Can an Irish debt be enforced in the UK if no judgement obtained in Republic of Ireland?

[ariel121]

I am receiving letters and phonecalls from a debt collection relating to an old debt from ROI.

 

 

I left the country some years ago, and no judgment was obtained in the Irish Courts.

 

 

Can they now enforce it over here without a judgment?

 

 

I am due to go on Maternity (statutory) so I definitely cannot afford to pay anything,

even though I don't recognise the full value of the debt now being claimed.

 

 

What do you advise?

[BankFodder]

I don't expect so - but I can't give you an authoritative - No.

 

How many years ago?

[citizenB]

When did you cease making payments to the debt ?

[citizenB]

I have alerted Scarlet pimpernel to your post because he seems to know about all things ROI

 

I have copied over a post made by him for a similar situation..

 

 

 

A loan taken out in Ireland will be the subject of an agreement regulated by the (Irish) Consumer Credit Act 1995. This cannot be enforced in a Court in UK other than is circumstances likely to be prohibitively expensive for the bank.

 

Have either the BoI or DCA sent a Default Notice? Unless they have done so, they are prohibited from taking any action:

 

 

s.54(2) A creditor or an owner shall not, by reason of any breach by a consumer of an agreement—

( a ) determine the agreement,

( b ) demand early payment of any sum,

( c ) recover possession of the goods,

( d ) treat any right conferred on the consumer by the agreement as determined, restricted or deferred, or

( e ) enforce any security,unless he has served on the consumer, not less than 10 days before he proposes to take any action, a notice which shall specify the following:

 

(i) details of the agreement sufficient to identify it;

(ii) the name and address of the creditor or owner, as the case may be;

(iii) the name and address of the consumer;

(iv) the nature of the alleged breach;

(v) either—

(I) if the breach is capable of remedy, what action is required to remedy it and the date before which that action is to be taken, which date shall be not less than 21 days after the date of service of the notice, or

(II) if the breach is not capable of remedy, the sum, if any, required to be paid as compensation for the breach and the date before which it is to be paid, which date shall be not less than 21 days after the date of service of the notice; and

(vi) information about the consequences of failure to comply with the notice.

 

 

 

 

The only way they can do anything without having served the Notice is where a Court has agreed, and I assume that they won't have bothered - the costs in consumer credit action not being recoverable by the creditor.

 

However, given that UK DCAs and their solicitors appear to have great difficulty complying with their obligations under UK laws, I doubt whether they will be able to get to grips with Irish law.

 

Incidentally, Largo sell solicitor's letters to DCAs, so I doubt whether anyone legally qualified has been anywhere near this case.

 

So, I suggest you make it easy for them. Send them a standard formal request under s.78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. They will either produce a copy agreement which you can then point out is not enforceable in the UK, or they will catch themselves on and say that they don't need to comply because the debt isn't subject to UK law, in which case you can point out that it's not enforceable in UK.

 

Of course, you will also be formally disputing the debt; under the OFT Guidance a UK DCA must suspend all collection activity until the dispute is resolved.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I'm obliged to CitizenB for helpfully reproducing my earlier post, which outlines the situation as far as debt collection is concerned.

 

You don't say what the debt relates to, or how long it has been since you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt, or whether the DCA is in UK or ROI, but in general loans, credit cards and overdrafts all fall under the ROI's legislation, which is the Statute of Limitations Act 1957, and its Amendment of 1991. The limitation period is the same as England, Wales and NI - 6 years.

 

Acknowledgement must be in writing, and signed.

 

Give us a bit more info, and we can tell you what to do next.

[andrewjb]

Hi I'm having a similar problem - is there a template for the formal request letter detailed above for Ireland please ?

[citizenB]

Hi I'm having a similar problem - is there a template for the formal request letter detailed above for Ireland please ?

 

Hi, if you mean the formal s78 request for a copy of the agreement, then you can find that in the link below.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387435-CCA-Request-Consumer-Credit-Act-1974-**Updated-January-2015**

[andrewjb]

That's great - I've printed it out and sent it - shall I uodate via this thread or start a new one ?

[citizenB]

That's great - I've printed it out and sent it - shall I uodate via this thread or start a new one ?

 

Probably a good idea to start a thread of your own to update your progress

[Ifatfirst1983]

I've had a letter over the weekend- we left ireland during the financial crisis due to no work, ...I had a small unsecured loan with boi-haven't paid anything off the loan since June 2011, it's about €2500 - they've sent me a letter via an international DCA, based in Kent...

Any advice??

[citizenB]

Ifatfirst, it might be better if you were to start your own thread.

[Ifatfirst1983]

Thank you - can you tag your ROI friend Scarlettpimpernell

Thanks

Caz

[citizenB]

I will send a message on your behalf, yes

[Ifatfirst1983]

I will send a message on your behalf, yes

 

Thank you

[unclebulgaria67]

Think the OP should get up to date advice from Irish debt advisors. There have apparently been some changes in regard to the way debts can be dealt with in Ireland. Apparently ( according to Ashtons Solicitors) there were quite a lot of Irish citizens coming to the UK to obtain IVA's. The Irish government have since brought in changes to help people deal with debts.

 

Given that the debt will be statute barred sometime next year, i think i would keep an eye on communications and hope that BOI or current debt owner don't go to the expense of trying to enforce this debt in the UK.

[citizenB]

Uncle B, in view of what you have said this was brought to my attention and might be of use to those from the RoI.

 

A Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA) equivalent to an English DRO is one of 3 debt resolution mechanisms introduced by the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 for people who cannot afford to pay their personal debts. These mechanisms offer different solutions to people in different situations.

 

The Debt Settlement Arrangement applies to the agreed settlement of unsecured debts, usually over a period of 5 years. The limit of 5 years can increase to 6 years in some situations. When the DSA concludes successfully, the debts that it covers will be fully discharged and the debtor will be solvent again.

 

This document describes how to qualify for a DSA and how the DSA process works.

 

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/personal_finance/debt/personal_insolvency/debt_settlement_arrangements.html