RTE is looking for someone with debts of less than €20k to talk about Insolvency

[Brendan Burgess]

Under the proposed Personal Insolvency Bill, people with debts under €20,000 who have no hope of paying them can apply for a Debt Relief Certificate.

[FONT=&quot]Debt Relief Certificates
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The Bill (in Part 3) provides, subject to certain conditions, for a Debt Relief Certificate of forgiveness for persons with no assets and no income that are unable to meet qualifying debts totalling not more than €20,000. The purpose is to create an efficient non-judicial means of allowing persons to resolve unmanageable unsecured debt problems. (Similar systems operate in the UK, Northern Ireland and Australia).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]With the assistance of an approved intermediary the debtor may apply to the Insolvency Service to certify that the qualifying debts be frozen for one year following which if, the person still cannot pay, the Service will certify that the debt is written off.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]General conditions for a DRC[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
· debtors would have qualifying debts of €20,000 or less;
· debtors will have a net monthly disposable income of €60 or less after provision for "reasonable" living expenses;
· debtors would hold assets (separately or jointly) to the value of €400 or less (one vehicle up to value of €1,200 would be exempt from the asset test);
· debts qualifying for inclusion in a DRC are unsecured debts: e.g. credit card, personal loan, catalogue payments, etc;
· debts that will not qualify for inclusion in a DRC include: secured debt, court fines, and family maintenance payments.[/FONT]

RTE television is making a programme on the Personal Insolvency Bill and would like to feature someone who could benefit from this proposal.

If you would be prepared to discuss it, please contact Rania Atamna on 01 208 2918 or [email protected]

Brendan