Everyone has certainly heard the term: SCHUFA, SCHUFA self-disclosure or SCHUFA credit report.
But what is behind the term SCHUFA? What is it and why do I need a SCHUFA report? What does it say and do I have to provide data myself?
You will find answers to these questions with us.
SCHUFA information - what is it actually?
When people talk about their SCHUFA, they mean their personal SCHUFA self-disclosure. SCHUFA simply refers to the name of the company that issues these self-disclosures.
In full, this company is called Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung. However, since this name sounds too bulky and complicated, it has simply been abbreviated without further ado.
Many people think that SCHUFA is a government agency, however, it is a private company.
But what does this "protective association" do? And why is it so well known?
In short, SCHUFA has made it its business to ensure transparency and trust in the business world by rating the creditworthiness of every citizen - hence the name credit report.
This allows landlords, sellers or lenders to check whether their counterparty is likely to pay or whether the person is a financial risk.
Most people come into contact with SCHUFA when they are looking for an apartment, want to buy a house or apply for a loan.
The question still remains, how does this assessment come about? Whether I can pay or not, why does the SCHUFA KNOW? What does it say in such information and where does the SCHUFA get my data?
SCHUFA information - what does it say?
Before we can answer the question of what SCHUFA says about you, we must first explain what data SCHUFA collects about you.
And that is quite a lot.
For example, SCHUFA information includes the number of current accounts you have opened, data on current leasing and credit contracts, information on your telecommunications contracts (e.g. cell phone contract, Internet contract) and the number and amount of outstanding claims against you.
In addition, countless personal data about you are also stored: in addition to names and first names, current and previous residential addresses, your date of birth and your gender are stored at SCHUFA.
And you are far from alone in this.
According to its own statement, SCHUFA currently has almost 815 million data stored on around 5.3 million companies and over 67 million German citizens.
Let us now come to the original question about the SCHUFA information: What does it say of this sea of data when such information is requested?
There is not one, but three answers here.
The SCHUFA distinguishes between two different types of information. These fall into either category A or category B, depending on who collects the information about you. In addition, there is also the SCHUFA self-disclosure, i.e. the one that is not requested by third parties about you, but the one that you request yourself.
Banks, leasing providers or building societies usually obtain an A credit report about you. This contains information on your bank details, current accounts, number of credit inquiries and even your full debits.
B-information, on the other hand, tends to be obtained from online stores and telecommunications providers, such as Internet providers or mobile phone contract providers.
Your self-disclosure, which you request for yourself, then lists all the data that SCHUFA has stored about you. It also lists who has requested a SCHUFA report about you in the last 12 months. In addition, you will find out your SCHUFA credit score in your SCHUFA self-disclosure.
If you have a good SCHUFA score, you signal that you have (almost) always paid your payments on time and in full in the past.
If, on the other hand, your SCHUFA score is rather poor, it will be difficult or impossible to find a landlord or lender. Your self-disclosure then says that you have had payment problems or defaults more often in the past. This does not exactly strengthen confidence in you and your reliability.
Should I order a SCHUFA report?
Many people only request a SCHUFA report when they actively need it. For example, when looking for an apartment or needing a loan.
But does it make sense to order SCHUFA when you don't really need it right now?
The answer is: Yes, you should definitely order a SCHUFA self-disclosure on a regular basis to avoid any nasty surprises.
Otherwise, it can turn out badly for you if you are acutely dependent on good information and it then turns out badly.
If you are continuously aware of your score, you can also actively take action in advance as soon as it deteriorates.
It can happen that the data SCHUFA has stored about you is incorrect. This can happen if your bank forgets to report that your loan has been paid off, there has been a name mix-up or an old bill has not been marked as settled.
Although it is possible to have false SCHUFA entries deleted, this usually takes a long time and involves a huge pile of paperwork.
So if you have to move spontaneously, for example because the landlord has announced his own needs, or you need a loan at short notice, then it looks bad if you have a bad SCHUFA score.
Therefore, everyone should regularly SCHUFA information regularlyin order to be able to intervene at an early stage if necessary.
Conclusion
So now they already know quite a bit about the SCHUFA: What is it, who is behind the SCHUFA, what does the SCHUFA in the SCHUFA report, what does the SCHUFA score say and why is it worthwhile to order a self-report on a regular basis.
Since the SCHUFA site is somewhat complicated in design and the application is not easy to find without subscribing, we have made it our mission to make the ordering process easier.
On selbstauskunft.de you fill out our form in a few seconds and a short time later you hold your self-disclosure in your hand!