COVID 19 Crisis Advice/Information

People currently in insolvency arrangements.
Since the crisis has hit we have received numerous requests from people in insolvency arrangements for assistance as they have lost their incomes.

At the moment we have a simple form to complete to confirm loss of income and requesting a payment break which can then be granted.

For someone in an arrangement a payment break from the mortgage has to be requested through the Personal Insolvency Practitioner.

For those not in arrangements yet
Repossessions
The repossession courts are all adjourned until April at the earliest which still affords time to people still in the repossession process to get advice if they have not done so to date.

For those now affected and looking for advice
Tens of thousands of people in the country have lost jobs in the last few weeks which will have a detrimental impact on household budgets. Even with the government welfare payments of €350 per week it is likely that there will still be insufficient income to meet all the regular bills.

Some of the jobs that are lost are likely to be lost for good.

People should plan for the recovery phase and get advice on how to deal with loss of income and in this regard Personal Insolvency Practitioners are still working will continue to work remotely with meetings held by phone/skype etc.

On average 20 families per week benefit from the Personal Insolvency legislation by being able to stay in their home with restructured home loans

The options available for an insolvency practitioner to assist someone with debt difficulties include restructuring of mortgages to include:
   • Term extensions
   • A write off of negative equity where appropriate
   • Reductions in interest rates
   • Restructuring of unsecured debts to include write-downs so that the mortgage debts are prioritised and people can stay in their homes

News Links
Sisters in law allowed to write down millions in debt under insolvency scheme
€32m debts written off by court in three days
Insolvency arrangement approved for man with 60 million in debts