Tuesday, 4th November 2014
IMHO INITIATIVE TO ASSIST DISTRESSED HOMEOWNERS PROVES A MAJOR SUCCESS
Pilot scheme extended by a year as 1,330 long term resolutions reached
The Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO) today announced it had agreed 1,330 long-term resolutions for people in mortgage arrears under a pilot project conducted with the AIB Group.
The pilot scheme, announced a year ago, allows homeowners in difficulty with their mortgage repayments to avail of the independent third party services of the IMHO to advise clients and engage with the bank on their behalf. The initiative is available free of charge to all AIB Group customers – including EBS and Haven – experiencing residential mortgage difficulties.
Under the pilot scheme, established less than a year ago, IMHO discloses today that by October 24 this year, a total of 1,330 long-term resolutions for people in mortgage arrears had been reached whilst a further 177 are due to be decisioned shortly. In 30 per cent of these cases customers who were facing repossession proceedings managed to achieve a long term sustainable solution.
Some 43% of clients needed assistance completing the standard financial statement.
Given the success of the pilot, it has also been decided in conjunction with AIB to continue to offer the service for a further 12 months with an expanded team in IMHO. This team is now functional and receiving over 125 calls per day. This means that, in many of these distressed mortgage cases, a resolution can now be achieved within eight weeks.
David Hall, CEO of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, said: “The pilot with AIB has resulted in a very significant number of families and individual homeowners having their mortgage challenges resolved. Those involved often appeared to be trapped in intractable cases. The relief to clients has been invaluable, allowing them to move on with their lives, making affordable mortgage payments. We welcome the Oireachtas Finance Committee’s recommendation in their report on mortgage arrears in July which recommended that this project be rolled out nationally involving all banks.
“We are delighted that the pilot scheme with AIB has been such a success. The project proves that trusted third party intermediaries can help borrowers engage with their lenders and resolve their mortgage issues,” he said.
Head of Financial Solutions Group at AIB Group, Brendan O’Connor, said: “The pilot with the IMHO has delivered significantly for customers who might otherwise not have had the confidence to engage with the bank. The IMHO has offered a new channel to those customers who wish to deal with the bank through an independent intermediary who can guide them through the process.’’
The initiative is available free of charge to all AIB Group residential mortgage customers who wish to avail of the service. The IMHO provides mortgage holders in difficulty with a designated point of contact to assist and advise on the completion of a Standard Financial Statement (SFS) which is a key component for determining the most suitable solution for the resolution of the arrears.
This assistance is provided over the phone, online or in person. The IMHO provides advice on an independent basis and makes proposals to a designated team in the AIB Group arrears support unit for consideration.
For further information on the scheme go to the IMHO website at www.mortgageholders.ie
-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
David Hall, CEO IMHO
Constantin Gurdiev, Director IMHO
Michael Keane, Insight Consultants: 01-2939977
