Why Is Your Credit Rating Important?

When applying for credit, financial companies and banks need to be satisfied with your credit rating status to enure that you are able to repay your credit. These companies will gain your credit rating from Irish Credit Bureau, if they are not satisfied with your credit rating your application will be refused.

What Does The Irish Credit Bureau Do?

They keep electronic records regarding credit agreements involving member companies and their customers. In Ireland around 40 financial institutions including banks, finances houses and building societies are registered with the Bureau.

Do I Have A Right To Credit?

NO, you do have a right to know what information is held about your credit rating by the Bureau and other agencies, and you can have accurate information corrected. However, nobody has the right to credit.

What Are Computer Records And How Do They Affect My Credit Rating?

All records of credit agreements you have participated in kept on record by the Irish Credit Bureau. When you enter a credit agreement with a bank, building society or finance company a condition is that you agree that the creditor may use the data for credit checking.

How you comply with the terms and conditions of your credit agreements are entered into the Bureau’s electronic records, which can be accessed by all financial institutions who are members of the Irish Credit Bureau. Therefore, every time you apply for further credit, that institution can search your re-payment records on previous credit agreements from other Bureau members through the Bureau’s records.

Details that are held will include loans that you have and whether you are upto date with your payments or in arrears, and if legal action will be applied against you or if your account has been settled.

The records holding your information are kept on computer records and are designed to protect you through the Data Protection Act 1988. The Data Protection Act 1988 ensures that the information held about you is accurate and that any institution that does use it uses it appropiately.

The Act also allows you to have any information about you which may be false, corrected or deleted if appropiate.

How Can I Check My Credit Records?

Contact:
Irish Credit Bureau,
Newstead,
Clonskeagh Road,
Dublin 14
Telephone: (01)260 0388

You can also get a personal enquiry application form on the ICB website, send this form to the Bureau along with a cheque for €6. Or directly apply for a copy of your credit record online at the ICB website.

If you are unhappy with the Bureau’s response, you can take your issue to the Data Protection Commissioner, who can investigate  complaints and enforce the Act’s provisions.

Are My Credit Records Kept Anywhere Else?

Yes, sometimes your credit record can be be kept on paper rather than a computer when an agency other than the Irish Credit Bureau has given information about you to a credit provider. If this is the case the Consumer credit Act 1995 allows you to find out the name of any agency that the credit provider has consulted.

A letter should be written to whoever refused you credit within 28days, once the request has been received they have 14 days to give you the name and address of any institution they have consulted.

When you have received your response you have a further 28 days to write to the agnency of relevance with a cheque for €6.35 to ask for any information  that they may have about you on file.

The Agency should then respond with your requested information in the following 14 days of receiving your request. You can also ask for amendments of the removal of incorrect information regarding yourself on under the Consumer Credit Act.

The agency must then tell you whether your amendments have been made of whether they have not taken action within 28 days of your request.

If you would like to dispute any responses from that particular agency you can complain to the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority on Lo-call 1890 777 777 and also send €12.70 for the IFSRA to investigate your case, if they decide that your information should be amended or removed, then the agency must comply with their authority.