Guide to Dealing with Mortgage Repayment Difficulties
Our commitment to you
We understand that changing economic circumstances can cause some homeowners to experience difficulty maintaining their mortgage repayments. We would like to assure you that Bank of Ireland is fully committed to working with any customer who runs into such difficulties.
If you find that you are facing this problem, please don’t feel in any way uneasy about coming in and talking to us as soon as possible. The earlier we know about it, the sooner we can work together to quickly identify the best solution.
Five steps that will help us to help you
At Bank of Ireland, we have a five step process to help customers whose home mortgage is in arrears or is at risk of going into arrears. This is called our Home Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process and is part of the Bank’s obligations under the Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears.
Step 1: Contact us as early as possible
Step 2: Complete a Standard Financial Statement
Step 3: Assessment of your situation
Step 1: Contact us as early as possible
If you anticipate difficulty regarding your home mortgage repayments, or are concerned that you may soon face some financial problems, you should contact your Bank of Ireland branch. If you have already fallen into arrears, you can call our dedicated Home Mortgage Line on 076 624 444. By highlighting your concern early, it gives us the best possible chance of helping you to find a solution.
Before you contact us, and to help us to help you, please take some time to draw up a budget based on your current income and your spending commitments. This simply means that you add up your income for a typical month, and subtract your bills and other expenses. Then look through this in detail and see where you could make some savings.
Our ‘Help with your finances’ section has a useful ‘Budget Planner’ which may help you. You can also call the Money Advice and Budgeting Service which provides independent advice, free of charge (see ‘Useful Contacts’).
Step 2: Complete a Standard Financial Statement
When you contact us, we will ask you to complete a Standard Financial Statement (SFS) which is designed to provide an overview of your current finances. We will use this to fully asses your situation. We may also ask you to provide additional documentation to support the information you have provided.
Step 3: Assessment of your situation
We will use the information you provide us to assess your particular situation and to identify an approach to dealing with your financial difficulties. In doing so, we will give careful consideration to:
- your financial circumstances
- your overall personal debt
- the information you have provided in your Standard Financial Statement
- your current ability to make repayments
- your previous repayment history
- any other relevant personal information provided.
Step 4 - Agree an approach
We will consider a number of approaches, depending on your individual circumstances – for example, we could:
- Extend the term of your mortgage, which will reduce the amount of your monthly repayments;
- Agree a series of set repayments to reduce the amount of your monthly repayments for a time;
- Postpone all or part of your mortgage repayments for a period to ease the immediate financial pressure on you;
- Change the type of mortgage you hold to reduce your monthly repayments, e.g. change your capital and interest repayments to interest only for a period of time.
If you currently have a home mortgage on a tracker rate product which relates to your Principal Private Residence or the only residential property you own in Ireland, we won’t require you to change to another home mortgage product.
Step 5: Appealing a decision
If you are unhappy with our compliance with the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears or our treatment of your mortgage repayment arrangement under this Resolution Process, or a decision made at any stage of this Resolution Process, you may submit an appeal. This appeal may be made in writing to the Appeals Board (see ‘Useful Contacts’ below) within 21 business days of receipt of our decision notification.
If you are unhappy with the decision of the Appeals Board you have the right to contact the Financial Services Ombudsman (see ‘Useful Contacts’ below).
The information provided here sets out some of the Bank’s obligations under the Statutory Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears. Full details of the Code can be found on the Central Bank’s website (see ‘Useful Contacts’ below).
Some helpful advice
It is important that you keep the lines of communication open with us:
- contact us if there are any changes in your financial circumstances
- provide a full and honest disclosure of your financial circumstances
- reply to our correspondence in a timely manner
- return any phone calls to us promptly
- provide supporting documentation when requested
- keep appointments that have been made with us.
Stick to your new budget and review it regularly
Once you have a budget in place, ensure you stick to it. Circumstances can change, so it is important to review your budget regularly.
Make sure you understand the implications of your home mortgage repayment arrangement
We will write to you outlining your agreed repayment arrangement. If you have queries regarding this arrangement, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss these with you. You should also be aware that, while some options will reduce your home mortgage repayments in the short term, they will likely add to the overall cost of your home mortgage in the longer term. It is important that you fully understand the implications of any new arrangement before you go ahead with it – that’s why we always advise customers to take independent legal and/or financial advice regarding any proposed revised repayment arrangement on your home mortgage.
Find out about Government Supports
Don’t forget to do your own research too - there are many independent sources of advice and information that you can refer to. You may be entitled to Mortgage Interest Relief and/or Mortgage Interest Supplement. You can call Citizens Information or Social Protection who can advise you of your entitlements (see ‘Useful Contacts’).
Our doors are open
We have qualified mortgage advisers in every Bank of Ireland branch who are available to discuss home mortgage repayment queries with you. We will also meet with you together with any third party acting on your behalf, if you wish, where you have advised us in writing.
Useful Contacts
Bank of Ireland Arrears Support Unit
C/O 1 Grand Canal Quay
Dublin 2
Telephone 076 624 4444
Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS)
MABS is a free confidential and independent service for people in financial difficulty.
Telephone 1890 283 438
Central Bank of Ireland
The Central Bank’s website provides independent information on financial products and includes the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears.
Telephone 1890 777 777
Itsyourmoney.ie
Itsyourmoney.ie is under the remit of the National Consumer Agency. It provides statutory consumer information and education functions of the Financial Regulator, including the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears.
Citizens Information
The Citizens Information Board is the statutory body which supports the provision of information, advice and advocacy on a broad range of public and social services including health, employment, social welfare and money.
www.citizensinformationboard.ie
Dept of Social Protection
This website provides information relating to job seekers allowance, mortgage interest supplement and other welfare benefits you may be eligible for.
Office of the Revenue Commissioners
This website will provide you with information on all tax credits and benefits you may be entitled to.
Financial Services Ombudsman
The Financial Services Ombudsman is a statutory officer who deals independently with unresolved complaints from consumers about their individual dealings with all financial service providers.
Telephone 1890 882 090
Mortgage Appeals Board
The Chairman, Appeals Board
Bank of Ireland Arrears Support Unit
4th Floor
Grand Canal Quay
Dublin 2
WARNING: YOUR HOME IS AT RISK IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP PAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER LOAN SECURED ON IT. THE LENDER MAY ADJUST THE PAYMENT RATES ON A HOUSING LOAN FROM TIME TO TIME.
EARLY REPAYMENT or ENDING A FIXED RATE EARLY
When a fixed rate period applies to a Loan or part of a Loan we may suffer a loss if (1) you repay the Loan or part of it before the date you were due to pay it; or (2) you and we agree in writing to change the fixed rate to a new fixed interest rate or to a variable interest rate; or (3) we oblige you to pay all amounts which you owe us following your default.
If we suffer such a loss you must pay us compensation when we ask you to pay it. Such compensation will be equal to “C” where:
C = A x (R-R1) x D / 36,500 and
“A” = the amount repaid early (or the amount for which the fixed rate is changed to a new rate) averaged from the date of early repayment (or rate change) to the end of the fixed rate period to allow for scheduled repayments (if there are any) and interest rate charges.
“R”= the annual percentage interest rate which was the cost to us of funding an amount equal to “A” for the originally intended fixed rate period and expressed as a whole number for the purpose of the formula (e.g., 5% is expressed as “5”).
“R1”= the annual percentage interest rate (expressed as an absolute number) available to us for a deposit of an amount equal to “A” for a period equal to “D” and expressed as a whole number for the purpose of the formula (e.g., 5% is expressed as “5”).
“D” = the number of days from the date of early repayment (or rate change) to the end of the fixed period.
If “C” is zero or a negative number no compensation is to be paid by you or us.
Arrears
Any sum not paid by its due date is subject to an additional interest rate charge at the rate of 0.5% per month or part of month (i.e. 6.00% per annum), subject to a minimum of €2.54 per month, from the due date until payment. This additional interest charge is intended to cover the lender’s increased administration and related charges due to the Borrower's default.
Please note that these additional interest charges in relation to arrears will not apply as long as you co-operate reasonably and honestly with us.
Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank is a member of Bank of Ireland Group. Bank of Ireland and Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank, trading as Bank of Ireland Mortgages are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.