Case Study: Accelerated Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA). Term of 12 months.

Josephine lives in Wexford and is 56. She is a lone parent with two children and she receives no financial support from her ex-partner. 

Background

Josephine was self-employed for most of her life but her business ended 3 years ago due to the recession and a long period of illness. She had Revenue debt of €45,000 and two credit card debts from her old business. She also owed trade creditors. In total, her debts amounted to €67,000.

She is renting a house in Wexford and has never owned a house.   Her only assets is a car worth €10,000, which she needs to get to work. Josephine is in receipt of lone parents allowance and also works in a part time job but is struggling to make ends meet. After she reasonably lives and pays her rent, she has no funds to give to her creditors.

Process

Josephine met with an Advice Manager from Grant Thornton Debt Solutions (GTDS) and they went through all of the options available to her.  Bankruptcy was the best option financially for Josephine, as she had no surplus at the end of each month to offer her creditors.

However, for personal reasons Josephine did not want to go Bankrupt. The second option available to her was an Accelerated Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA), which is offering a lump sum in full and final settlement to your creditors, which reduces the term of your arrangement. Her parents were willing to give her a lump sum of €12,000 in full and final settlement.

Once the protective certificate was granted Grant Thornton Debt Solutions started to negotiate with Josephine’s creditors.  Revenue agreed to her proposal but her credit card creditors and her trade creditors did not.   For a DSA to be approved you only need 65% of your creditors to agree. Revenue had 67% of the vote so her proposal was approved.

Outcome

• A term of 12 months was agreed, as her parents would need this time to gather the funds
• Josephine gave GTDS the €12,000 within the 12 month term.
• After 12 months Josephine’s arrangement finished and she was returned to solvency.
• In total she got €55,000 written off.

Contact Us

If you are in a similar situation to Josephine, a Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA) could be an option for you to overcome your debt problem.  For free and confidential advice, contact us at +353 1 4366 441.