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The Credit Review Office was set up in 2010 to assist SMEs and farms that are viable or potentially viable to get access to the bank finance they need for recovery and growth

The role of the Credit Review Office

The Credit Review Office operates like an ombudsman, overseeing credit refusals by the banks and ensuring an independent appeals process. Businesses that have been refused credit, or had existing facilities such as overdrafts and term loans reduced or withdrawn, can apply for an independent review of their credit application. Banks covered by the appeals process are AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank.

The Credit Review Office also provides a helpline service to assist borrowers. Its Reviewers — a panel of experienced banking and/or finance professionals — engage directly with SMEs and farmers who have credit or banking-related issues. All Reviewers have significant frontline SME and farm credit experience.

The Credit Review Office has also developed a number of information notes on current topics, such as loan sales and self-funding, which are available here.

The Office publishes regular reports for the Minister for Finance on the outcome of its appeals. The Credit Review Office team is headed by John Trethowan, a former bank director, past president of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland and director of Business in the Community, who was appointed by the Minister for Finance.

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The process

Working directly with the business or farm, a specific Credit Reviewer looks at the track record of the business and its future potential, plans and projections; its management and markets; its existing debt; and the reason for the new credit application. An opinion is then formed as to whether the business is viable, and if it will make enough cash to pay back the loan being applied for. The Reviewer also looks at terms and conditions attached to the facility by a prospective lender, such as security or interest rate levels, to see if they are reasonable.

Who can apply?

The service is for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including sole traders and farm enterprises, that have had new requests for credit refused, or existing credit facilities reduced or withdrawn. The review process covers all applications for new loans or restructured credit facilities from €1,000 up to €3m. The fee for the Credit Review Office service ranges between €100 and €250, depending on the size of the credit.

SMEs are defined as businesses with fewer than 250 employees and which have an annual turnover of less than €50m, and/or a balance sheet total not exceeding €43m.

What happens if the office supports an application a bank has refused?

If the Credit Reviewer believes in a credit application, the office will ask the bank to make credit available to you. Since set up in 2010, the Office has supported more than one in every two applicants who approach it — and to date the banks have agreed to provide credit for the vast majority of cases we support.

Where can I get more advice?

Call the Credit Review Office on 1850 211 789 and talk it through with us. Or take a trip round our website, at creditreview.ie.

Pictured: John Trethowan, head of the Credit Review Office