Free help first
- MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service): free, confidential help with budgeting and debt, by phone on 0818 07 2000 or in local offices. A money adviser can draw up a budget with you and contact your lenders on your behalf.
- Abhaile: free financial and legal advice if your home is at risk because of mortgage arrears, including a free consultation with a personal insolvency practitioner or solicitor. You get it through MABS.
- Citizens Information: explains your rights, and payments you may be able to claim, on 0818 07 4000.
Find more on our free money help page.
Talk to your lenders
Call or write as soon as you think you’ll miss a payment. Explain what’s changed, and offer what you can afford. Keep a note of who you spoke to and what was agreed.
The Central Bank’s rules protect you:
- Mortgage arrears: your lender must follow a set process, the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process, before it can take legal action. That includes looking at alternatives such as lower payments for a time or a longer term.
- Other loans: lenders must deal with you fairly, give you time, and not pressure you.
Pay essential bills first: your rent or mortgage, energy, and anything that can lead to losing your home. Then tell your other lenders, such as credit card companies, what you can afford to pay them.
The formal options
The Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) oversees these. Each has its own rules and limits:
| Option | What it is | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Debt Relief Notice | Clears unsecured debts after a 3-year supervision period, if you can’t pay them | Debts up to €35,000, spare income of €60 a month or less, and very few assets (a modest car is allowed). Free through MABS |
| Debt Settlement Arrangement | A deal to repay part of your unsecured debts, usually over 5 years | Through a Personal Insolvency Practitioner |
| Personal Insolvency Arrangement | A deal covering secured debts such as a mortgage, plus unsecured debts, usually over 6 years | Can help keep you in your home. Secured debts up to €3 million |
| Bankruptcy | Clears most debts | Usually discharged after 1 year, through the High Court |
All of them affect your credit record for years, and they’re public: the ISI keeps registers of them. MABS can tell you which, if any, suits you.
Watch out
Be wary of firms charging fees for advice that MABS gives free. Free advisers look at your whole situation and tell you every option, not just the one they sell. Before paying any firm to manage your debts, check it’s authorised on the Central Bank’s register.
Working through it yourself? See how to pay off debt.