Moneymakeover Irish Times: "Life loan proves a millstone for 97 year old"

[Allpartied]

Brendan is right, the terrifying reporting by ignorant journalists, of this product has lead to a paucity of competitive options. The Drawdown Mortgage option, freely available, in the UK would have solved this particular problem. The woman could have taken 130k, used the 30k and left the rest untouched. It would still be there, for her to use whenever she needed it, but, she would not be charged interest on the 100k. At this stage she could just inform the bank to close the Drawdown facility. She would have to pay interest on the 30k only. There are loads of these lifeloans available, in different forms, to equity rich, but cash poor pensioners, in othrr jurisdictions.
Unfortunately, the sensationalist reporting, in Ireland, has meant most banks don't want to get involved. So products are basic, expensive and, often, totally inappropriate.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Maybe they read about it in The Irish Times from 2002?

Great spot. Balanced reporting at the time the loan was being taken out.

 

[Bronte]

Maybe they read about it in The Irish Times?

Yes I'm aware a minimum of 2000 older people rocked up to apply for this product in the bank never having been sent any marketing about them, there not being a marketing manager for them and their not being advertised anywhere. And Bank of Ireland despite no hard sell and zero marketing managed to lend 120 million on this product alone.

 

[Bronte]

Great spot. Balanced reporting at the time the loan was being taken out.

There's loads on Life Loans

2002
More than 1,500 senior citizens borrow €70.5m through B o I's Life Loan – The Irish Times
2003
CASE AGAINST : Selling part of your home cheaply is not a sound proposition | Irish Independent

Bank of Ireland has defended itself as acting responsibly at all times, and stressed that it does not market or advertise LifeLoan. It needs detailed information from customers to avoid some of the pitfalls that befell similar schemes in the UK.

2004 Life loans and home reversions let older people cash in on home value – The Irish Times

2005 Don't be the richest corpse in the local graveyard | Irish Independent

Olive Moran, marketing manager with Bank of Ireland Mortgages, says it has made "over 2,000" of its pensioner Life Loans since 2001. That's up from 1,400 reported in 2003, Billy Kane, chairman of SHIP, noted.

The potential is ?90bn in untapped equity in the paid-off homes of those over 65, SHIP estimates.

2007 New Company Launches Home Equity Release Scheme

2016 https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2016-11-22/188/ (Mortgage Schemes – Tuesday, 22 Nov 2016 – Parliamentary Questions (32nd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas)

2021 Home Plus launches home reversion product in the Irish market | Business Post

 

[Bronte]

I think the date of the ending of the Marketing Manger being 2006 has zero significance

Here's what AI says about the Bank of Ireland Marketing Manager