Unsecured personal loan arrears AIB -where to next ?

OrmondA11

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Apologies for the long post !!

My husband & I took out a personal unsecured loan with AIB in 28/05/ 2009. It was an 8 year loan which was a consolidation of a few accounts ,( current a/c overdraft, personal loan & credit card)
We had to push hard to fight for this as the branch was uninterested . We applied for a top up mortgage prior to this loan as the bank would have security and it would be more affordable for us (Almost half the cost of the loan) It was declined despite an auctioneers valuation proving the property to have equity but yet an unsecured loan was offered.

For the next couple of years we struggled due to the recession (job loss, young kids etc) but always kept the lines of communication open.

As we got back on our feet we engaged a financial service provider who accompanied us to the branch where we had a number of meetings with the branch manager.

Our biggest worry at that point was our home , We went through a period of interest only reduced C &I . We have no arrears with years now thankfully.

During that time the bank advised to prioritise our home loan so we had no choice but to default the loan of €388 per month.

The last payment was December 2013 . In September 2014 the loan was given to Cabot to recover and we have been on the same roundabout since,

Since then it's gone to 3 debt recovery agents with every request for SRS ,statements etc fulfilled .

We would put forward offers and hear nothing for months on end and again instructed the finacial advisor to reach out and the whole process would begin again.

In June 2019 we wrote to have our personal access files sent to us . It definately shed light on a number of things.

While parts of the information is re-dacted it painted us a picture. The lenders report said our initial mortgage was to be declined but it was approved as the report noted the employer i worked for at the time was a developer and a great AIB customer !. We actually had a bridging loan from commerical banking for €470,000.00

That lead to a whole lot of other financial strain which is where the personal loans & overdrafts initiated from . We were completely in over our head.

Eventually we parted ways with the financial service provider in February 2019 as he felt he could do no more . In January 2020 we wrote a letter of complaint to the local branch manager. detailing our frustration due to lack of engagement as we were doing all the chasing.A week later my Husband received a phone call from AIB debt recoveries in Dublin . The 1st call from them about the loan since 2013 but he had no interest in discussing the loan , he only wanted him to commit to saying that complaint was dealt with.
From there on 29.01.2020 we wrote a very detailed letter addressed personally to the staff member who made the call. We put forward an offer which we deemed reasonable in relation to its' handling as well as a very large report attaching all the correspondance from our initial mortgage application on 26.04.05 to 28.05.09 where we finished with 2 mortgages , and a 30k loan account as a result of the large bridging loan which in hindsight we were completely under financied to receive initally.

We waited several weeks but got no response . We made a call to the same AIB staff member who wouldnt come to the phone but his co-worker told us we need to fill yet another SRS before the offer be considered . He was to post 1 out .We are still waiting !!!

We took our large file to our solicitor in late March who was going to engage with the bank on our behalf and then lockdown happened .

He is now of the view with another financial crisis looming it's best do nothing for now.

We when last paid the loan it had a balance of €18k approx . Last annual statement received june 2020 the balance sits at €20,246.50 with accumulating interest since 18/03/2014 of €9,888.41 . We are back to square 1 .

We want to get this loan sorted but are at a complete loss as to where to take it. We are of the view we are pawns .The staff in the call centres are only there to fob you off and you can never get to speak to someone who can actually be of asssistance.

If we go back to the bank the round about will spin again , If we ask the FSPO they will most likely also reject us and said we signed up to the banks T & C

To be clear we do feel very very aggrieved with this entire past decade of crap

In the past we have asked for it be added to our mortgage , offered €15k over 5 years with the loan written off once cleared and our credit record repaired as well as a number of other various amounts in full and final settlement but all were rejected.

If you can help us or direct us in anyway we would so very grateful .
 
We when last paid the loan it had a balance of €18k approx . Last annual statement received june 2020 the balance sits at €20,246.50 with accumulating interest since 18/03/2014 of €9,888.41 . We are back to square 1 .

We want to get this loan sorted but are at a complete loss as to where to take it. We are of the view we are pawns .The staff in the call centres are only there to fob you off and you can never get to speak to someone who can actually be of asssistance.

Surely you can resolve this by paying off the loan?

You have put a proposal to them to pay less than the amount owing. They are under no obligation to agree to that or any other deal.

When did you last make a payment on this loan?

What is the interest rate?
It might make sense to ask AIB for a mortgage break so that you can clear this loan.

It's not clear from anything you say that you have any case for not paying the full amount due.

Brendan
 
It might make sense to ask AIB for a mortgage break so that you can clear this loan.

Exactly. Ask AIB to put the mortgage on interest only for, say, 2 years. Doing this would probably give the OP room to pay off a €20k loan.

Does the OP have any other skeletons in the closet?
 
Totally agree that this is what happens . No surprise there.

It was done at a time of huge financial strain at the instruction of our relationship manager in the branch (email from him as proof) to prioritise our home and reinforced by the ASU .
We asked for the loan to be extended over a longer period prior to any default (AIB extentsion offered was only a saving of €95 p/m making the payment still unaffordable on 1 salary or a payment break which they declined)
Due to the fact that our mortgage was extended by over 3 additional years puts us at over 70 when it will be concluded so no break will be given as we had previously inquired. (unless this has changed since we last asked the question)

Intially when we started to deal with cabot they rejected the monthly offer put forward deeming the €100 offered too low in relation to the debt despite the evidence to show no more repayment capacity .
Over the years we would put forward increased monthly offers accompanied by SFS and hear nothing for months on end and again instruct the finacial advisor to reach out and the whole process would begin again with no conclusion.

We were informed from the last debt collector DCSI that the debt has now returned to the AIB recovery unit .

We are still awaiting a reply from our last letter to the bank in January 2020.


So the big question is who do we approach because the kids in the bank call centres can't seem to direct us to any one who can be of assistance.
We certainly are not in funds to clear the loan in full which would appear the only option available in our experience.

FYI _ The interst rate was 7.26% in 2009
 
Why don't you just start paying your loan?

You have said that you have capacity of €100 or more? So start paying that.

Did you avail of the 6 month Covid break? That would have made inroads into the loan.

Alternatively, if AIB has refused you a mortgage break, unilaterally switch it to interest only, and start repaying your far more expensive loan.

Brendan
 
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