Bank of Ireland solicitors threat

debdub

Hi - need advice as just received letter seeking full payment of a loan or solicitor letter within 7 days from Bank of Ireland.

Lost job in November and was unable to make monthly payments of 472 on a loan. Contacted bank and spoke to MABS and they verbally agreed to take 100 a month until redundancy came through or circumstances improved. This was never confirmed in writing and I have paid 100 a month since then.

The low payment period came to an abrupt halt though with a letter yesterday advising they now wanted the full payment or it would be passed to their solicitors within 7 days.

I'm on trial in a new job so can increase the payments to 150 a month - if it becomes permanent hopefully more. I have now also received redundancy so can now afford to pay them about 3000 (1/3 of my oustanding debt).

Based on this my loan will be paid off, just about 2 years later than planned but I do intend to pay it all and had never missed a payment in 3 years until I lost a job I was in for a long time.

Does anybody have experience with Bank of Ireland debt collectors - are they likely to accept my offer or will they go ahead with solicitor anyway? If they do, would my offer be considered reasonable enough to prevent it going further?

Also, if I pay them 3000 now towards the balance (which they refused to free interest on) the funds paid to them while I was unemployed will actually total more than I would have paid by now had I been in a position to keep paying all along.

Need help as didn't sleep with worry last night.

Thanks

Savman

They'd be silly to bring you to court if you've been making payments. That will all go in your favour. Sounds like they are putting the pressure on, just relax and write (dont call) stating everything you posted here. Keep a record of all correspondence with the bank.

Don't lose sleep over it!

Hi debt,



It sound kinda strange that they have threatened you with a solicitor the fact you have communicated your circumstances.

first i would go to my relationship manager and inform him were your regarding your finances. 9000 outstanding? right

so you propose to pay 3000?

this leave you with 6000 why not restructure it for 5 years until you get your feet back on the ground the repayment should be around 130 a week.

Markdini

The letter that has been issued by the bank advises it will go legal in the coming days, you have a chance to negotiate with the debt collection department before they take the step of outsourcing this to one of their solicitors.

The bank tend to accept proposals for 3/6 months, they look to get repayments to a level that will satisify the criteria for a restructure(ie you must pay them circa 205 per month(9k over 5 years at 12.5%)).

If you cannot reach this level of repayment the bank will at some point, regardless of the amount you are actually paying, outsource this to a Solicitor.

The solicitor will accept your proposal until the debt is cleared. The Solicitor is also in a position to accept a full and final settlement. Debt collection department can accept circa 85% of debt owed, solicitor can drop below that.

Chipboard

Markdini wrote: »

The letter that has been issued by the bank advises it will go legal in the coming days, you have a chance to negotiate with the debt collection department before they take the step of outsourcing this to one of their solicitors.

The bank tend to accept proposals for 3/6 months, they look to get repayments to a level that will satisify the criteria for a restructure(ie you must pay them circa 205 per month(9k over 5 years at 12.5%)).

If you cannot reach this level of repayment the bank will at some point, regardless of the amount you are actually paying, outsource this to a Solicitor.

The solicitor will accept your proposal until the debt is cleared. The Solicitor is also in a position to accept a full and final settlement. Debt collection department can accept circa 85% of debt owed, solicitor can drop below that.

I think you're basing that on you're experience in one bank because there is no such guideline. It's assessed on a case by case basis. A bank won't accept any settlement offer if the person has the ability to pay off their debt and it will accept anything it can get in situations where not to do so will get them less eg. if the borrower is in dire straits.

Markdini

The original query was relating to a specific bank, so my comment has been tailored to said bank.
In that banks case, they themselves will very very rarely accept a settlement figure below a set percentage.
In keeping with this banks guidelines for debt collection they must refer accounts to a legal department, if the proposal being offered does not satisfy restructing criteria.
Depending on the level of debt owed and type of account the criteria may vary. However, the large majority of accounts are infact based on a 5 year restructure cycle.
Having your account moved to solicitors is not a bad development as they are not hindered by the banks own internal collection structure. They will accept far lesser figures once it can be proven to be a true and accurate reflection of your current circumstances.