Before you go down the road of Bankruptcy, it’s important to consider all the insolvency options available to you (check out our guide to bankruptcy).
If you are still able to pay back your debts, then it’s important you try to work out a payment plan with your creditors.
At the end of the day, bankruptcy would be a very drastic alternative to pursue if you’re still able to take care of your financial woes by working out a fair payment plan.
When you declare bankruptcy, you might be making things easier on yourself in the short-term, but further into the future you could face difficulties because of it, such as finding a lending organisation is reluctant to grant you a loan.
Even so, it can be very difficult to know what kind of payments you’re actually capable of making and if a payment plan is realistic.
If you’re confused about what to do and need some helpful advice, our insolvency solicitors in Dublin are always ready to talk things through and help you come to a decision you’re confident about.
Over the past few years, many people have found themselves in unfortunate financial difficulties.
In many cases, they have begun to feel trapped by severe negative equity because their income and ability to repay debts has been crippled by changed personal circumstances. It’s easy to lose perspective when faced with these problems.
It can begin to seem like there are very few options and a solution you’re happy with seems impossible to find.
However, with numerous years of experience between our team of personal insolvency solicitors, we can say with a great amount of confidence that there is always a way of improving the situation. Here are some common issues that we’re ready to help you with.
Negative Equity Mortgage
You might owe your bank or lending society more money than what you could get on the sale of your property. If so, you might want to increase your mortgage payments or let your property.
Property Investment Problems
The property you’re renting might not be able to pay for itself, or perhaps it’s begun to incur damages beyond repair.
Credit Card Debt
The expense of credit cards can sometimes build up until it’s a bigger problem than you realised.
Car Loans
Similar to Negative Equity Mortgages, you might find that the sale of your car won’t cover the payment of the loan for it.
Personal Guarantees
During the boom personal guarantees were given by numerous individuals to facilitate borrowing by corporate entities and dependent relatives. Now many of those guarantors are in difficulty and their personal guarantees are outstanding.
Each of these insolvency problems are very different, and each could have a different solution. In many cases, we can advise on whether it is worth your time debt restructuring, or if bankruptcy is the better option.
In either option, we aren’t satisfied until you’re ready to proceed in full confidence.
One thing you should be aware of when weighing up the options is that the possibility of declaring bankruptcy arises where debts are €20,000 or more.
Below this figure and for unsecured debts a Debt Settlement Arrangement may be entered into.
Where debts are secured, meaning that security has been taken by the lender, a Personal Insolvency Arrangement can be investigated.
The right option can be determined after taking into account the amount of your debts, what type of debts they are, how much you are earning and the extent of your assets.
The ISI recommends that professional legal assistance be sought prior to taking any decision and we advise the same thing.
One thing you might have gathered from reading over our Bankruptcy and Insolvency material is that there is no one problem, and no single solution.
Whatever financial problems you’re having, it is very likely that there are numerous aspects to them that are unique to you.
As a client focused solicitor firm, we know that we have to take time to understand your problem as best we can before any decisions are made.
That means we will listen to everything you have to say and communicate what is the best thing to do at each interval.
When you’re tired of dealing with your debt issues and want to begin moving forward, get in touch with our team of insolvency solicitors based in Dublin city centre and we can start figuring things out – together.