Consumer knowledge: Negative entry at the credit bureau - this is how customers get rid of it
Created: 08/30/2022, 17:26
By: Stella Henrich
Anyone who has already had contact with the Schufa knows that this is not to be trifled with.
It provides its contractual partners with information on the creditworthiness of people.
But how some consumers get into their amount of data is sometimes extremely questionable.
Munich ‒ If you want to buy a mobile phone or even a car, you have to have it thoroughly checked.
Of course, no doctor can determine the suitability for this, after all, there is the Schufa for such checks, a credit agency based in Wiesbaden, Hesse.
It manages data from 66 million people, i.e. from almost all adult citizens in this country.
But how do you get a Schufa entry and what does it mean if it turns out to be “negative”, asks the TV knowledge magazine Galileo.
As in the case of the Ahrens family, for example, who wanted to buy a car.
But since Mr. Ahrens had a negative entry with the Schufa - which he didn't even know about himself - he was amazed when the car salesman didn't want to sell him the vehicle.
The reason: Mr. Ahrens had a negative entry - according to Schufa information.
Although the family says they have always paid their bills on time.
Consumer Knowledge: Bills not paid
But obviously something in the Schufa system didn't go quite right.
Because only unpaid bills or installments, terminated loans and current accounts with outstanding receivables result in an entry at the Schufa, which has a negative effect on the so-called “score” at the Schufa.
Even if your name appears in a list of debtors or an insolvency notice, "it has a negative effect ,
" reports
Bild.de.
Schufa
stands for protection association for general credit protection.
The interests of credit institutions and trading companies are primarily protected.
Because these companies want to be sure that they get their money after signing the contract.
Consumers who do not pay receive a "negative" entry at the Schufa.
To check the creditworthiness of consumers, the Schufa assigns so-called
scores
This
Schufa score
is an indicator of the respective risk of customer default.
The higher the score, the higher the creditworthiness of the customer.
A very good value is 97.5 percent.
A bad credit rating is a Schufa score of 90 or less.
In the case of the Ahrens family, Schufa rejects any mistakes and blames the mistakes on the Ahrens bank.
After thorough research by Galileo, this suspicion was confirmed.
In fact, the family bank had reported incorrect data to the Schufa.
A negative Schufa entry can quickly stamp a person.
Consumers can protect themselves against this.
(symbol image) © imago
Consumer Knowledge: This is how customers get rid of their negative entry
In the case of Ahrens, the deletion of the Schufa entry was effected by a court.
But there is another way.
So that there is no entry in the first place, consumers can have a free Schufa self-assessment sent to them once a year.
Consumer advocates advise checking this information carefully.
Because tests have shown that the stored data is often incorrect.
If consumers find that something is wrong with their data, they have a right to have the error corrected.
Go through the following five steps to have a Schufa entry deleted:
1. Request a creditworthiness score via self-assessment
2. Check information for false entries
3. Check deletion deadlines
4. Apply for the solution of incorrect entries to the Schufa
5. For open claims that have already been settled, contact creditors and ask them to agree to the deletion.
At the same time: Submit a deletion request to the Schufa
Anyone who gets into difficulties when paying off a loan should contact their bank in good time and seek dialogue with the customer advisor.
Because payment defaults inevitably lead to unwanted Schufa entries.
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