# Personal debt restructure



## carebear28 (27 Sep 2011)

Hi I have a personal loan (balance left about €4500) Ive been struggling to make repayments 68.31 p/w for the past year and basically repayments have been coming from my overdraft which is now at its limit of €1500. 
Ive contacted my bank about getting my payments reduced as im unemployed and on 186.20p/w but was told that my loan would have to be restructured which is like applying all over again and as im not working I wouldnt be approved. 
Ive gone to mabs but nothing they can do for me until five weeks when they have seen my budget sheets and where im spending my money every week. The lady told me if i missed a payment in that time to advise them im in talks with mabs but I really dont want to miss payments and then get charged €12.70 unpaid s/o fee. 

What Id ideally like to do would be to get a loan for 6k enough to  pay off my overdraft and then reduce my overdraft limit to €200 for emergencies. 
Ideally my loan repayments would be €30 p/w and any week I have money left over Id put that into my loan also. 
Can anyone give me advice on what to do?? Thanks in advance.


----------



## hastalavista (27 Sep 2011)

a five year loan at 12% interest on 6k will cost about 30 a week so thats what you need.
Am guessing at the 12%, if more then 6 years say, if less then stick with the 5

I would go to bank with that proposal


----------



## carebear28 (27 Sep 2011)

Thanks 5 years is def long enough. I have a graduate account so interest might be a bit less. Hopefully il get a job and pay it off quicker but at the moment that is all i can afford. The problem is the bank are saying they cant do it because they have to fill in a whole new loan application and I will be declined as Im unemployed. Seems a bit silly as Im not looking for any more money just smaller repayments.


----------



## hastalavista (27 Sep 2011)

carebear28 said:


> Thanks 5 years is def long enough. I have a graduate account so interest might be a bit less. Hopefully il get a job and pay it off quicker but at the moment that is all i can afford. The problem is the bank are saying they cant do it because they have to fill in a whole new loan application and I will be declined as Im unemployed. Seems a bit silly as Im not looking for any more money just smaller repayments.



I would write them a short letter setting out what you want to do and send it by registered post. If you write they will have to reply in writing and I doubt if they will write back to say we cant do it because u are unemployed

Its a restructuring of  existing loans as opposed to a whole new application.


----------



## Nationaldude (28 Sep 2011)

Then you answer back that "you can't pay what they are asking you to, as YOU ARE UNEMPLOYED".

It's about time the banks became more human and less authoritarian!


----------



## carebear28 (28 Sep 2011)

Was onto the bank again and must say the lady I dealt with was very sympathetic and praised me for keeping up with my repayments this long but nothing they can do for me. I asked for a 3 month payment break as Im hoping il have got a job or have sold my car but they would only do that if I was sick or on maternity. They said I cant pay less on my loan without having to re-apply for a new loan and after going over my income said I was declined. Have the feeling that they wont do anything unless I default on payments which is what im trying to avoid in the first place. I really dont know what else I can do now.


----------



## 44brendan (28 Sep 2011)

This sounds like a complete nonsencial approach on behalf of the Bank. In line with previous posts your offer to repay €30 per month is reasonable. It's not reasonable to request a 3 month payment break as employment status may not change and no Bank is going to take no action for that time on the basis that you may get a job. I agree with previous posters suggestion that you write to them formally advising them of your position and letting them known your offer. In return you need them to cap any penalty rates to ensure that your monthly payment is reducing the capital and interest at a reasonable rate. I've worked in the Banking sector for more than 30 years and nothing should surprise me now but I'm continually amazed by the poor approach taken to clients who are prepared to co-operate in meeting their debts. Why not name and shame the Bank and branch involved!


----------



## carebear28 (28 Sep 2011)

Its bank of ireland wont say branch! The irony of it is I used to work there!


----------



## 44brendan (28 Sep 2011)

Spent some time in BoI myself!! Anyway best to write to them as outlined above. make sure that you advise them that payments will only commence after you receive a response to your offer. Make sure that the loan is properly restructured and you are not paying penal interest rates. Best of luck


----------



## carebear28 (28 Sep 2011)

I will write to them today but not very optimistic! Thanks for all your advice though.


----------



## Panacea (30 Sep 2011)

If you decide to write to them I hope they read your letter .... I recently sent a simple query by email to my branch of BOI and wasnt expecting the response below!

"Your message was deleted without being read on Thursday, September 29, 2011 *:**:** PM (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London."

_At the very least I would have expected auto read/received/deleted notifications to be turned off!_

(I blanked out the time it was deleted in case they decide to track it and give me a little black mark after seeing it here! Paranoia is such a pain)


----------



## ClubMan (3 Oct 2011)

Always possible it was a genuine mistake - I've done it myself from time to time (i.e. deleted important emails). Although one might expect there to be a two stage deletion process so that emails could be recovered before being purged after initial deletion...


----------



## bettyboop (22 Oct 2011)

Hey 

I was in this situation a couple of months ago also with BOI, was on maternity leave and partner was out of work and no social welfare as was self employed. I was going over my overdraft limit every month in order to make payments and the bank contacted me and suggested a restructure. I went in and had a meeting with a loans advisor and they went through all my finances combined my credit card (1500) overdraft (800) and loan of (7000) extended term of loan to 7 years bringing repayments from 440 a month to 232 this was on condition i cancel credit card and overdraft all of which was done automaticlly by bank. I had no issues. I did have to apply for a new loan to get this restructure but loan officer sent details of financial situation with the application and it was fine. Have you had a meeting with a loan officer face as they seem to be alot easier to deal with. I had contacted by phone (365) originally to  try and sort it but got no where


----------



## Macstuff (22 Oct 2011)

Just be careful what rate they offer you on the new loan, I went to BOI a few months back to apply for a loan to pay my overdraft - they offered it to me but at about 13.5%. I declined as my OD has a much lower rate.


----------

