Creditworthiness

Published: 1/2/2015 Modified: 2/6/2020
Creditworthiness means an assessment made by a credit institution of a potential debtors’ ability to assume the obligation of regular annuity/instalment payment under a specific loan amount. In the assessment, the credit institution primarily uses the information and documentation obtained from a consumer, but it may also use information from the registry of credit obligations.

Each credit institution prescribes the documentation and the terms and conditions used for determining if the loan applicant is creditworthy. In most cases, key information for the assessment of creditworthiness are the amount of regular monthly income, including the amount of the burden-free monthly income, the amounts of different forms of savings and/or units in investment funds and the amount of current indebtedness. Data on monetary obligations of consumers which are necessary for the assessment of creditworthiness are processed and exchanged by banks in the Registry basic system by means of the Croatian Registry of Credit Obligations (HROK). The final decision on a client's creditworthiness eligibility also depends on the quality and value of presented instruments of collateral for ensuring timely loan repayment and some credit institutions also take into consideration client status, i.e. whether the loan applicant already uses products and services of an individual credit institution. In some cases it is possible to negotiate a co-debtor relationship if the applicant does not meet the required conditions of a credit institution.

IMPORTANT: The obtaining of all the necessary evidence on meeting the conditions of a credit institution may be time-consuming and very often associated with additional costs. So it is important to take the necessary time and come well prepared to minimise the risk of disappointment should the credit institution decide to reject the loan application.