Removing a BKR listing in the Netherlands

Written by Onur Arslan, lawyer at Arslan Advocaten and, within the firm, responsible for the financial practice: BKR and credit registrations. Onur Arslan has many years of experience with private-law disputes, including insurance-law and BKR-related disputes. Last updated: 2 October 2026.

What we do for you, and what it costs

• Your question. You are registered with the BKR and want that registration corrected (the data are wrong) or removed (the data are right, but the registration affects you disproportionately). Those are two different routes with different evidence — see correcting or removing.
• File check. Send us your BKR overview and the correspondence with the credit provider. We read which coding, registration date, recovery note and end date it contains, and whether the retention period has already started. Do not know how to obtain that overview? See requesting your registration.
• Outcome of the check. You will hear whether a request stands a chance and which route fits: a request to the credit provider, a complaint to the Kifid, or a summary proceedings.
• Fee arrangement. For further work we discuss the rate, the work expected and additional costs. Whether subsidised legal aid is available depends on financial and substantive conditions. Even with subsidised legal aid, a personal contribution, court fees or other costs can arise. Have it confirmed in advance which costs remain in your situation.
• Next step. Get in touch and send your overview with it. If a credit application or a deadline is running, say so at once.

Are you being pursued over a loan instead of over a registration? Then read disputing the repayment of a loan. If it concerns a business loan with a negative BKR record or irresponsible lending, you can read on there.

Which ground fits your request?

For credit registrations that have ended, a retention period of five years generally applies under the applicable registration rules. That is not an absolute statutory duty always to keep every item of data for five years. The accuracy, the basis and the proportionality have to be assessed. For certain debt-assistance (SH) registrations, municipal policy with a shorter period can also apply.

What exactly is the BKR, and who registers there?

The BKR — Bureau Krediet Registratie — maintains the Central Credit Information System in the Netherlands, which holds registered consumer credit. The BKR is a foundation, not a government body and not a regulator. It manages the register; the data themselves come from the affiliated credit providers, which the BKR calls its "business clients".

Affiliated parties are as a rule banks, finance companies, providers of consumer credit, credit card companies, providers of overdraft facilities, private lease companies and municipalities carrying out debt assistance. They are obliged to report agreements with a term of more than one month, as a rule for an amount of more than € 250 (for business credit, more than € 1,000). They must in principle make that report within 21 days of the event occurring.

The arrears period after which a report follows differs per type of credit:

Source: General Regulations CKI (July 2024 version), articles 11 to 26.

What is as a rule registered:

What people often get wrong — and how it actually works:

That distinction matters in practice. People whose mortgage application fails often think that "everything" is in the BKR, while the blockage sometimes comes from an entirely different direction: a student debt with DUO, a maintenance obligation or a debt the lender picks up from the bank statements itself. And the other way round: people often think a private lease stays outside the BKR, while it is precisely in it. So before you start a removal procedure, it is essential to establish that the BKR listing really is the obstacle.

How do I obtain my own BKR overview, and how do I read it?

You can view your own credit overview online free of charge at the BKR, via mijnkredietregistratie.nl. That is your right of access under article 15 GDPR: you may know what data have been recorded about you. You create an account once and identify yourself with iDIN — not with DigiD. If your bank does not support iDIN, you can send in the application form with a copy of your identity document and receive the overview by post. Viewing online is free; a certified credit overview costs € 17.50. The BKR deals with the request within the statutory periods of the GDPR.

What you get back is not a score and not a judgment. It is a factual overview. Four things are decisive for the assessment of your case:

1. Which contracts appear — type of credit, credit provider, contract number, original amount or limit.
2. The dates — the start date of the contract, the end date, and where there are arrears the date on which they were reported and the date of recovery.
3. The special codes — the A and H reports explained below.
4. Who placed it — because that party, and not the BKR, is your counterparty.

Read the dates carefully above all. The end date of the contract as a rule determines when the whole file disappears from view, and that date is often later than people assume. A recovery report on 1 March does not mean the listing expires on the following 1 March.

What else you can request. Alongside the overview itself you have in principle a right under privacy law to information about the origin of the data and to a copy of the underlying documents held by the credit provider: the credit agreement, the reminders, the correspondence and the evidence that you were warned in advance about the listing. That last document in particular is regularly missing in practice, and that is one of the strongest openings a case can have. The right of access rests on article 15 GDPR; in addition you have the right to rectification (article 16), to restriction of processing while your request is pending (article 18), to erasure (article 17) and to object (article 21). The General Regulations CKI work those rights out in articles 27 to 31 and oblige the credit provider to cooperate with the handling. The advance warning itself is not a courtesy without form requirements: the regulations prescribe that the credit provider must warn you in writing that non-payment will lead to an arrears report, and that it must be able to show that it was sent.

In practice: request your overview before you have an advice meeting. Without the overview, any conversation about your chances is speculation.

Why does the BKR not remove anything itself?

Because the BKR does not own the data, but manages them. The register is a conduit: the credit provider reports, the BKR stores and displays. Anyone who considers a listing incorrect or disproportionate must therefore go to the party that made the report. Under the BKR rules you can also contact Stichting BKR. BKR can then request information from the credit provider, but the decision on the substance lies with that credit provider. Address your request first and foremost to the party that made the report.

That is not a formality but a substantive choice. Only the credit provider has the file: the agreement, the reminders, the payment history, the internal notes. Only that party can therefore assess whether the report is correct, and only that party can weigh up whether maintaining it is still proportionate in your case.

One nuance: if the listing is factually incorrect and the credit provider acknowledges that, the correction still runs through the BKR — but on the provider’s instruction. So you always send the letter to the provider.

How long does a BKR listing stay in place?

A credit that has ended generally remains visible for five years after the actual end date, under the applicable CKI rules. The period for a specific report has to be checked against the type of agreement, the end date and any recovery report. An H report means that the arrears have been made good; it does not automatically mean that the credit agreement has ended or that all data disappear at once.

For debt assistance you have to distinguish between an SH registration, a restructuring credit with code SK and the individual credits with the creditors. Some municipalities have an SH registration removed six months after successful completion. That policy does not automatically apply to all credits or to every debt-restructuring (WSNP) situation.

Even before a standard period has expired, you can have a specific error assessed or make a reasoned request for early removal. Your current circumstances and the interests in continued registration are relevant in that. Read the explanation of the BKR after a debt arrangement or debt restructuring (WSNP) and the BKR after repayment.

What do the codes A, A2, A3 and H mean?

The letter says what is going on, the number says how far it has gone. An A means arrears have been reported. The number after it is a separate special code, indicating what measure the credit provider then took. So "A2" is not a code in its own right, but arrears plus code 2.

Two things that are often missed. There is also a code 5, which in practice is actually favourable: it goes with a preventive arrangement on a mortgage. And combinations of special codes are possible — so you can, for example, see both a 2 and a 3 on the same agreement.

With code 3 there is moreover a special rule: if the write-off goes together with full and final discharge — you no longer have to pay anything — the credit provider must at the same time report the end of the agreement. If that does not happen, that in itself is something to raise, because the retention period hangs on that end date.

Source: General Regulations CKI (July 2024), articles 12 and 13, and the BKR’s explanation on mijnkredietregistratie.nl.

If you have made an arrangement, read also what a BKR listing after a payment arrangement means.

The severity increases. An A1 shows that you complied with an arrangement and weighs considerably more lightly with a lender than an A2 or A3, where the relationship has effectively broken down. An A4 is often the most awkward, because it suggests that you made yourself unreachable — while in practice a house move or a wrong address is regularly behind it. That code is therefore relatively often challenged successfully.

By way of illustration. Someone moves house and forgets to give their new address to the provider of a small revolving credit. The reminders and the advance warning go to the old address; they never read them. Because there is no response and they turn out to be unreachable, a code 4 is added alongside the arrears — the report suggesting that someone made themselves unreachable. Legally it then turns on two things: did the required warning actually reach them, and can the credit provider show that it was sent? That makes the difference between a coding that is justified and one that at the very least deserves amendment to a lighter report. This is an illustrative example of the rule, not a case handled by our firm.

An H is not a clean slate. That is the most common misunderstanding. The recovery report shows that you have paid off, but the listing itself remains visible — including the original arrears.

→ In depth: the A, A2, A3, A4 and H codings explained.

Read on: What a negative code means for a loan or mortgage

Read on: BKR listing without a warning: can you have the listing removed?

What does the court weigh in the balancing of interests?

The key question is not whether the listing is correct, but whether the purpose of the listing in your case still outweighs the detriment you suffer from it. The purpose of the register is twofold: protecting credit providers against non-payment, and protecting consumers against over-lending. The older the listing, the more the debt has been settled and the more demonstrably your situation has changed, the less maintaining it contributes to that purpose — while your detriment stays the same or even grows.

That reasoning is the engine of every successful case. What is as a rule weighed in it:

The principle of proportionality. Behind this balancing exercise lies a more general principle from data protection law: data may not be processed for longer or more broadly than is necessary for the purpose. A removal request is therefore in practice also based on the GDPR — the right to erasure and the right to object to processing, where the controller must show that there are compelling legitimate grounds outweighing your interests. Concretely those are article 17 GDPR (the right to erasure) and article 21 GDPR (the right to object on grounds relating to your particular situation). The General Regulations CKI themselves refer to those in articles 30 and 30b, and the regulations also expressly acknowledge the balancing exercise: article 14(10) provides that a credit provider may remove a listing if it is unjustified, or if a justified listing "proves disproportionate after a careful balancing of interests on the basis of available information about individual circumstances", or on the basis of a ruling by a court or a competent disputes committee. That is a usable quotation for your letter: it is in the sector’s own regulations.

What to remember from this: it is not for you to prove that the listing must go. Once you have submitted a reasoned objection, part of the burden shifts to the credit provider to explain why maintaining it is still necessary in your particular case. A standard answer along the lines of "the listing is correct, so it stays" passes over that question — and that is precisely the point a court as a rule does want to see addressed.

By way of illustration. Someone lost their job years ago and as a result fell a few months behind on a personal loan. They cleared those arrears, the loan has been repaid and nothing has gone wrong since. Now they want to buy a house with their partner, and the application founders on what is still in the register. The question is then not whether the report was correct at the time — it was — but whether maintaining it still contributes today to the purpose of the register: protection against over-lending and non-payment. The more the debt has been settled and the more demonstrably different the situation is, the more lightly that purpose weighs and the more heavily their detriment. What then carries the balancing exercise is documents: the refusal on paper, the income data, the payment history. This is an illustrative example of the rule, not a case handled by our firm.

What you can supply yourself to steer the balancing exercise:

• refusal letters from lenders or a statement from your mortgage adviser expressly naming the listing as the reason;
• a purchase or tenancy agreement that is at risk of falling through because of the refusal;
• evidence of your current income and outgoings, showing that the situation of that time no longer exists;
• documents about the cause of the arrears: a dismissal letter, a period of illness, a divorce settlement;
• a payment history showing that you have met everything on time since;
• correspondence showing that the provider did not warn you, or did not warn you at the right address.

Will I get a mortgage with a BKR listing?

With an active arrears coding that is often difficult, but the outcome depends on the registration, your financial situation and the lender’s acceptance policy. Lenders consult the BKR as a matter of course. A current A coding often leads to a refusal; after recovery it depends on the coding, the time elapsed and the lender’s policy.

That is why timing matters: anyone who wants a mortgage should have it assessed well in advance whether removal is possible. A procedure takes time.

What lenders do in practice. The BKR gives no advice and no score; the lender draws its own conclusion from what it sees. Roughly, the responses vary as follows:

How far back do they look? Only at what is in the register at that moment. If the listing disappears after the retention period, it is in principle no longer visible to the lender. There is, however, a second channel that people underestimate: the bank statements you supply with the application. From those an adviser can still work out that a repayment arrangement or a debt collection is running. So a removed listing is no guarantee of a clean application if the underlying situation is still visible.

National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG). For applications with NHG there are separate, written-out conditions about credit listings. Under the NHG Conditions and Standards 2026-1 (paragraph C.3.4, "Carry out a BKR check"), a lender may not offer a loan with NHG where there is a BKR listing with special code 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, nor where there is a current debt assistance arrangement with code SK or SH.

With a coding of A or A1 it is allowed, provided one of these conditions is met:

• the loan has a recovery code (H); or
• it appears from the listing that the loan has been repaid, and not repaid by refinancing into a new current loan; or
• the lender has declared that there are no arrears any more or that the loan has been repaid, without refinancing of arrears into a new current loan.

In addition, NHG has exceptions for listings with a practical final repayment date after full and final discharge (among others HY 2, HY 3 and RN 3) and for a Wsnp scheme completed with a clean slate, provided at least one year has since passed.

That makes the recovery code concretely valuable for an NHG application — and at the same time it explains why a 2, 3 or 4 coding that stays in place in principle makes an NHG mortgage impossible for as long as it is there.

In practice: have your listing assessed before you make an offer on a house, not afterwards. A running purchase agreement with a financing condition of a few weeks is too short for a removal process.

Read on: What does a BKR listing mean for your mortgage application?

Where else do I notice such a listing?

A BKR listing does not only affect your mortgage: it comes back at every moment when a party wants to test your creditworthiness. How heavily that weighs differs considerably per sector.

What stands out in practice: the concrete detriment you have to substantiate in a removal request often comes precisely from this direction. A refusal for a lease car you need for your work, or a rented home you miss out on, is just as usable as a refused mortgage — provided you have it on paper.

How do I apply for removal?

First with the credit provider, then if necessary with the Kifid or the courts.

1. Request your listing from the BKR, so that you know exactly what is there.
2. Submit a reasoned request to the credit provider that placed the listing — not to the BKR itself. The BKR manages the register, but does not amend anything on its own initiative.
3. Substantiate the consequence. What can you demonstrably not do because of this listing?
4. If the provider refuses, a complaint to the Kifid or proceedings before the court remain.

Step 3 is where most requests founder: a request without substantiated detriment is a request with no weight.

What the letter should contain. A usable request is short but complete: which listing it concerns (contract number, dates, coding), what you are asking for (removal, or in the alternative amendment of the coding), on what ground, what concrete detriment you suffer, and which documents you enclose. Set a reasonable period for a response and ask for a reasoned decision — not for "a response". The latter makes a difference once the case goes further: a refusal without reasons is a weak document for the other party in proceedings.

What you should not do is dress the request up as a complaint about how things went at the time. Reproaches about the debt collection, the treatment or the interest charges distract from the only question that counts: does maintaining it today still outweigh your detriment.

Read on: How does it work after a debt restructuring or Wsnp?

Read on: BKR removal request refused: which next step do you choose?

How do proceedings at the Kifid work?

The BKR has no disputes committee of its own. Article 31 of the General Regulations CKI designates four addresses for a complaint about the processing of your data:

• the Kifid, if the service provider is affiliated and your product, your capacity and your complaint fall within the rules; falling under the Financial Supervision Act alone is not enough;
• the Private Lease Disputes Committee, for lease companies affiliated to the Keurmerk Private Lease;
• the the municipality that made the listing under the Municipal Debt Assistance Act;
• the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

In addition, according to that same article, you can turn to the competent court. The Kifid is a written procedure, considerably cheaper and more accessible than the courts.

The course is broadly always the same:

1. You first submit a complaint to the credit provider itself. Kifid can deal with the complaint if the credit provider has not taken a final position within 8 weeks, or if you disagree with that position.
2. Check the time limit for submission in the current Kifid rules. What matters there includes the date of your first internal complaint, the final answer and the information given about the period. Do not assume a general period of three months without checking.
3. Kifid follows fixed steps: intake, legal assessment and, where possible, mediation. If mediation does not succeed, the Disputes Committee gives a ruling, sometimes after an oral hearing.
4. A binding opinion is only given if you and the credit provider both choose it. Otherwise the ruling is non-binding and the court can reassess your case in full. In the case of a binding opinion, the court in principle only reviews whether the opinion was reached carefully and is adequately reasoned.

Source: General Regulations CKI (July 2024) article 31, and the Kifid on complaint handling.

Advantages: low costs, no compulsory legal representation, and a substantive assessment of the balancing of interests. Disadvantage: it as a rule takes longer than summary proceedings, and that is precisely wrong where a mortgage application or a purchase agreement is under time pressure.

Read on: How the Kifid procedure works with an unjustified BKR listing

How do court proceedings work?

Watch out for a possible period of six weeks. Where a GDPR request is refused, a period of six weeks after receipt of the answer can apply to an application under article 35 of the GDPR Implementation Act. Further correspondence or a complaint to Kifid does not automatically suspend that period. Have it determined first which procedure and which period apply in your file.

You then claim an order requiring the credit provider to (have) the listing removed or amended, often in summary proceedings because there is an urgent interest. An urgent interest has to be substantiated specifically: a mortgage application under way, a purchase agreement with a financing deadline or an imminent refusal of a rented home makes it plausible that you cannot await the outcome of full proceedings.

What you concretely claim is as a rule a combination:

What you have to show: that the registration is incorrect, or that maintaining it is no longer proportionate in your case. That second route is the usual one, and it stands or falls with the documents from the balancing of interests above. Summary proceedings are a brief procedure: there is no room for extensive evidence, so what you do not have on paper straight away may not carry enough weight.

Note the downside. Summary proceedings produce an interim measure; the other party can in principle still start main proceedings. In practice that rarely happens in this type of case, but it is not a certainty. In addition the losing party as a rule bears the costs of the proceedings, which means that a poorly substantiated case costs you money twice over. Also allow for the court fee; the rates are indexed annually and depend on the nature and the value of the claim.

What does not work: the promise of guaranteed removal

There is no party that can guarantee removal of a BKR listing — anyone promising that is selling you something they cannot deliver. This is a market with many providers advertising "BKR listing gone, no cure no pay" for a fixed amount up front. An honest warning about this is in order, because anyone looking for this is by definition in trouble.

What to watch out for:

• "Guaranteed removed." Nobody can promise that. The decision lies with the credit provider, the disputes body or the court — not with your service provider.
• Payment up front, result later. Always ask exactly what happens for that amount, and what happens if the request is refused.
• "No cure no pay" with a high percentage. With a lawyer that arrangement is subject to strict rules; with non-lawyers it is not. Ask for the amount in euros, not for the percentage.
• No lawyer on the other side. Only a lawyer can represent you in proceedings before the court and is answerable in disciplinary law for what they promise.
• Standard letters. A request that does not address your circumstances and your detriment is as a rule refused as a matter of course by the credit provider. You then pay for a letter that takes the case no further.
• Ask for an honest no. A service provider who never tells you that your case is hopeless makes money from hopeless cases.

What decides a removal case is not the sender of the letter but the quality of the substantiation. Anyone who promises for a fee that the outcome is certain is leaving out precisely the balancing of interests — the only thing that matters legally.

Mistakes commonly made

Most requests founder not on the law, but on the approach. These are the mistakes we see most often in practice:

Step-by-step plan and checklist

In order:

1. Request your BKR overview and read the dates and codings carefully.
2. Establish who placed the report — that is your counterparty.
3. Ask that party for the underlying file: the agreement, the reminders, and the evidence that you were warned in advance about the listing.
4. Make sure the arrears have been cleared or that there is an arrangement you have complied with, if that is still possible.
5. Gather evidence of your concrete detriment: refusals, a purchase agreement, a statement from your adviser.
6. Gather evidence of your current situation: income, outgoings, payment history.
7. Have it assessed whether a request stands a chance before you submit it.
8. Submit a reasoned request to the credit provider, with a reasonable period for a response.
9. If refused: choose deliberately between the Kifid (cheaper, slower) and the court (faster, more expensive).
10. Start in good time — count on months, not weeks.

Checklist for your file:

• [ ] BKR overview, recently requested
• [ ] Credit agreement and general terms and conditions
• [ ] Reminders and the advance warning of the listing
• [ ] Evidence of recovery: final statement, discharge or last payment
• [ ] Refusal letters from lenders, stating the reason
• [ ] Purchase or tenancy agreement with the associated deadline
• [ ] Evidence of the cause of the arrears (illness, dismissal, divorce)
• [ ] Recent income and outgoings data
• [ ] Payment history since recovery
• [ ] Correspondence with the credit provider about your earlier request

What does it cost and how long does it take?

The first assessment of your listing is free of charge with us. We look at your BKR overview and tell you whether a request stands a chance. Only then do we talk about costs — because submitting a hopeless request costs you money without a result, and we do not do that.

What it costs after that depends on how far the case goes. These are the stages, in order of increasing cost. You hear from us what a stage costs before we start it, never afterwards:

A reasoned request to the credit provider can prevent proceedings. Whether that succeeds depends on your file and on the response of the registering party.

How long it takes:

So for the whole thing count on months rather than days. That is the reason not to wait until your mortgage application is running: start before you need it.

Do you qualify for state-funded legal aid? On a low income the Legal Aid Board may bear part of the costs; you then pay an own contribution. We assess that at the first assessment.

Which BKR situation would you like assessed?

The meaning of the coding determines which documents are needed. With an A2 coding the calling in of credit is among the things at play. With an A3 coding the difference between writing off, waiving and paying in full later is important.

A registration following problems with an ex-partner calls for an examination of your own contractual position. If you do not recognise the loan at all, read about the BKR and identity fraud. With paying later through Klarna or Riverty it must first be established which product you use and whether a registration actually exists. A credit check and a credit registration are different things.

Have your listing assessed

Send us your BKR overview. We will tell you whether removal stands a chance and what is needed for it.

Offices in The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Tilburg and Eindhoven.

This page gives general information and is not legal advice about your own case.

Are you looking for the overview of all subjects within financial law — the BKR, the EVR, the CIS, the banking relationship, credit and the duty of care? Then see Financial law: registrations, banks and credit.

Is more at play than the registration alone? Then also look at a dispute about a loan (reclaiming money or disputing repayment) and a dispute with a bank or credit provider (calling in credit, irresponsible lending, interest and costs). If you do not know which route fits, start with the overview loans, credit and the BKR.

Our offices: visiting address and direct telephone number

Each office has its own direct number. The first conversation is free of charge and confidential; besides Dutch we speak Turkish, Polish and English.

Not sure which office is most convenient? Then call 070 4500 300 or send your question through the contact form; we will put you through to the right colleague.