Want to take out a cash loan or mortgage, but you still have a car loan and aren’t sure how that will affect your creditworthiness? Don’t worry, just because you have an active loan doesn’t mean you can’t get another one. As long as you meet the right conditions, there shouldn’t be any problem. Find out what a credit analysis is and how charges affect creditworthiness!
Creditworthiness – what is it?
Creditworthiness is an indicator used by banks and other financial institutions. It shows whether a credit applicant has the ability to repay the debt. It is supposed to determine whether you will be able to meet your commitment and pay the installments with interest on time. Whenever a bank gives you a loan, credit or even an overdraft limit, it determines your creditworthiness.
To calculate it, it takes into account information about your credit and credit history at the BIK. The Credit Information Bureau is a place that stores data on all the loans and credits you’ve taken out, along with information on when you’ve repaid them, as well as their regularity and lack of delays. Credit history is of great importance when taking out various types of obligations and affects creditworthiness. And the higher the creditworthiness, the better the chances of taking a loan for a large amount!
Car loan and creditworthiness
Car loan is a popular way of financing the purchase of a vehicle. So it’s not surprising that a lot of people actually have one. Most often it is for at least several years, but the installments are not particularly high. Many banks offer a car loan. Does its repayment affect creditworthiness? Of course it does, but it does not have to be negative.
On the one hand, a car loan is a liability every month that reduces the funds at your disposal. Therefore, it diminishes the amount you can spend on another loan. However, if the installment is not high, you do not have to worry about this very much. Creditworthiness is affected by a great many factors, not just active obligations. Earnings, the type of loan (a mortgage is more secure for the bank), the number of dependents, place of residence, as well as such information as your age, marital status, length of service or even the company where you have a contract of employment, and, of course, your credit history also matter.
Building a positive credit history in the BIK is precisely about taking various loans and paying them back on time. For the bank, this is very important information – it’s not whether you have credit at all, but rather whether you pay it back on time. When taking out a new commitment, this can even be desirable – it is a clear indication that you are meeting your obligations.
How to check creditworthiness?
Before you apply to the bank for a loan, check your creditworthiness. You can do it on your own, using the BIK’s indicative calculator, as well as at the bank, for example. Checking creditworthiness doesn’t take long, and only involves providing approximate data, i.e. earnings, basic personal information and so on.
If you find that a car loan makes your creditworthiness low and the bank can only offer you a small loan amount, and you need more, there are several ways to improve your creditworthiness. One is to take out a loan with someone else, such as a partner or parents – joint earnings allow for greater creditworthiness. It can be very effective, although time-consuming, to pay off smaller obligations, such as installments on household appliances in stores or small consumer loans. You can also give up credit cards. They often lie unused for a long time, and just having them can lower your creditworthiness. All of these factors can influence the acceptance of your application at the bank and increase your chances of getting a loan for a larger amount.
Developed on behalf of the partner: Santander Consumer Bank.
Sources:
https://www.bik.pl/poradnik-bik/czym-jest-zdolnosc-kredytowa
https://mubi.pl/poradniki/zdolnosc-kredytowa/
