Personal Insolvency Practitioner P.I.P.
A Personal Insolvency Practitioner liaises between the debtor and their creditors in relation to a Personal Insolvency Arrangement or Debt Settlement Arrangement. You cannot avail of an Insolvency solution without engaging the services of a PIP. It is the PIPs job to assess your situation and determine what the best course of action is for you in regard to dealing with your debts.
The Insolvency solutions available in Ireland that are designed to help you with your mortgage or secured debt such as a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) and there are Insolvency solutions available to help you with unsecured debts, such as a Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA). The PIP will make you aware of all options available for your situation.
Should you wish to pursue a recommended solution, the PIP can take you through the process from start to finish.
Initial P.I.P. Consultation
When you are in difficulty with your mortgage or debts the best thing to do is seek advice and find out your options for addressing your problems. To assess your situation and provides the most comprehensive advice the PIP will require details of your debts, assets, living expenses and income to get an overview of your situation. This will require providing documentation regarding your creditors, your mortgage (if applicable), missed payments and arrears as well as recent bank statements and proof of income. All of this allows to determine your options.
All options are explained in detail, allowing you to choose what you think is best regarding your debts and your situation. If you decide to proceed with an Insolvency Solution at this stage, then your PIP will begin to draft your Prescribed Financial Statement.
Prescribed Financial Statement
If you are proceeding with an Insolvency Solution, your PIP will draft your Prescribed Financial Statement (PFS). This is an essential document in the Insolvency Process, which summarises your assets, liabilities, income, and expenditure. Your PIP will advise you on what debts can and cannot be included in your arrangement. In the PFS, your PIP also details what they think is your best course of action for addressing your debts. Once you and your PIP are happy with the PFS, the application is submitted to the ISI and the Court.
Protective Certificate
If the ISI and the court are satisfied that everything is true and accurate and that your recommended solution is your best course of action, then they will grant your Protective Certificate. A Protective Certificate stops your creditors from taking any legal proceedings against you. Your Protective Certificate lasts for 70 days but can be extended in some circumstances. Once your Protective Certificate has been issued, another cannot be issued for 12 months.
Creditor Negotiation
After the Certificate has been issued, your PIP will engage with your creditors during the preparation of your proposal culminating in a meeting of your creditors to decide whether they accept your proposal for your solution. At least 65% must vote in favour of your proposal for it to be approved. The ISI and court carry out a final review. Once approved your Insolvency Arrangement will become legally binding and you can start your new agreed repayments.
Supervision of Arrangement
The final role of the PIP is to supervise your arrangement for the agreed term ensuring you make the payments you have committed to and distributing these funds to creditors as agreed while retaining funds as also agreed to cover your PIP’s fees and expenses. Your PIP’s post approval duties are extensive with a high level of oversight and administration. The operation of the arrangement is reviewed, and reports issued to creditors at least annually. If the arrangement needs to be significantly varied due to changes in your financial circumstances, then the PIP will convene further meetings of your creditors and report the outcome to you, your creditors, the ISI and the court.
Completion of arrangement
On successful completion of your arrangement, your PIP reports to ISI, to your creditors and to you that all the terms of your arrangement have been complied with and all dividends to creditors have been distributed. You are now debt free and can start to repair your credit file and resume normal financial activities.
Ongoing support
You will have a case manager for the duration of the interaction with the PIP from initial call to completion of arrangement. On completion of the solution, you will be discharged from your unsecured debts. And remaining debts will be cleared allowing you to start over.
Fees Structure
Some PIPs will charge upfront fees from the very beginning, and some will charge nothing until you have successfully agreed a DSA or a PIA with your creditors. It goes without saying that one of the first questions you should ask of any PIP is whether upfront fees apply. They should confirm their practice in this regard at the very beginning and whether they do or do not charge upfront fees and they should fully and clearly explain their fee structure.
Our Fee structures
Colm Arthur PIP does not charge any fee for initial consultation as we operate under the Abhaile Scheme which is a state funded scheme which provides for a consultation with a PIP.
All fees for work in preparation and implementation of PIA or DSA will be included in the payment structure agreed at creditors meeting stage and will be part of monthly payments during the agreed court approved arrangement.
Book an appointment to see a Personal Insolvency Practitioner
