WHAT IS CREDIT HISTORY?

 
 

YOUR CREDIT HISTORY IS THE AGGREGATE OF YOUR FULFILLED AND OUTSTANDING LIABILITIES

 

Credit history also covers the history of your payment discipline, which includes not only the fulfilled, but also your current obligations and how accurately and timely the undertaken obligations are being fulfilled.

Companies accumulate credit history of their clients and use it for new contracts or renewal of existing agreements.

Your credit history is highly important. For example, in case of positive credit history, a telecommunications company might approve sale of your chosen product or service on deferred terms, or you might be able to enjoy better terms and conditions on your loan from a leasing company when purchasing your chosen vehicle.

In case if your credit history is positive, companies might be interested in providing the required service on cash-on-delivery terms or selling your selected product on deferred terms. In case of positive credit history, you might also enjoy more favourable conditions for your payment by instalments.

In case if your credit history is negative, companies might refuse to enter into agreement with you or might provide their services under other and less favourable terms and conditions, such as purchase of the product on deferred terms with a larger first instalment or at higher interest rates.

A good example might be a mortgage loan where the amount of the loan is 30,000 EUR and the loan term is 25 years. On such terms, in case the lender increases the interest rate by just 1%, you will pay approximately 5,000 EUR extra.

However, by borrowing responsibly, and complying with payment discipline, including the payments for the public utility and telecommunication services, as well as for your other obligations, you will build a positive credit history which, in a longer term, will allow you to receive much more than in case if your credit history is negative.

 

EACH INDIVIDUAL BUILDS THEIR CREDIT HISTORY THEMSELVES, AND THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE IMPACT OF CREDIT HISTORY ON THEIR CURRENT AND FUTURE WELL-BEING

PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION PROVISION

 

The information exchange in Credit Information Bureau takes place under the provisions of Part 2 of Article 4 of the Law on Credit Bureau which states that any Credit Bureau member (legal entity) may obtain information of a private individual and use it only in following cases:

 

 

1) the company needs to assess the creditworthiness (solvency) of the Private Individual who is a potential client;

2) the company needs to assess the creditworthiness (solvency) of the Private Individual (current client) for credit risk management purpose.

 

The company may only obtain information about a private individual in case the provisions of Article 18 of the Law on Credit Bureaus are met, which establishes that:

 

 

1) private individual provides consent to verification of his credit data;

2) the company and the Private Individual shall have a valid agreement between them, and the provision of the service by the company implies a credit risk (a service or a commodity is provided on deferred terms or cash-on-delivery terms);

3) other cases specified in the Personal Data Protection Law.

 

NO PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL MAY OBTAIN ANY DATA REGARDING ANOTHER PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL! A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL MAY RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT HIS OWN CREDIT HISTORY ONLY!

SERVICES

 

MY CREDIT HISTORY

The Credit Information Bureau has created a service which allows private individuals to see what information about them is stored in the system operated by the Credit Information Bureau or in other, external registers. The external registers and companies which data is stored in the system operated by the Credit Information Bureau are listed in section “Sources of credit information“.

The Credit Information Bureau provides each client with a free credit history report twice a year via website www.manakreditvesture.lv or personally at Grēdu iela 4a in Riga. If you wish to check your credit history more than twice a year, you must purchase the annual subscription. The annual subscription fee is 17 EUR (incl. VAT). The annual subscription provides unlimited access to your data for the next 365 days. 

To receive a credit history report in person, please have a valid passport or a valid ID card (the eID) with you. If you can not check your information at www.manakreditvesture.lv or receive the service in person at Grēdu iela 4a in Riga the private individual may, pursuant to Part 2 of Article 19 of the Law on Credit Information Bureaus, receive the information by post, covering the expenses incurred by the Credit Information Bureau for the postal services (according to the rates fixed by the postal service provider). 

IN CASE THE PROVIDED DATA IS FALSE OR INACCURATE, PLEASE CONTACT US AND INFORM THE RESPONSIBLE BODY ABOUT THE PROBLEM.

HISTORY OF CREDIT REPORT ENQUIRIES

Respecting the interests of private individuals, the Credit Information Bureau has set up a data exchange system which logs every enquiry for each private individual.

This allows to monitor the legality and validity of data use, as you are given an opportunity to verify that your data have been used according to the law.

Information about the requests of your credit information can be received free of charge twice a year at www.manakreditvesture.lv. There, you may see which legal entities and when (date and time) have checked your credit history.

Pursuant to the regulatory enactments effective in the Republic of Latvia, information about you may be requested only in case if there is a valid reasons for doing that, and in case you have authorized the information check. In case you have not authorized your credit history check, or in case the company which has checked your credit history has not signed an agreement with you on the provision of any services or sale of any commodities to you on deferred terms or on cash-on-delivery terms, you must notify the fact to JSC Kredītinformācijas Birojs (Credit Information Bureau). You may also lodge a complaint with the State Data Inspectorate against the respective legal entity (company) regarding unauthorised access to your credit history.

REPORTS

 

 

You may receive two different types of reports with information about you via www.manakreditvesture.lv.

THE FULL REPORT includes all information about your credit history from the members of the system operated by the Credit Information Bureau. The report contains following sections:

 

1. The Free report:

You are allowed to receive unlimited free reports; the report include information about your credit history provided by the members of the Credit Information Bureau. The report comprises the following sections:

  • the current liabilities registered in your name;

  • the outstanding liabilities registered in your name;

  • the cleared debts registered in your name;

  • the log of queries for your data.

 

2.The annual subscription

In addition to the free reports, the annual subscription includes

  • the full interactive report;

  • information on your credit rating.

Q&A

 

WHAT DOES  CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU DO?

Credit Information Bureau is a company which holds a licence issued by the Data State Inspectorate for services related to storage of credit histories of private individuals and companies, data processing, preparation of credit reports, calculation of credit rating and credit standing, monitoring of private individuals and companies. Through the bureau, private individuals may find out their credit standing data, keep track of the changes, and monitor their credit history.

WHAT IS CREDIT HISTORY?

Credit history of private individual consist of two parts – presentation of the current credit liabilities and the history of payments. Based on the credit history data for the individual, banks, non-bank credit companies, leasing companies, telecommunication companies, and other crediting companies assess the individual’s ability to return the loan.

WHAT IS BAD CREDIT HISTORY?

A bad credit history occurs due to delayed or overdue payments – delayed credit payments, outstanding telecommunication, public utility, or other payments. Individuals with a bad credit history cannot receive new credits or face difficulties in enjoying good or flexible terms and conditions when applying for new loans.

FOR HOW LONG WILL INFORMATION ABOUT MY DEBTS BE STORED IN THE SYSTEM MAINTAINED BY THE CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU?

History of debts outstanding – for 10 years, history of cleared debts – for 5 years, insolvency data and tax arrears are stored in the system for as long as they are available at the Registry of Enterprises or the State Revenue Service. There is no term fixed for positive information, and each individual may decide whether to provide data regarding the duly effected payments in their credit history.

WHO HAS ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION ABOUT MY DEBTS?

The information about your outstanding and cleared debts can be requested only under the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act. Legal entities require your consent to be able to check your data, as no one may request any information about you from either the Credit Information Bureau or any other register in case such consent has not been obtained. For this reason, it is important that you monitor the statistics for the visits of your credit history profile. In case you have any doubts with regard to any queries for your data, do feel free to address the party which has requested your information to find out the reason. You can monitor your credit history by registering on www.manakreditvesture.lv.

HOW DO I FIND OUT  HOW MUCH AND TO WHOM I OWE?

If you wish to receive information about the debts registered on your name, we recommend that you register on www.manakreditvesture.lv, which is where you will be able to check the history of your debts to the Credit Information Bureau cooperation partners.

WHAT SHALL I DO IN CASE ANY DEBT DATA ARE NOT CORRECT?

If you believe that the database of the Credit Information Bureau includes incorrect information, you need to submit a written objection to the Credit Information Bureau or the respective creditor in whose data the error has been found. As soon as you receive an official written response with a confirmation of the error, we shall be entitled to update the data in your credit history or remove the data from it.  The interval between the time of the payment and the time of update of the information in the database by the creditor shall not be considered as an error.

ARE MY DATA SAFE?

The Credit Information Bureau implements all the respective technical solutions and takes all the organisational measures in order to protect personal data against unintentional or unlawful destruction, alteration, or disclosure, and against any other unlawful data processing. The Credit Information Bureau protects privacy of the personal data available in the system operated by the Credit Information Bureau and also sees that no data become available to any third parties which are not authorised to access such data. Personal data are protected under the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Law.

WHY DO I NEED TO GIVE MY CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION OF MY DATA IN THE DATABASE OF THE CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU?

The more data about you are available in the database of the Credit Information Bureau, the easier it will be for creditors to decide about the issue of the loan.  According to the information from the register of credits, the history is positive in 85-90% of all cases, and this has more favourable effects on the decision carried by the creditor, compared to a situation where no information is available for the client.

CAN I FIND OUT THE DEBTS OF MY SON, DAUGHTER, OR SPOUSE?

No, no one may obtain any credit history data for any other individual, including data for any family members, except for cases when you can declare a notarised power of attorney that authorises you to receive such data.

ARE MY BANK DETAILS STORED IN THE DATABASE OF THE CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU?

No, your bank details are not stored in the database of the Credit Information Bureau, and they are not available to any third parties. When entering your bank details, they are used exclusively for identification purposes and purchase of services. For more information, please see “Our Privacy Policy”.

DOES THE CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU PROVIDE CREDITS?

The Credit Information Bureau provides no loans/credits. To receive a credit/loan, you need to contact a bank, a leasing company, or a non-bank credit company.

DOES THE CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU DEAL WITH DEBT COLLECTION?

The Credit Information Bureau does not deal with collection of any debts, and this is done by debt collection companies.

WHAT IS MONITORING OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS?

By registering for the “Monitoring” service, you can keep track of the changes in your credit information profile on your own. This means that your specified e-mail address will be used to send a message to you every time any new information appears regarding you in the database maintained by the Credit Information Bureau:

  • new current liabilities;

  • debt outstanding;

  • cleared debt;

  • any query regarding you.

This is an excellent opportunity to receive a timely reminder and to solve the payment problem in case:

  • you have forgotten to pay a bill/invoice;

  • you have not received a bill/invoice in error;

  • you have authorised someone else to effect the payment for you;

  • it is necessary to reach a new agreement with the creditor regarding a new debt clearance schedule.

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