Credit Bureau in Ireland

The application for credit of any kind or any type of financing is an idea that has been cherished by many people to acquire a house, a vehicle, or different goods and services, including the application for different credit cards. But to crystallize this idea, it is necessary to have a good credit history.

You have likely heard about the Credit Bureau, but you don’t know what it is and you don’t even know that you are related to it. Or maybe you have the erroneous idea that this Bureau is the blacklist in which no one should be listed, but the truth is that this concept is completely out of touch with reality.

So, what is the Credit Bureau?

It is a financial entity or organization in charge of managing credit information, also known as CIS (Credit Information Society). It is not a bank, financial institution, or credit agency, but it maintains a close relationship with it since it is in charge of reporting people’s credit history.

The Irish Credit Bureau is the body in charge of calculating a person’s credit score and it is a private organization made up of financial institutions and local authorities who finance it.

Now, the Central Bank of Ireland independently maintains what is called the Central Credit Register (CCR), recently founded in 2017 under the terms of the Credit Reporting Act 2013.

In both cases, at the request of the lender or the customer (the individual must consent to provide their details), the calculation is made and credit scores range from 224 (the lowest value) to 581 (the value that is considered the highest).

This credit report can be requested for a fee of 6 euros paid to the ICB, or in the case of the CCR who may issue this report without the borrower’s consent at the request of the lender. In both cases, the information is recorded for five years after the loan has been repaid.

The Credit Reporting Act 2013

This Act, as amended, is an Act charged with regulating all matters relating to Credit and provides the legal basis under which the Central Bank of Ireland must operate with the Central Credit Register. Among the regulatory provisions of this Act are the following:

• The scope of the Central Credit Register. In other words, it establishes; according to the information collected, to whom it applies and the associated reporting.
• Controls access to information from the Central Credit Registry. This information includes the report that must be provided at the time an access request is made.
• It also governs the fees that may be levied on users of the Central Credit Register.
• Likewise, this law regulates the possession of information in the Central Credit Registry, including the personal and credit information of the users that may be kept in the Central Credit Registry.
• It also oversees the information provided for the respective insertion in the Central Credit Registry and the scope of the personal and credit information collected.
• It is also responsible for the conservation, modification, and correction of information.

Rights granted by this Law

The four essential rights granted by this Law are:

1. Right to credit report. Everyone may request their credit report at any time, free of charge, subject to fair use. This report will contain the credit report provided by the lending agency to the Central Credit Registry.
2. Right to modification of information. Upon obtaining the credit report, if it is observed that there is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information, an amendment to that information may be requested.
3. Right to Statement of Reasons. The user may make an explanatory statement, no longer than 200 words, in his credit report to provide more information about his loans.

For its part, the Central Bank will not assume any responsibility for the content of this statement.

• Right to notice of suspected impersonation. You may make and place a notice of suspected impersonation on your report if you believe that another person is being, has been, or is about to be impersonated.

Central Credit Register

It is a register that was established on June 30, 2017. It is operated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Every month, the Register is responsible for collecting and storing personal and credit information from licensed lenders and local authorities on existing loans or new loans they grant to consumers.

Among the information collected by the Central Credit Register is information on loans such as personal loans, overdrafts, and mortgages. As of June 30, 2019, lenders must include information on installment plans, PCP, and financing for loans of €500 or more.

What is the importance of Credit Bureau and credit history?

When you go to the bank or any financial institution and apply for a personal loan, installment purchase/PCP loan, credit card, buy now and pay later an overdraft, or a mortgage. The lender sends information about your payments to the Central Credit Registry.

This information is collected and thus forms your credit history, which contains the following information:

• Personal data such as name, date of birth, and address.
• Lender data such as name and account numbers that the user has both active and those that have been closed.
• A chronological history of each payment the user has made, as well as the non-payment of any of the user’s financing such as loans, mortgages, or credit cards.
• It will also reflect any legal action attempted by the lender in the event of delinquency or refusal of payment against the user.

All positive or negative information of your payment behavior against any type of credit figure requested. Punctual or unpunctual payments, settlement on time, before the established time, or outside the agreed term will be included and reflected within the credit history.

It then becomes a credit resume whose behavior will result in the approval or denial of any other requested loan. This credit report provides banks, financial or credit institutions with a picture of the future client’s behavior in terms of payment responsibility.

The report given by the credit history of a person can be good or bad and will depend directly on the person. For that reason, it is advisable that before requesting any credit figure the user evaluates the feasibility of the same one so as not to stain its credit history.

If you already have any type of credit card, personal loan, or mortgage, it is essential to maintain a good record of timely payments as this will make you a client with payment capacity and therefore a candidate for higher credit and credit limit increases.