Accelerated Personal Insolvency Arrangement

Term is 6 years. Family home mortgage restructured and €300,000 of unsecured debt written off.

Background

Joe and Catherine are married, in their 40’s, they have two children and are living in Wicklow.  Joe is working in the Financial Services industry and is commuting each day to Dublin for work. Catherine recently started a new business after a period of unemployment and has been self-employed for just under a year.

Their family home currently has small amount of equity with a mortgage balance of just over €400,000.
They are now in substantial arrears. The couple have been paying €1,500 a month towards their mortgage but their full mortgage payment is €2,400 a month. They also have other debt with multiple unsecured creditors such as credit cards, personal loans, and a shortfall on a buy to let property. This property was repossessed and sold following a period where the debtors had problem tenants who refused to pay rent. Because of this, the couple had no way of meeting the mortgage payments. The total of these debts amounts to €300,000.

Process

Joe and Catherine met with an Advice Manager from Grant Thornton Debt Solutions (GTDS) and discussed all of their available options. Once the debtors were happy they fully understood the process they engaged GTDS to commence work on their proposal. Following a period of assessment, a Protective Certificate was granted and GTDS engaged with all of their creditors and commenced negotiations.

A family member agreed to give them a lump sum of €20,000; this was offered as a full and final settlement towards all of their unsecured creditors.

Outcome:

• 6 month accelerated PIA
• Costs to reasonably live were allowed, in additional to these set costs the debtors were allowed additional extra costs such as Life Cover, Childcare costs, extra petrol for Joe travelling to work each day and local property tax.
• After these expenses the debtors were left with a monthly surplus of €1,900pm
• Grant Thornton Debt Solutions restructured the mortgage to an affordable fixed amount of €1900pm. The mortgage term was extended to retirement age and all arrears were capitalised. This meant the mortgage would be paid back in full by the end of the mortgage term and gave the debtors comfort that they would never be expected to sell their family home.
• Taking into consideration the allowable costs to live and also the restructured mortgage payment amount the debtors had no monthly surplus left to offer to a 6 year arrangement.
• Joe and Catherine have now returned to solvency

In a similar situation?  Contact Us

If you are in a similar situation to Joe & Catherine, a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) could be an option for you to overcome your debt problem. For free and confidential advice, contact us at +353 1 4366 441.