What happens if I decide to ignore my debt?

They can declare personal bankruptcy but it ironically requires money. You need €1900 and the €635 filing fee. Its a little used device in Ireland by either creditors or debtors.

If a creditor goes down the road of making a debtor bankrupt they need to be very sure there is a big asset they can force the sale of, as they are forced to pay all the fees arising from the bankruptcy. Otherwise they may get very little in the share out and they are stuck with the bill.

see [broken link removed] for details
 
justintime said:
I do know I've never read in the paper about someone going to prison for debt. Thats really my only concern.
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If that really is your only concern, I think you're focussing on the wrong issue. Do you ever plan to buy a house? Do you ever plan to get a credit card? Do you ever plan to get a car loan?

Like it or not, it is almost effectively impossible to function without credit in this society.
 
Being in debt in Ireland sound very serious to me as nearly everyone is in debt with mortgages and if banks are allowed to send people to prison for non payment then they can have anyone sent to prison for this offence, therefore I would not like to be in possession of a mortgage or any sort of a loan be it credit card or else in Ireland, and if you are ill or had an accident or loose you job then you can go to prison for being in debt to these institutions. However as Vanilla proclaims to be a solicitor he must know what he is talking about?



I know the statutory time limit is 6 years in the UK but I thought it was 5 years in Ireland.



 
As I said it is entirely possible for a creditor to pursue a debtor for failure to pay to the point of applying to court to send them to prison, and this happens frequently. Pop down to any civil law day at your local district court and even in the smallest area you will find at least 10 applications for committal to prison on the list. Nor does the prison sentence wipe out the debt. However a court will only imprison someone who has the means to repay ( however small those repayments might be) and doesnt. A court will not imprison someone who doesnt have the means to pay. However as most people could afford say €5 per week or so, then most people do have the means to pay some amount.

And yes, the statutory period is 6 years.
 
bond-007 - thanks for that info on personal bankruptcy. I think it's fair to say that unlike other juristictions such as the USA personal bankruptcy is a lot rarer a course of action in Ireland?

royrogers - being in debt is not necessarily the problem. It's not being able to service the debt or defaulting on it that is!
 
back to the original question.

If I move house and change my name to it's Irish equivalent (something I am considering doing for personal reasons), and decide to ignore my debt, what will happen?

They surely won't be able to track me down...
I'll have a new ICB file under my new name...
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When a lending institution requests an ICB report, they supply name , address and Date of birth. it only requires 2 matches for a lender to determine that a articular debt belongs to someone. if you change your name to its irish equivilant .. ie from John Murphy to Sean O Mhuirchu you still have the same name and date of birth. lenders regularly run an ICB on the english version of an Irish name if they dont get a match under the Irish spelling. So if you ignore this debt its highly likely that if you apply for any further credit at any time in the future, the ICB will match this debt back to you As it will match on name and date of birth. Ive worked for 10 years in financial services and can tell you as have the majority of previous posters that ignoring a Debt is NEVER a good idea and that is without question the best advise your going to get.
 
I certainly would not like to have a large mortgage in Ireland based on what Vanilla says. I am surprised that people go to prison for non payment of debts. The tax payer will have financed the person in prison for the time that they will be there it makes no sense to me.

 
Don't forget that a mortgage is secured on a capital asset (the property) which (other than in cases of negative equity) is worth more than the outstanding loan (e.g. the loan to value ratio is less than 100%). This is very different from having a large unsecured loan.
 
Hang on a second. A bank cannot send ANYBODY to prison for failing to pay a debt. Repeat: NOBODY goes to prison for failing to pay a debt. You can only go to prison for failing to obey a court order to pay the debt in such instalments as the court may decide. And a court will not order you to do the impossible.

As for the morality of it.......well, we all must make up our own minds on that. Do bear in mind, though, AIB and the ICI scandal, NIB and tax evasion (ie theft from the rest of us), virtually all banks and the DIRT/bogus non-resident scams, overcharging, AIB directors "tax issues!" And so on. Then you can decide whether banks are deserving of our morality in return. The "...its the shareholder, not the bankyou're defrauding argument..." is ridiculous. Are the shareholders unaware of the banks proclivities? Hardly! Then, as rational investors, they must factor in a consequent fall in the level of respect and regard the banks will be held in by the public. With any consequent adverse effect in debtor behaviour towards the banks.

Won't fix your credit rating though!! Bloodsucking leeches win every time....:rolleyes: Could try a deed poll change of name, though.........
 
royrogers said:
I certainly would not like to have a large mortgage in Ireland based on what Vanilla says. I am surprised that people go to prison for non payment of debts. The tax payer will have financed the person in prison for the time that they will be there it makes no sense to me.

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Actually the banks have to reinburse the state for the costs of the imprisonment.
 
Observer said:
Bloodsucking leeches win every time....:rolleyes:
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Spongers who attempt to abandon their debts leaving other to pick up the pieces and cover the cost? I agree.
 
ClubMan said:
Spongers who attempt to abandon their debts leaving other to pick up the pieces and cover the cost? I agree.
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Or that AIB director who availed of the tax amnesty to abandon (the vast bulk of) HIS lawful debt leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab. All fully legal, of course. But shabby and sponging, eh?
 
Yes - for what it's worth I always had severe reservation about the various tax amnesties and how people benefited from them. Do you have any more info about that specific case (e.g. a link to reports about it) as I'm not familiar with it?
 
Bond, if it the banks that are paying for debtors to be in prison then they will be on bread and water leftovers!
 
Actually the banks have to reinburse the state for the costs of the imprisonment.
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Really? How interesting. Perhaps you could point out the specific legislation that enforces such payment.
 
I've been doing a lot of thinking about this and I'm going to pay my debt. Not for moral reasons (I can't believe people are standing up for banks - your argument that it's the shareholder who suffers is BS - using that logic the shareholder is responsible for when the banks rip off the public!)

I'm going to pay my debt because I know it's easier than I think. I just have to get the right frame of mind.

Thanks for the advice.
 
justintime said:
I've been doing a lot of thinking about this and I'm going to pay my debt. Not for moral reasons (I can't believe people are standing up for banks - your argument that it's the shareholder who suffers is BS - using that logic the shareholder is responsible for when the banks rip off the public!)
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How exactly are the banks ripping you off in this case? If you don't pay up then you are ripping them off. What has your debt got to do with any of the banking scandals/overcharging issues that have arisen in the recent past?
 
ClubMan said:
How exactly are the banks ripping you off in this case? If you don't pay up then you are ripping them off. What has your debt got to do with any of the banking scandals/overcharging issues that have arisen in the recent past?
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I am saying... if your argument is "I have shares in AIB so if you don't pay back the debt it is screwing me over!", well my response to that would be "Because you are part owner of AIB, your overcharging screwed me over... bastard!!!! :)"
 
How exactly are you being "screwed" or ripped off here? You ran up credit card debts at rates that are clearly advertised and then contemplated running away from these debts. If anybody was potentially being screwed or ripped off here it was the banks, their shareholders and their customers who would presumably have to make up such bad debts in higher charges or lower returns etc. But seeing that you have decided to pay your dues presumably this won't happen after all.
 
No, you're totally misreading what I'm saying.

Nevermind.
 
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