# Writing off personal debt



## balderick (5 May 2014)

Hi there,

I am married with no children, and my wife and I have the following debts:

AIB loans - around €24,000 combined
Credit cards - around €3,000 combined
Credit union loan - €2,600

so around €30,000 total personal debt.

My wife has been diagnosed with mental illness since last year, and our income is from disability allowance for her, an increase for me as her dependent, and rent allowance, and this comes to €1,960 per month in total (I have also recently applied for half rate carers allowance because I need to look after her for the time being). 

We have been in with MABS a few months back, did our budget and pay €75 to AIB and €20 to the credit union per month. We were advised at the time that because our debt was fairly small and that our prospects might pick up, that it wouldn't be worth trying to write this debt off. However, in light of my wife's illness and inability to work, which will be a long term thing, and the fact that there is no way I'm going to be able to make any dent in this debt by myself, would I have a chance of getting this debt written off? And if so, what's the best way to getting the ball rolling? 

It's an unfortunate situation we are in, because we had invested a lot of money in education and trying to create a decent life for ourselves, but that's gone out the window for the moment. We have also lost good job/education opportunities in recent times as a result of my wife's illness. I'm dealing with a lot of stress right now and it would be a monkey off my back if I could do something about this debt and we could move forward without it.

Any advice/opinion is much appreciated.

Thank you.


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## Gerry Canning (6 May 2014)

balderick; 
Aib etc will accept the Mabs conclusion and will wait for improvement in your circumstances. They accept that for now 95 is your max.
From your thread you do not see improvement in medium term.
...........................................................................................
Write to AIB&Union and honestly outline your views, namely your domestic situation, and  you want closure as you see no realistic way to get the debt monkey off your back..
Offer them ??? euros per month for a set time eg 48 months in full settlement of the debt NOT to avoid the debt but to get closure.
If they say no , you can always stop paying . Sounds nuclear but Banks have a habit of only listening when funds stop. 
The worst I can see is that they will issue proceedings to get monthly payments , at worst your payments will  be no more than Mabs advised.
It is a tough call,
Banks want their money back.
You owe this money.
You see no end to this debt trap.
You want closure (to give you some peace).

Be prepared for usual threat letters etc and avoid answering private numbers and keep all correspondance .
There are very good threads on ASk about money on debt


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## balderick (8 May 2014)

Hi Gerry,

Thanks for the reply. Just one other question: do you think I should go through MABS when contacting the banks about my situation or should I contact the banks directly myself, leaving MABs out of it from now on?


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## demoivre (8 May 2014)

Gerry Canning said:


> Banks want their money back.
> You owe this money.



It's well documented that Mbna ( Avant ) were accepting 30 to 40 % in full and final settlement of cc debt before the ISI. Any deals done under the ISI to date have seen debt write downs of between 77% and 93%.


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## balderick (17 May 2014)

sahd said:


> Is it worth going down the Insolvency route ? Are you a homeowner?



I don't own my own home and have practically no assets or cash. Would I be eligible to pursue the insolvency option?


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## Guinea pig (17 May 2014)

A DRN may be out as you owe over €20,000, but a call to the MABS helpline is free and they can tell you if the debt can be apportioned between two married persons. 

0761 07 2000

If a route like this appeals to you, be very careful how you are paying your debts, you cannot give preferential treatment to any debtor, all must be treated the same so if you are making a payment of €200 per month, this must be split on a pro rata basis between all debtors, not just all going to the loudest.


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## balderick (27 May 2014)

Guinea pig said:


> A DRN may be out as you owe over €20,000, but a call to the MABS helpline is free and they can tell you if the debt can be apportioned between two married persons.
> 
> 0761 07 2000
> 
> If a route like this appeals to you, be very careful how you are paying your debts, you cannot give preferential treatment to any debtor, all must be treated the same so if you are making a payment of €200 per month, this must be split on a pro rata basis between all debtors, not just all going to the loudest.



I should have said that our debt is split around 15k each under our individual names. Does that mean we could both apply for seperate DRNs as our individual debts are less than 20k?


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## suarez (27 May 2014)

In a word - yes.


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## Guinea pig (7 Jun 2014)

In that case, yes as far as I can see, all going well you could be done and debt free within 3 months. 

EDIT: (it took me 3 months to get the application submitted in total.) The DNR lasts 3 years.


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## DebtCert (7 Jun 2014)

A DRN lasts three years, not three months. You can end it earlier by paying 50% of what you owe.


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