In the current difficult economic climate there is a feeling that banks are closed for business. Not true! The banks’ owners may change but the banks themselves will always be there. In addition to discussing new business, it is equally important, especially in difficult times, to communicate with your financial institution, on existing, and perhaps impaired facilities. So says Eoin O’Donnellan of O’Donnellan & Joyce financial services.
“A lot of people are going through stressful financial times at the moment,” O’Donnellan reports. “From PAYE employees to the self employed, to the investor, particularly property investors. Some people are having difficulty in repaying their mortgages and loans and a certain amount of them are avoiding confronting the issue. There is a perception that the banks won’t listen and that they will not assist you in sorting out your problem. However this is not the case. The last thing that a bank wants on its books is a bad debt. They would much prefer to sort out the issue in a manner convenient to both the bank and the customer.”
O’Donnellan recommends that you discuss in confidence the financial problem with an independent financial advisor, like himself, initially. Then have the individual scenario analysed and together decide on a plan of action to address the issue. “Believe it or not, there are almost always solutions and alternatives,” says O’Donnellan. “Banks can be flexible and accommodating but if you don’t communicate with them they will assume the worst and putting one’s ‘head in the sand’ is not the solution. It will only make matters worse.”
O’Donnellan recommends that you contact someone like himself, experienced in the financial sector and with a good relationship with all the local financial institutions, to discuss the matter in confidence, decide on a plan of action, and approach the relevant bank to agree a joint way forward.
Should you wish to discuss this matter in private you can contact Eoin O’Donnellan at O’Donnellan & Joyce Financial Services, 5 Mary Street, Galway, phone (091 ) 568584/(086 ) 2418323, e-mail: [email protected]
