Seeking Advice: Credit Union Mess - No End in sight...

L

LiverpoolFC

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Hi. I see some light at the tunnel having read Sgt. Pepper's post dated Nov 14th 2017, but my situation with the largest failed Credit Union in Ireland is a mess; Newbridge Credit Union loan book was taken over by PTSB. Here is my story, advice sought!

Approx 10 years ago following loans for home improvements, cars, holidays my loan balance reached an eye-watering €30K. Life was good and I was happily married. When the recession hit with both lost our jobs and soon after due to the pressures, we became legally separated. My ex-wife is a guarantor on the loan, however she only became a guarantor at €24K when I added €6K and the CU then requested a guarantor.

After 10 years and thousands of euros in repayments the loan is still at approx €30K. I don't understand how it is still at this amount. Obviously I missed some payments over the years; I should have been paying €500 per month, which I did for about a year but then all I could afford was €250 but admittedly some months I did not even pay this amount.

In December of 2017 I engaged the services of a 'Kerry Based' Debt Management Company (PIP) who appeared to offer a great service with hundreds of satisfied customers and testimonials. Long story short, having paid them €750 upfront and €80 per month thereafter, they turned out to be highly unprofessional and to be honest an absolute joke. So I'm down almost €1,000 at this point which I could have used to pay down either the CU or my mortgage which by the way has €50K in arrears; in fairness to my mortgage provider they have been fair enough to me over the years with reduced payments.

So here's the position, I will only ever be in a position to cover the interest on the CU loan. I've actually paid them quite a substantial amount of money over the years but the loan balance remains the same. The guarantor and a family member of mine have offered their help but only on the basis of a full and final settlement. I'm hoping that the Sgt Pepper solution could work for me too. Can anyone advise what the first steps should be in going down this road with the CU?

Can anyone advise what a potential settlement figure would be if a family member and guarantor are prepared to step in with some financial help to settle this mess once and for all? Thanks in advance...any advise appreciated.
 
My experience with a larger Credit Union loan than yours and reduced repayment capacity, was to ask them not to charge interest on it to allow pay down of principal.
And they agreed. This approach benefits both lender and distressed borrower.
It benefits you as it allows you to pay down your loan and it benefits the lender because it's improving their books.
 
Hello,

You need to get a copy of the transaction statement on your (former) credit union loan and examine it, to see that your payments were credit to the account and what interest has been charged to the account etc. If you feel that there are payments missing, or you need to question interest charges on the account etc., then go and do this immediately. You might also try asking them to set the interest rate to zero on this account given your difficulty in making payments, or at the very least ask them to reduce it, if this has not already been requested.

I think the next step for you is to get a professional advisor. It's a shame that the PIP in Kerry didn't work out, but I think you need the help of a professional. Have you stopped dealing with the service provider in Kerry, also asked for some of your money back, if you feel that the didn't provide a good service etc. ?

Without knowing your full circumstances, asking people to speculate as to what chance there may be of a settlement being reached, or what figure might be accepted, is like asking how long a piece of string is. Even with full information, no one knows the answer for sure.

It's quite possible that you may need to go through the insolvency process to obtain an overall permanent solution here. Most credit providers will not agree to individual deals without full visibility of your circumstances in documented form and usually, they will only do something as part of a formal, overall debt arrangement. Have a look at the [broken link removed] and give them a call, to see if they might recommend a couple of good PIPs.
 
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