If you are in Norn Iron there is even less chance of a DCA taking legal action against you. The NI Courts require a higher standard of administration than Northampton, for one thing, and the solicitors whose letterheads most of the DCAs use aren't allowed to practice in NI. Even if they get a CCJ, the usual bailiff threats are meaningless in NI as there are no bailiffs.

Organisations who can help:

The Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureau can be contacted at:

11 Upper Crescent

Belfast BT7 1NT

Tel. No: (028 ) 9023 1120

or

211, Antrim Road

Belfast

BT 15

Tel No: (028 ) 9075 2114

East Belfast Independent Advice Centre

85 Castlereagh Street

Belfast

BT5 4NF

Tel: 028 9096 3003

Fax: 028 9096 3004

Consumer Credit Counselling Service/Debtline NI

Tel: 0800 138 1111

Financial Services Authority

Tel: 0845 606 1234

Fax: 0207 676 1099

Creditor Harassment In Ireland

Under the The Domestic Violence Act of 1996, debt collectors must act within the law when recovering debts. This means they must obey laws that are designed to protect you from misconduct. Under these laws, a debt collector must not try to collect debt with threats or menaces.

For information about the legislation relating to victims, please contact the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

94 St. Stephens's Green

DUBLIN 02

Ireland

Tel:

+353 1 602 8202

Local:

1890 221 227

Fax:

+353 1 661 5461

Homepage:

http://www.justice.ie

Email:

[email protected]

What is on my credit report file in Ireland

The Irish Credit Bureau (ICB) is the biggest credit-referencing agency in Ireland. It is not a state body - it is owned and financed by its members, which are mainly financial institutions. The bureau is an electronic library or database that contains information on the performance of credit agreements between financial institutions (i.e., banks and building societies) and borrowers (i.e., the citizen). A credit agreement can include a mortgage, car and personal loans and leasing and hire purchase agreements. Credit card details are included in the ICB library. Overdraft agreements, with the exception of overdraft agreements that are the subject of legal proceedings, are not monitored by the ICB.

Thirty-eight lending institutions register information with the ICB, usually on a monthly basis. Each time you apply for credit from one of these lenders, the lender accesses your credit file to find out about your performance under previous credit agreements with other lenders. All loans are registered with the ICB, including instances where you may have missed payments in the past. If, however, you have come to an agreement with your lender to postpone payment of a previous loan, this will not affect your credit rating. Typically, the citizen's payment profile history over a 24-month repayment period is recorded. Information on citizens is held for five years.

The ICB does not score citizens on the basis of their credit history. It simply records information and passes this information to lenders who make their own credit assessment based on the details available on the files.

In 2004, the Board of the ICB agreed requests to give all credit unions in Ireland the option of becoming members of the ICB. This means that credit unions will, in time, be able to supply information regarding loans and repayments to the ICB. Credit union customers' consent will be required before information can be passed on. There is no fixed date for when the passing of information from credit unions to the ICB will begin.

From July 2004, credit card companies have the option of supplying more information on credit card repayments to the ICB. In the past, information was mainly supplied by the lenders only where credit cards were revoked or canceled. Now lenders have the option of supplying full information regarding opening and closing balances to the ICB. Your card repayment performance will be measured by the ICB on a monthly basis but due to the nature of credit cards, you will also receive an additional 30 days before negative information about your record is recorded.

Members of the Irish Credit Bureau send information in relation to the loans they have given to their customers to the Bureau. Therefore, information about a loan will be kept on the ICB database for the full term of the loan whether this is a 3-year personal loan or a 30-year mortgage. The ICB Member records the customer's performance on the repayments and this information is then sent to ICB where it is also recorded.

When the loan is completed or when it reaches a "frozen" state, e.g., when it is Written Off, this means that the 5-year retention term "clock" starts ticking. In other words, regardless of what the customer’s performance on the loan was like, once the loan is "terminated in its current state - it will then stay on the ICB Database for 5 years from that date.

The ICB forms your credit record using the information it gets from your lenders. It holds: your name, date of birth and address; names of lenders and account numbers of any loans you have had within the last five years; all repayments made or missed for each month on each loan; evidence of failing to clear off any loan or credit card; evidence of loans that were settled for less than you owed; and a record of legal actions your lender took against you.

What type of loans do lenders report on?

Mortgages, car loans, personal loans, leasing and hire-purchase agreements. Lenders will also report on unpaid overdrafts and credit card debt. How long is my credit history recorded for? All records remain on the ICB database for 5 years once the account has been completed. This is the situation irrespective of whether you repaid the debt or you failed to complete payments.

Can I get past bad credit details removed from my credit record?

You may, but only if these details are incorrect and you are seeking to amend them. All banks and financial institutions in Ireland are obliged to provide an honest and truthful record of your credit agreements and transactions. If an honest and truthful record includes details of bad debts or failures to repay, then these are included on your record. You should be aware that when you initially apply for a loan of any kind in Ireland, you are required to sign a consent form which essentially states that you are aware that a history of your repayments on this loan will be kept and will form part of your credit history.

However, the details of your credit record with any financial institution/bank are between you and that institution. If your credit record was bad a long time ago but has now been rectified, you may be able to have this information removed from your record. However, this is only if the bank/financial institution agrees to this - they are not obliged to by law, nor required to do so as part of their own policy. Check with the financial institution(s) involved. Some financial institutions may operate discretionary powers and if for example, the debts were incurred due to exceptional circumstances or extreme hardship, they may be willing to assist you. Remember however, they are not obliged to do this by law.

Adding a personal declaration to your credit record

It is possible to add a personal declaration (statement) to your own credit record to clarify your credit record. For example, if you have incurred significant costs (such as following the breakdown of a relationship, a bereavement, an illness, accident, etc.) you may add details to this effect to on your credit record.

The text of the note must be less than 200 words and must be relevant to matters contained in the record and must not be frivolous, vexatious or denigratory.

This personal declaration is then attached to your file by the Irish Credit Bureau as a response and can be viewed when you access your data. Remember to bear in mind that a lender is not obliged to take your statement into account in reviewing or checking your credit history when you are being assessed for a loan.

Members of the ICB

Members of the ICB are:

ACC Bank

AIB Bank

AIB Finance and Leasing

AIB Credit Cards

Anglo Irish Bank Corporation

The Associates

Bank of Ireland Bank

BOI Direct

Banking 365

Bank of Ireland Finance

Bank of Ireland Credit Cards

Bank of Scotland (Ireland)

Barclaycard

BNP Capital Finance

Bord Gais Finance

Caterpillar Financial Services

City Financial

EBS Building Society

Everyday Finance

Fiat Auto Financial Services

First Active

Ford Credit Europe

Friends First Finance

GE Capital Woodchester Bank

HFC Bank

ICS Building Society

IIB Finance

IIB Homeloans

Irish Nationwide Building Society

Lucan District Credit Union Ltd.

Lombard and Ulster Banking

MBNA Europe Bank

National Credit Finance

National Irish Bank

Open + Direct

Permanent TSB

Permanent TSB Finance

POS Finance

Premier Bank

Roscrea Credit Union Ltd.

Tesco Personal Finance

Tipperary Credit Union Ltd.

Tullamore Credit Union Ltd.

Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank Credit Cards

Waterford Credit Union Ltd.

Waterford (St. Dominics) Credit Union Ltd.

Western Finance

Obtaining your annual credit report in Ireland

If you are refused credit you are entitled to information on your credit references which may have influenced the refusal. You may also have information rectified or erased, or have a statement appended where the data is incomplete, incorrect or irrelevant to the purpose for which it is kept.

If the information is held on computer you are entitled to access under the Data Protection Act 1988. Where the information is not automated (not held on computer) you also have rights of access under the Consumer Credit Act 1995.

The main consumer credit reference bureau is the Irish Credit Bureau Tel. (01) 260 0388. Here the consumer can access credit reference material held on computer under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1988.

There is normally a charge of £5 (€6.34) for accessing any credit information. This must be paid when the necessary background information is being supplied with the application. It is not refunded if there is no information about you.

What if there is a mistake on my record?

Mistakes can and do happen. They may be caused by either you or your lender. For example: you might make a mistake in completing a direct debit form and miss a loan repayment; or your lender might have agreed to let you postpone payments for a period, but forgot to note this on the report it sends to the credit reference agency. If you find a mistake in your record, ask your lender to write to the credit reference agency and ask them to change your record. Most lenders will act to amend your credit record immediately. However, if you experience problems or delays or if your lender fails to put things right for you, you have the right to refer the matter to the Data Protection Commissioner.

Please note that credit reference agencies cannot change your credit record unless they receive a formal request from your lender.

Useful Contacts

Irish Credit Bureau House

Newstead

Clonskeagh Road

Clonskeagh

Dublin 14

Tel. (01) 2600388

Fax. (01) 2600390

http://www.icb.ie/

The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs

4-5 Harcourt Road

Dublin 2.

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.odca.ie

This office enforces the Consumer Credit Act, 1995. For queries on the consumer credit telephone the helpline at (01) 4025555

The Ombudsman for the Credit Institutions

8 Adelaide Court

Dublin 2.

Email [email protected]

The Ombudsman is an independent arbitrator, responsible for resolving complaints made by consumers against banks or building societies.

Telephone: (01) 478 3755

Financial Services Ombudsman

3rd Floor, Lincoln House,

Lincoln Place,

Dublin 2

Lo Call: 1890 88 20 90

Tel: +353 1 6620899

Fax: +353 1 6620890

Public Office Hours

10.00hrs - 13.00hrs

14.00hrs - 17.00hrs

http://www.financialombudsman.ie/

Consumer Credit Act, 1995 (Eire) http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1995/en/act/pub/0024/index.html

Advice4debtNI - Free, government funded, independent debt advice for the people of Northern Ireland.

http://www.advice4debtni.com/

non-fatal offences against the person act, 1997

11.—(1) a person who makes any demand for payment of a debt

shall be guilty of an offence if—

 

(a) the demands by reason of their frequency are calculated to

subject the debtor or a member of the family of the

debtor to alarm, distress or humiliation, or

 

(b) the person falsely represents that criminal proceedings lie

for non-payment of the debt, or

 

© the person falsely represents that he or she is authorised in

some official capacity to enforce payment, or

 

(d) the person utters a document falsely represented to have an

official character.

 

(2) a person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable

on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT, 1997 Eire.pdf

For the Republic of Ireland try MABs

003531 8129350

http://www.mabs.ie

For England, Scotland and Wales try National Debt Line

0808 8084000

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk.

For the Republic of Ireland try MABs

003531 8129350

http://www.mabs.ie

For England, Scotland and Wales try National Debt Line

0808 8084000

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk.

Irish insolvency bill http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0629/breaking22.html

The long-awaited Personal Insolvency Bill aimed at reforming insolvency laws, some of which have been in place for over a century.

 

The Personal Insolvency Bill 2012, approved at last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, provides new and more flexible options to address the circumstances of insolvent debtors.