Leaving Debt in Ireland

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Irishcanadian91

Registered User
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Hey all,

So I'm new here but have wanted to post and ask this for a while. Has anyone ever walked away from debt in Ireland and what are the consequences?

My partner and I moved to Canada near the end of 2016. We had taken out a loan of €15,000 6 months prior to get set up in Canada. We paid the loan for the first year or so (even though after moving to Canada I lost my job 3 months in) but after I acquired a new $13 an hour job we were unable to continue payments and were given a payment break. After that we were given 6 months to pay interest only which ends in June. With the interest on the loan there is now about €13,000 left. It isn't exactly a mortgage but the payments are really getting in the way of making a life here in Canada.

We're trying to save for a mortgage and even have some kids but all of this would have to go on hold for another 4 or 5 years until we can get rid of the loan in Ireland. I don't want to owe money to the banks and it was never my intention to not pay it but with the way things have gone I'm worried we don't have another choice. Canada is expensive to live in. We have okay jobs now (although they are contract and not permanent) but having to make those monthly payments on top of our rent and cost of living will leave us unable to save for a mortgage at all.

I'm wondering what's the worst that can happen if we just ignore AIB? They haven't got our address here, just my parents one back home. We moved here to start a new life and we love it here. This is just really holding us back. I could go into a huge rant about how it's the banks fault for our terrible economy which made us move in the first place etc. but I fully accept that it was our decision to come here. The money was used to get us set up (had to pay 6 months rent in advance as we had no secure jobs) and other things like that.

Please don't be harsh, just looking for advice on what to do.

Cheers
 
Irishcanadian91 said:
...just looking for advice on what to do.
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My advice is pay back your loan. You took the loan "to get set up in Canada". But the bank doesn't even have your address in Canada. Ergo, you didn't tell the bank it was for Canada, you deliberately misled them. It's extremely unlikely the bank would have loaned you money for that purpose. You love it in Canada but you couldn't even be there without this money which you now don't want to pay back. You are not insolvent or planning to file for insolvency, because you are planning to save for a mortgage. Morally you don't have a leg to stand on, and that's putting it extremely generously.

Irishcanadian91 said:
I'm wondering what's the worst that can happen if we just ignore AIB?
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Probably nothing.

Irishcanadian91 said:
Please don't be harsh
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The Irish tax payer owns AIB. The money that you planning to not repay because it's "just really holding us back" is coming straight out of our pockets. Maybe you're the sort of person who can sleep easy with that, in which case best of luck to you, but perhaps steer clear of asking people not to be harsh while you've still got your hand stuffed in their trousers pocket.
 
Irishcanadian91 said:
I could go into a huge rant about how it's the banks fault for our terrible economy which made us move in the first place etc.
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And the taxpayers of this country could go into a huge rant about how they end up carrying the can for the likes of you. Your friends, relations and former colleagues as owners of the banks are carrying you, think of that the next time you talk to them!

Irishcanadian91 said:
The money was used to get us set up (had to pay 6 months rent in advance as we had no secure jobs) and other things like that.
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It is unlikely the bank would give you a loan for such an activity, so a complaint of fraud to the Grada would be appropriate, but unlikely to happen.

Irishcanadian91 said:
Please don't be harsh, just looking for advice on what to do.
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You ask Irish taxpayers how to best to stitch them up..... your sense of entitlement is breath taking...
 
The "worst that can happen" is that AIB obtain a court judgement against you and pass it to the Sheriff for execution. The Sheriff will then call to your parents house, attempt to seize high value goods, put them up for public auction, and remit the proceeds to AIB.
 
Can the sheriff seize goods from a house belonging to someone who is not named in the judgment without evidence the goods belong to the named debtor?
 
Well think about it, what is going to happen to the letters from AIB to your parents house ? Your parents will eventually suss what's going on and start opening them. Especially when the registered letter comes along. But of course you probably know Mummy and Doddy will end up paying off the loan and as long as you are in Canada .. La la la lala - I can't hear anything BUT someday you will be back and facing the music and all for a lousy 13k. Enjoy
 
TLO said:
The Sheriff will then call to your parents house, attempt to seize high value goods, put them up for public auction, and remit the proceeds to AIB.
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A ridicules head line grabbing statement to make if ever I saw one, Will they then go after the aunties and uncles if they get no joy there.

IC91,
You have a conscience, and thats evident from your posts, so Dont read too much into the negatives that your getting here, and with that in mind, at some stage down the road, when you get settled, you may very well be in a position settle this.

But, at the moment, and you being where you are, financially and location wise, I would also be pondering the same question.

It would be great in time to come, to unburden yourselves with this, and I get the impression you will.
 
I think there is a bigger story here.

I have twice borrowed four figures from AIB to fund cash flow when I was moving abroad. (I always paid them back btw).

I did it all online and got approval within hours. One one occasion my only income was welfare payments! AIB never did any due diligence, never asked for a guarantee from someone older and more likely to stick around, etc. They just charged me 10% interest.

It's no wonder defaults are so high when underwriting standards in Irish banks are so lousy. This sadly keeps good Irish customers stuck in a vicious loop of high interest rates, because banks are too incompetent to sort the risky from the safe.
 
Lads have yee ever heard the saying you don’t s##t on your own doorstep, been abroad and living out your dreams is all very well and good but never close the doors on yourselves to be able to come back, your own feelings about living abroad could change overtime and Having the fact that you took the bank down here hanging over you actually leaves you robbing yourself of a lot more than them
 
My suggestion would be get a loan in Canada to pay off the loan in Ireland. Maybe interest rate would be better. I know a guy non Irish who left Ireland with 10k loan unpaid. With EU law updated for banks this year I think he may have moved to Turkey to get away from it. Best too just pay your loan as best you can.
 
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