Will hardship help stop me from getting credit in the future?

No. Information about financial hardship arrangements only stays on your credit report for 12 months. If you apply for credit inside that period, your credit report may prompt a lender to ask a few more questions to understand whether you are still experiencing financial hardship and if you can afford the loan. 

There are limits on what a lender can do with the financial hardship information, and those limits are intended to protect consumers. For example, a lender is not allowed to use financial hardship information as the sole basis for closing a credit card account or reducing its limit. Credit reporting bodies are also not allowed to use financial hardship information when they calculate a person’s credit score.