead.
If you require access to your personal information, for your protection, we must authenticate the identity of the requestor, and we will need additional information from you to do so. The procedures and relevant forms for requesting access to your information can be found on this page.
You can also request access to a third party’s information if you meet the requirements of PAIA.
Access to information
Access to Credit Information
All consumers in South Africa have a right to one free credit report per year from each of the credit bureaus.
Through our credit report platforms, Experian offers free unlimited access to credit information for all South African consumers.
To access your free unlimited credit report and credit score, you can visit:
- My Credit Check for your Experian Sigma (historical Compuscan data) credit report.
- My Credit Expert for your Experian (historical Experian data) credit report.
In terms of POPIA
Section 23 of POPIA gives consumers the right to access their information held by a responsible party, like Experian.
Consumers can request, free of charge, whether or not Experian holds personal information on them.
Should you wish to find out what personal information is held, a fee may be charged. However, most of the information a bureau holds on a consumer is contained on their credit report; so we recommend getting your free credit report instead.
Should you want to know more about what information Experian holds, you can do so by completing the DSAR form downloadable below.
In terms of PAIA
The Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2013 (PAIA) allows access to information according to strict requirements set out in the Act. The Requestor must comply with all the procedural requirements in PAIA relating to a request for access to a record and specifically provide sufficient detail on the request form to enable the head of the private body to identify the record and the Requestor.
Access to a record can only be granted if the following criteria are fulfilled:
- The record is required for the exercise or protection of any right;
- The requestor complies with the procedural requirements set out in PAIA relating to a request; and
- Access to the record is not refused in terms of any ground for refusal as contemplated in Chapter 4 of Part 3 of PAIA.
For more details on the access to information in terms of PAIA, please refer to our PAIA Manual available for download below.
Request your information
Use the below options to obtain your information from Experian
Experian respects your rights and has created several means for you to exercise your right to access your information or receive confirmation of the information we hold on you. For most consumers, the data they want from Experian is already available on their credit report. We suggest you check your credit report first.