Consumer’s Creditworthiness Assessment in Belgium

Abstract

[Abstract]: The concern about consumer’s over indebtedness was already a reality in Belgium at the beginning of the nineties and even before as it is shown in the Consumer Credit Act of 1991 (and in its working papers). Among all the measures settled in the Belgian Consumer Credit Act of 1991, which also formed the background for the responsible lending principle in the EU legislation, it can be noted that the lender’s duty to assess consumer’s creditworthiness is not there. However, we can fin another array of rules that serve to the same purpose. Moreover, although the lender’s duty to perform this assessment was not literally established in that statute, it was implied. Therefore, the lender was obliged to carry it out in any case.