A BKR registration following payment problems with an ex-partner can be challenged if it is inaccurate or has disproportionate consequences in your personal situation. The fact that your ex was supposed to pay under the divorce settlement agreement (convenant) does not automatically mean that the bank may no longer treat you as a debtor. You should therefore examine separately your liability for the loan, the accuracy of the registration and your own interest in having it removed.
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Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Last updated: 17 September 2026.
Did you never take out the loan and do you suspect misuse of your identity? Then a different route is needed than for a genuinely joint debt. State clearly that you dispute the existence of an agreement with you and have the application investigated. Referring only to the relationship breakdown does not make that distinction clear.
Three questions that determine your case
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Are you a debtor in relation to the lender | Internal arrangements with your ex cannot always be relied on against the bank |
| Are the arrear, codes and dates correct | A technical error can be an independent ground for correction |
| Is continued registration still proportionate | Your individual circumstances may differ from those of your ex |
Deal with these questions in that order, without losing sight of the balancing of interests. Correct contractual liability does not automatically make every registration correct. Conversely, a personal sense of injustice does not mean that the bank reported an existing payment arrear incorrectly from a technical point of view.
Keeping the issues clearly separate also helps when choosing the procedure. A claim against your ex, a defence against the lender and a GDPR request concerning BKR (the Dutch Credit Registration Office) may be needed side by side. The outcome of one track does not have to be settled before the other can be prepared.
Who was named on the credit agreement?
Request the original agreement, any later amendments and any confirmation of release from liability. If you signed together as debtors, the bank may be able under the agreement to hold each of you liable for the entire debt. The precise wording and the statutory rules determine the extent of that liability.
A divorce or a move does not in itself change that relationship with the bank. Having your name removed from a current account is not necessarily the same as being released from the loan either. Ask explicitly which agreement has been amended and from what date the lender no longer holds you liable.
For the division of the debt between you and recourse against your ex, we refer to the joint loan after divorce. This article focuses on the consequences for your BKR data and the steps to take towards the lender that made the registration.
What does an agreement that your ex will pay mean?
In a settlement agreement you can agree that your ex will take over the loan or pay all the instalments. That agreement may be important between the two of you, but it does not automatically bind the lender. For that, the lender may need to consent to releasing you from liability.
If your ex then fails to pay, the bank may be able to hold you liable and report an arrear in your name if the conditions are met. Your claim against your ex is then a separate matter. Avoid postponing necessary steps with the bank because you are simply waiting for your ex to comply.
The settlement agreement does remain relevant to the balancing of interests. It may explain why you thought payment had been arranged and when you learned of the arrear. Also add evidence of how you responded as soon as you found out. That combination says more than the internal agreement alone.
If you never applied for the loan
An unfamiliar loan may point to an administrative error, a mix-up or identity misuse. Ask the lender for the application, the identification data, the signature and the details of the payout. State clearly which elements you do not recognise and why you dispute being a party to the agreement.
An accusation against your ex must be based on facts. It is possible that data were used without consent, but an unfamiliar contract does not necessarily mean proven fraud by a specific person. Keep messages and other indications, and distinguish between what you know and what you suspect.
Where there are concrete indications of identity fraud, consider filing a police report and notifying the CMI (the Dutch Central Reporting Point for Identity Fraud) alongside the dispute with the lender. The steps are set out in BKR registration due to identity fraud. A police report does not automatically remove the registration.
Check warnings after a move
After a relationship breakdown, addresses and contact details often change quickly. Check where the bank sent the warning of an arrears report and whether it knew your new details. Keep change-of-address notices, acknowledgements of receipt and later bank post sent to the correct address.
A prior warning is important for the A entry. The same separate duty of advance notice does not automatically apply to special codes. The absence of one letter therefore does not mean that every code must disappear. Have each item of data tested against the applicable rules.
If your ex withheld post, describe how and when you found out and what evidence is available. That may clarify your personal circumstances. The question of whether the lender itself communicated correctly must, in addition, be answered independently.
Which codes are registered in your name?
A payment arrear may lead to an A entry. A payment arrangement, a call-in or a write-off may result in other data. Request a current overview via Mijn Kredietregistratie and note the codes and dates for each credit.
With an A2 code, what matters most is whether the claim was actually and rightly called in. With an A3 code, it must be examined whether the debt was written off, waived or later paid in full after all. Those differences determine which ground for correction may be available.
Do not check only your ex’s situation. Your own overview may contain different dates or codes, for example because of separate communication or different roles under the contract. Ask the lender for your personal data and for its own assessment of your position, without assuming that you are entitled to your ex’s full private file.
Your interest must be assessed individually
The processing of BKR data is based on a legitimate interest. Under the GDPR you can object on grounds relating to your particular situation. The lender must then assess whether continued registration remains justified in the light of your interests.
You and your ex may have different payment behaviour, incomes and housing interests. A joint loan therefore does not automatically mean that a request from both persons must have the same outcome. The bank must, however, be able to take account of the joint credit and how it was actually settled.
Describe your own role accurately. When did you know about the arrear? Were you able to intervene? Which payments did you make? What arrangements did you try to make? An individual timeline prevents your position from being derived entirely from the conduct of the other debtor.
If there was pressure or financial abuse
A relationship may have involved circumstances in which you had little insight into or influence over financial matters. That may be relevant to the cause of the arrear and your ability to intervene. For an initial assessment, you do not need to share every sensitive detail indiscriminately.
Explain which financial transactions you could not control and what support or documentation is available. Messages, statements from a support programme or a court decision may help, depending on the situation. A statement must relate to the specific period and events.
These circumstances do not always automatically invalidate a valid agreement, but they can affect the legal assessment and the balancing of interests. Also have it examined whether other legal grounds apply. The file deserves careful handling in which the contract, the evidence and the personal consequences each receive separate attention.
Repayment and release from liability
If the credit has been repaid in full and terminated, the correct actual end date must be processed. In principle, the data then remain visible for a further five years. An earlier relationship breakdown is not in itself the end date of a credit that was still running at the time.
In the case of a release from liability, the precise confirmation matters. Ask which registration in your name should remain afterwards and which data need to be amended. A change in your relationship with the bank may have a different consequence from a payment arrangement between the two of you.
After settlement, check a new overview. Even if only your ex made payments, you can still ask the bank to confirm the balance and status in so far as they concern your own legal position. Do not assume that the processing is correct simply because the debt collection agency has stopped sending letters.
A new home and a new partner
After a divorce, suitable housing may be urgently needed. Make clear what accommodation you have, why it is inadequate and which specific opportunity is being blocked. A statement from a mortgage adviser can help show that the registration is a relevant obstacle.
A new partner may be financially stable, but that does not automatically make your own payment history irrelevant. It must also be examined who will take out the new loan and whether financing in one name is possible. The legal and financial consequences of alternatives require their own assessment.
Make sure that the wish to buy quickly does not lead to an unconditional obligation to purchase while the registration is still being examined. Urgent proceedings may sometimes be appropriate, but they are not a guaranteed solution to a self-imposed deadline. Discuss financing conditions before signing.
Demonstrating financial stability after the divorce
A new, stable pattern can support your request. Draw up an overview of income, housing costs, maintenance obligations, other debts and payment behaviour. Show which costs you actually bear yourself and which arrangements are actually being honoured.
A settlement agreement with favourable terms is less convincing if payments are structurally not made. Base your overview on the actual situation. If you still have a claim against your ex, that claim is not simply money immediately available to pay new costs.
Also describe how new arrears will be prevented. That may be a changed payment structure, completed guidance or an appropriate payment arrangement. What counts are verifiable circumstances, not a promise that things will go well from now on.
A fictitious example of an individual objection
Two former partners have a credit together. The settlement agreement states that one of them will pay. That person stops paying, while the other partner lives elsewhere and only later learns of the arrear. As soon as she receives a letter, she contacts the lender and repays the credit with funds she can account for.
Several questions are relevant to her objection. Was she still registered as a debtor? Was the warning sent correctly? When did she learn of the problems and what did she do next? How stable are her current finances and what specific housing interest does she have? None of these questions is fully answered by the settlement agreement alone.
If the lender had already released her from liability in writing, the accuracy of the registration may come first. If not, the A entry may be technically correct, but an individual balancing of interests remains possible. The documentation therefore determines which route is strongest.
Drafting a targeted request
Include your contract number, current codes and the relevant dates. Then describe the contractual situation, any errors and your personal circumstances. Ask for an assessment of your position, even if the bank previously communicated with your ex.
A possible wording is: “I request that you assess my personal data and the continuation of this registration separately. The enclosed timeline shows when I learned of the arrear, what action I took and how the credit was settled.” Supplement this with your specific grounds for correction and removal.
Ask for a written reply in which the bank addresses those points. If the response refers only to the joint loan, further reasoning may be required. An individual assessment does not, however, mean that all facts relating to the joint debt must be disregarded.
Which enclosures are most useful?
- The current BKR overview and the original credit agreement.
- The relevant part of the settlement agreement and any confirmation from the bank of release from liability.
- Warnings, call-in letters and changes of address, with proof of sending or receipt.
- Proof of payment, arrangements and confirmation of settlement.
- An overview of current income, costs and other debts.
- Specific documents on housing or any other obstacle caused by the registration.
Share only those parts of a divorce file that are needed for the request. A bank does not necessarily have an interest, for a BKR assessment, in every personal dispute between former partners. A targeted selection protects privacy and keeps the assessment clear.
Time limits and next steps
For a GDPR request, a response period of one month applies in principle, with a possible reasoned extension. Note the date of the refusal. For the special application procedure under Article 35 of the UAVG (the Dutch GDPR Implementation Act), the time limit is in principle six weeks after receipt of the response.
That time limit is not the same as the rules for a complaint to Kifid, the Dutch Financial Services Complaints Tribunal, or for interim relief proceedings. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Hoge Raad) has confirmed that the expiry of the time limit for an application does not automatically rule out every urgent route. Have the choice of procedure assessed in good time rather than anticipating it.
A dispute with your ex may continue in the meantime. A claim for recourse or for compliance with the settlement agreement does not in itself clear your BKR record, while a removed registration does not automatically extinguish an existing debt. Keep track of the desired outcomes and any time limits for each opposing party.
Keep correspondence and access personal
Request your own credit overview and use your own contact details for the objection. You do not need to give your former partner access to your complete financial file to have your registration assessed. If information from your ex is needed, specify which document is missing and why. Keep communication with the lender separate from discussions about the divorce. That way it remains clear which bank decision you are challenging and which arrangement between the former partners still has to be carried out.
Arrangements with your ex do not always bind the lender
A division in a settlement agreement can determine who pays as between the two of you, without the lender releasing you from joint and several liability. Ask therefore which obligation towards the lender still exists and whether a release has been confirmed.
An incorrect link to a person or an incorrectly recorded payment must be corrected. If the registration is factually correct, the circumstances of the divorce and your current situation may be relevant to a balancing of interests. A claim against your ex is, again, a separate matter.
Also read about damage caused by an incorrect registration.
Frequently asked questions about BKR and an ex-partner
My ex was supposed to pay, so why is the arrear also in my name?
If you remained a debtor in relation to the bank, an internal arrangement may not be enough to prevent registration. Check whether the bank actually released you from liability. The registration must also comply with the applicable rules.
Does my ex have to cooperate with my removal request?
In principle, you can exercise rights in respect of your own personal data yourself. Information from your ex may be useful for certain evidence, but your request does not automatically depend on a joint submission.
Will we both receive the same decision?
Not necessarily. The joint loan is relevant, but personal circumstances and interests may differ. Ask for a separate assessment of your data and your request. A decision concerning your ex is not automatically decisive for you.
Can I have only the registration removed without paying the debt?
An incorrect registration may require correction regardless of payment. Where the registration is correct, a debt that is still outstanding may in fact count against removal. The objection to the data and the payment obligation are separate issues that must be assessed together.
What if my ex used my identity without consent?
In that case, dispute specifically that you entered into the agreement and request the application and identification file. Also consider filing a police report and notifying the CMI. Such a situation calls for a different approach from a credit that was genuinely taken out jointly.
What can Arslan Advocaten do?
Arslan Advocaten can assess the relationship with the bank, the registration and your personal interests, and prepare the right next step. Send the BKR overview, the credit agreement, the relevant divorce arrangements and the correspondence with the bank. The approach and costs are discussed beforehand, as are any other disputes with your ex.
Sources and legal basis
- Mijn Kredietregistratie from Stichting BKR.
- Kifid on negative registrations and the individual balancing of interests.
- Supreme Court, 3 December 2021, on the legal basis for BKR registration.
- Supreme Court, 15 September 2023, on GDPR proceedings.
- Central Reporting Point for Identity Fraud (Centraal Meldpunt Identiteitsfraude).
Sources checked on 16 September 2026. Contractual liability, arrangements under matrimonial property law and data processing must be assessed separately for each file.
