Case Study: A six year Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA)

Harry and Rosie are in arrears on their mortgage since Rosie had her accident as they no longer have two salaries coming into the house.  Their house is valued at €150,000 but their mortgage including arrears of €30,000 amounts to €320,000. Their negative equity is €170,000.  They also have a credit union debt of €20,000, a credit card debt of €1000 and old Revenue debt of €25,000 from when Harry was self-employed 5 years ago.

They have been trying their best to pay their credit commitments but it became clear to them they can no longer afford to keep up with their repayments as they fell due.

Process

Harry and Rosie met with an Advice Manager from Grant Thornton Debt Solutions (GTDS) and they went through all of the options available to them. Once the protective certificate was in place GTDS started to negotiate the proposal they agreed with Harry and Rosie. All of their creditors including Revenue agreed to the proposal except their mortgage provider. They would not agree to write off the negative equity of €170,000 on the family home mortgage. This was disappointing as all other creditors had agreed to the proposal. Fortunately Harry and Rose were able to appeal their rejected case via the Abhaile Scheme, free of charge. This scheme is government funded and it allows you to appeal the creditor’s decision. A Personal Insolvency Judge has the final say in the outcome of the arrangement. The judge agreed with Rosie and Harry’s proposal and felt their proposal was fair and reasonable to all parties. The creditors rejection was overturned and the PIA was approved.

 Outcome

• 6 year Personal Insolvency Arrangement
• Mortgage was reduced down to the value of the house, which is €150,000. Their repayments will now be €900 a month until retirement age, which they can afford.
• Negative equity on the family home of €170,000 was written off.
• In total €216,000 debt was written off which included the €170,000 negative equity on the family home.
• For 6 years they will pay an additional €300 a month between them into their arrangement. This means they give back €21,600 to their creditors for the €216,000 debt written off.
• After the 6 years Rosie & Harry will return to solvency and are just left with their mortgage payment of €900 a month. All other debt is legally written off.

In a similar situation?  Contact Us

If you are in a similar situation to Harry and Rosie, 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.