Your Credit Rating and COVID

credit rating – What is it?

Your credit rating is held with the Irish Credit Bureau. It is where all your financial payment history is stored. It shows your payment and loan history for 5 years.

Why do you need a good one ?

The ability to take out a mortgage, car loan/PCP or credit union loan can depend on getting a good “score”.

How do you know what your score is ?

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you are entitled to a copy of all the data that is held on file about you – this can be done for free. It is a good idea to do this periodically just to ensure that the information held about you is accurate.

How do you get a good score ?

• Pay all your bills on time
• Don’t miss any payments on your mortgage
• Show a stable and long term pattern of saving
• Account for your money by reducing ATM usage
• Increase your traceability of spending
• Don’t do any online gambling, ever, on any platform.

Why are you doing all this ?

• You want to show the bank that you are financially responsible 
• Show that you can handle your cashflow and bills
• Know when your payments are due and that you pay them on time
• Show that you would be prudent about repaying a loan you get from them.

How is COVID going to affect your credit rating ?

The ICB has advised its members that there should be no impact on the credit records of borrowers availing of the COVID-19 six month payment break. However, you should continue to show that you are tracking your funds and show where is money is being spent

For further information

• Citizens Information
• Irish Credit Bureau
• Central Credit Register