On July 29, the law on credit holidays formally entered into force
Submitting the application should not be difficult, which will be supervised by, inter alia, UOKiK. The effects of the control of the office are already visible
The easiest way to take advantage of credit holidays is to complete the formalities online
In the case of the PKO BP bank, it takes literally a few minutes. You only need to pay attention to the selection of the appropriate credit holidays and installment suspension period
In the case of other banks, according to their representatives, it should be similar
Additionally, a helpline will be launched in the Financial Ombudsman’s Office, through which anyone interested will be able to ask an expert or report a problem.
Like millions of Poles, I am a “lucky” owner of a mortgage. In my case, it was granted by the largest bank in Poland, i.e. PKO BP. As I pay in installments at the beginning of the month, I don’t have much time to submit an application. So I decided that I would do it as soon as I had the opportunity to test the system on the occasion of my professional duty.
Why take a credit vacation at all? For people who, due to rising interest rates and high inflation, can barely make ends meet, this is an opportunity for a moment to breathe. For those who do not have major problems with repayment, it is possible to overpay the capital and thus reduce installments.
Let me keep my motivations to myself, but whatever they are, credit holidays are basically a free loan, which – according to the estimates of the Ministry of Finance – can be used by up to 2 million people and it was for this reason that the banks feared it so much. Borrowers are not to lose on it in any way, and to see to it, among others UOKiK. The only fee that remains to be paid while enjoying your vacation is insurance. However, it is usually only a few dozen zlotys.
So let’s get down to business, PKO BP promised that online formalities would take no more than 3 minutes. Before filling out the application, I studied the bank’s July 25th announcement. It is bold there, which you should watch out for.
First of all, you can suspend your loan repayment:
for 2 months in the period August 1 – September 30, 2022;
for 2 months in the period October 1 – December 31, 2022;
after 1 month in each quarter of 2023
Interestingly, on July 28, PKO BP slightly changed the content of the announcement. Originally, you could read: “Remember that you must submit a separate application for each period. You can make another application after the end of the previous standstill period. ” Eventually, however, this fragment disappeared and we can guess that this is the result of the intervention of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
– We do not accept the practice that already appears in some banks, and concerns, for example, the requirement of a separate application to suspend the repayment of installments in each quarter of the loan holidays, or even a separate application for the repayment of a particular installment. This makes it difficult to take advantage of credit holidays introduced to ease consumers, said the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.
Taking advantage of credit holidays, contrary to previous concerns, will have no consequences at PKO BP in the event of applying for further loans. “We will provide information about the suspension of repayment to BIK. This information in PKO Bank Polski is not treated as an arrears in loan repayment and does not affect the assessment of creditworthiness.“- we read.
This thread, however, will come back later in the text.
At midnight, it couldn’t
Unfortunately, I miscalculated, hoping that the submission of applications would start at midnight. I spent the first 28 minutes refreshing the IPKO platform and waiting for the credit holidays to appear in the “Instructions and certificates” tab. The submission of the application turned out to be very easy – it took 2 minutes. I used the IPKO service in accordance with the instructions below.
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| PKO BP
In the case of PKO BP, when the borrower has the option of taking credit holidays independent of government support in the contract, it is important to select the appropriate application. On the website, however, they are clearly distinguished. In the case of holidays resulting from the contract with the bank, it was marked before midnight.
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When applying, be careful about choosing the right credit holidays
| PKO BP
Importantly, the bank also emphasizes that if you have already submitted an application to suspend the next loan installment as part of contractual loan holidays, it will be canceled so that you can use them when the statutory suspension period ends.
In the next step, select the appropriate loan and the data will be collected automatically. However, attention should be paid to the period of suspension of repayment. One month is set for the automat. It can be changed for two months with one click.
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Pay attention to the period of suspension of installments
| PKO BP
And here we come back to the topic of submitting applications for subsequent periods. I could not immediately suspend installments in the fourth quarter of this year or in the four selected months of 2023.
The next stage is to confirm that the suspension of installment payments concerns a loan intended to meet own housing needs. We do this under the threat of criminal liability.
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| PKO BP
Then all you need to do is check the correctness of the data, authorize the application and it’s ready.
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| PKO BP
To sum up, placing an instruction is simple and intuitive. I could only complain that I waited nearly 30 minutes for the service to start, but I realize that the systems also need a while to configure, and besides, few people probably started to do it just after midnight. The second issue is the fact that so far I could only suspend installments for two months out of the eight due.
How to apply for a credit vacation at other banks?
I am aware that PKO BP is only one of the banks where Poles have loans, so my experience will not be 100%. useful to everyone. At Business Insider Polska, however, we have collected the most important information from the most popular banks.
Credit holidays – how to apply? We explain. Check your bank
The Ministry of Finance has also prepared its guide. It emphasized that credit holidays are a “vacation” from a mortgage, i.e. the possibility of suspending its repayment for up to eight months. Applications for the suspension of installment payments may be submitted from July 29 this year, the credit holidays start to apply from August this year.
It was indicated that the borrower individually decides on the number of suspended installments. Credit holidays can be used on the following terms: up to 2 installments in the period from August 1 to September 30, 2022; up to 2 installments for the period October 1 – December 31, 2022; maximum 4 installments in 2023– one installment in each of the quarters.
In the guide, the Ministry of Finance reminded that a mortgage borrower who has a loan in PLN can take advantage of the loan holidays. However, people who pay off their mortgage loans in other currencies do not have such a possibility. As we explained in Business Insider Polska, On the other hand, banks see no contraindications to grant holidays for real estate that is still under construction. It must be remembered that selecting a flat that meets housing needs is subject to criminal liability. There is a risk of imprisonment for making false statements.
Applications for credit holidays can be submitted in writing or electronically, on a form or without it – depending on what functionalities the bank will provide. The ministry emphasized that it did not issue a regulation on the application template.
The bank will confirm acceptance of the application within 21 days from the date of its receipt. It will also indicate the period for which loan repayment has been suspended, as well as the amount of fees that must be paid for loan insurance. The lack of confirmation does not affect the commencement of the suspension period, the ministry emphasized. He added that the funds “saved” during credit holidays can be used to overpay the mortgage.
The Ministry of Finance announced that a hotline will be launched at the Financial Ombudsman’s Office, through which anyone interested will be able to ask an expert or report a problem.
