The Irish Credit Bureau was set up in 1965 and is owned and financed by its members which are mainly financial institutions. It is not the only credit bureau in Ireland, however it is the main source of information for mainstream lenders.
The Irish Credit Bureau is an electronic library or database that contains information on the performance of all credit agreements between financial institutions and borrowers.
A credit agreement can include not only a mortgage but covers car loans, personal loans, leasing agreements, or hire purchase agreements. Credit card details are included in the ICB library. Overdraft agreements, with the exception of overdraft agreements that are the subject of legal proceedings, are not reported by the ICB.
Some 40 lending institutions register information with the ICB, usually on a monthly basis. Therefore any arrears recorded on a customer’s account is automatically transmitted to the Irish Credit Bureau. Each time a client then applies for credit from a provider, the lender accesses a credit report to find out about the performance under previous credit agreements held with other lenders.
Typically a person’s credit profile history is reported over a 24 month repayment period but the information is held for five years after the credit agreement is complete. A bad credit history cannot be removed from a client’s record without agreement of the lender in question.
The ICB of course holds all performance information, good as well as bad, so for the vast majority of borrowers who always repay their loans the ICB is a good news story.
In the future all credit unions in Ireland intend to be also on the credit bureau.
Hilary Foley is an independent financial advisor with Lifestyle Mortgages. She can be contacted at (091 ) 762000, LoCall 1890 441 441, or e-mail [email protected]
