German court sends four Schufa score cases back for review

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice overturned four rulings against Schufa, the country’s credit information agency.

Four people had challenged the agency’s old scoring system, saying it was unclear and that the information they received was insufficient.

Schufa had given them copies of their stored data and score values it had shared over the previous 12 months.

A lower court had ordered Schufa to provide more details, including how it weighed the criteria used to calculate scores.

The top court said the lower court must check whether the scores significantly affected the plaintiffs, such as by influencing a third party’s decision to start or end a contract.

The plaintiffs must generally show this impact, though the court said they should receive substantial help in presenting evidence.

The cases now return to the lower court for a new hearing and decision.