Defaulting on a bank loan in Ireland

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yaku2

Registered User
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Hi.

A solicitors in Ireland will proceed with legal action against me next week unless I pay off my bank loan of E10K.
I am living in Asia and haven`t made a payment for over 2 years.
I was in contact with MABS before I left Ireland but they closed my file over a year ago.
I only discovered all this yesterday as I didn`t receive any of the letters.
I would like to repay the loan but I can`t.
I think I have 2 options:

1. Hide.
2. Try to arrange a repayment plan.

If I choose #1 - How long for? What if they find me?

If I try #2, I`m worried that if I can`t meet the repayment requirements (quite likely), then they will have all my details, meaning #1 would no longer be an option.

Please advise! Thank you,

yaku2
 
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Re: Defaulting on a bank loan in Ireland (living in Asia)

Assuming you have no property in Ireland the solicitor will issue proceedings against you and service will be done by post at your last known address. Again assuming that you do not contest the proceedings the courts will issue a judgement against you (this is just a court acknowledgement of the debt). Without property and given that you are living in Asia it is extremely unlikely that the matter will be progressed further by the lender.
However if you return to Ireland in the next 6 years and wish to purchase property or borrow money the lender could turn up the judgement and you will have problems borrowing plus you run the risk of the original lender recommencing proceedings. The call is yours but I would atempt to make some contact with the lender to reach a comprimise. This can be done through a 3rd party without disclosing your present location. Given the choice that they have it is likely that they will be agreeable to a settlement with you. (Even for a %tge of the amount owing). Generally a comprimise can be reached.
 
Re: Defaulting on a bank loan in Ireland (living in Asia)

Thanks for the quick reply.
I`ll give them a call and, if possible, come to some arrangement.
If not, does the 6 years begin from the court ruling or from my last payment, 2 years ago?

Thanks again,

yaku2
 
Update

Hi BrenG,
I contacted the solicitor - she said I would have to supply a statement of means, within 7 days, to qualify for a reduced rate repayment plan (ie less than E450 a month). This would, presumably, mean providing them with all my details.
I am waiting to hear back (by email) from the bank`s head office.
Regards,
Yaku2
 
Re: Update

They are not entitled to a statement of means unless they have first gotten judgment against you and are looking for an installment order. This solicitor is chancing her arm. I would be wary of suppling too much info at this stage.

Some debt collection solicitors are extremely aggressive in their pursuit of debtors and will regardless obtain judgment and then seek an installment order and eventually a committal warrant even if you are not in the country. If there is someone at your old address to sign for registered letters this is a likely outcome as once proper service is proved a commital order would be granted. I would advise you to have the occupants at your old address refuse to sign for any registered mail for you and to return all your post to the post office.
 
Thank you Bond-007,
so: unless I sort something out with the bank (within a week), the solicitor will go ahead with the court action against me and, as I won`t be there, the judge will rule against me.
If I don`t make the repayments after that, the solicitor will get a warrant and then an order for my arrest?
How long could I go to prison for?
Would they come looking for me?
Would I be `on the run` for the rest of my life?

Please reply, thank you,

Yaku2.
 
Re: Defaulting on a bank loan in Ireland (living in Asia)

BrenG said:
However if you return to Ireland in the next 6 years ...
Click to expand...
But won't the problem remain on the individual's ICB record until it is sorted out and not just for the 5 years after a judgement was secured?
 
Yaku2

How did this solicitor get in contact with you, do they know your address/phone number, etc?

I think you should carefully read BrenG's advice:

Assuming you have no property in Ireland the solicitor will issue proceedings against you and service will be done by post at your last known address. Again assuming that you do not contest the proceedings the courts will issue a judgement against you (this is just a court acknowledgement of the debt). Without property and given that you are living in Asia it is extremely unlikely that the matter will be progressed further by the lender.
Click to expand...

sorry for the emphasis, but it is important.

I think there is no question of prison or being "on the run".
 
Hold on. Don't worry about the prison issue. There is no question of that. Although technically the procedure could go down htat direction the reality is that you are fully entitled to a fair hearing before the process gets that far. Forget sending in the income statement. tell the solicitor you are abroad and prepared to make an offer to commence repayments. Formerly follow this up with an offer in writing. In that instance if ever proceedings beyond judgement are issued against you this offer can be produced as evidence that you made an attempt to reach an agreement. Also advise the solicitor that you are now living abroad and that will avoid the issue of an installment order. I am a little out of date on installment proceedings but up to a couple of years ago a Court required proof from the creditors solicitor that there was income before they would issue one. Also commital orders are rare and unlikely to be issued without proof of personal service of the installment order which would not be possible in your case. Again as I mentioned I am a couple of years out of the area and things may have changed but I would be surprised if there had been any dramatic changes in the system as in most cases where the debtor could not be traced we did not proceed beyond simple judgement.
 
Clubman yes you are right. That is why it is advisable to reach a satisfactory settlement with the creditor (if a Bank and a member of ICB)
 
People do not go to prison for non payment of debts. installment orders are Court Orders and non paymnet of installments can be regarded as a refusal to satisfy the Court requirements. Even so a debtor can go back to the Court and state that their financial circumstances have changed and get the order amount reduced. Experienced defaulters can easily twart the system which is heavily biased in favour of the individual IME.
 
ClubMan said:
According to [broken link removed] at least two people were in prison in 2005 for non payment of debts.
Click to expand...

Sorry, you are right Clubman.

But in the circumstances outlined by BrenG, and his/her subsequent post, I feel that if the OP attempts to make an arrangement to repay in line with their financial circumstances, there would be no question of prison.

BTW, the Seanad debate extract is very informative :)
 
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Thanks everyone for the advice, I really appreciate it,

Irishpancake - someone from my old address in Ireland contacted me about the letter and I called the solicitor. The solicitor only knows what country I`m in - unless they can trace my phone calls or emails?

BrenG - I will email my possible payment plan to the solicitor.

I will call the bank`s head office after lunch...

Yaku2
 
perhaps you should consider setting up a free anonymous e-mail account specifically for this purpose.

I think Gmail are now giving out accounts without needing an invitation.

Best of luck in your efforts :)

BTW, Clubman, i genuinely wasn't attempting to correct you vis a vis Seanad/Dáil, I just thought that the debate was very iinformative ;)
 
BrenG said:
Hold on. Don't worry about the prison issue. There is no question of that. Although technically the procedure could go down htat direction the reality is that you are fully entitled to a fair hearing before the process gets that far. Forget sending in the income statement. tell the solicitor you are abroad and prepared to make an offer to commence repayments. Formerly follow this up with an offer in writing. In that instance if ever proceedings beyond judgement are issued against you this offer can be produced as evidence that you made an attempt to reach an agreement. Also advise the solicitor that you are now living abroad and that will avoid the issue of an installment order. I am a little out of date on installment proceedings but up to a couple of years ago a Court required proof from the creditors solicitor that there was income before they would issue one. Also commital orders are rare and unlikely to be issued without proof of personal service of the installment order which would not be possible in your case. Again as I mentioned I am a couple of years out of the area and things may have changed but I would be surprised if there had been any dramatic changes in the system as in most cases where the debtor could not be traced we did not proceed beyond simple judgement.
Click to expand...
When a case gets to the installment order stage the debtor is required to furnish a statement of means to the court. If this is not done they will simply obtain a order for a high amount in the absence of the statement. Again a judge would need to be shown that proper service of the summons was done.
 
Hi everyone,

Just letting you know how I got on:
I sent an e-mail (using gmail) to the solicitor offering a small monthly repayment - no reply yet.
I eventually got through to the debt recovery dept. of the bank and they accepted a small monthly repayment with a review in 3 months.
Once again, thank you for all the good advice,
Yaku2.
 
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