Banking as usual?

Sir, – My wife and I live on a peninsula in a remote part of west Cork, and our sole source of income is from holiday lettings through platforms such as Airbnb, Home Away, etc. As all bookings for the foreseeable future have been cancelled, we have no income. Long-term rentals are not an option due to where we live.

We have a tracker mortgage with AIB. I phoned it on Friday hoping to get a moratorium or and interest-only agreement, and after a 45-minute wait, I spoke to a woman and explained the situation and that we met all the criteria, such as not having been in arrears or defaulted in the last five years. Our mortgage repayments are €1,380 per month. She offered me an interest-only payment option for three months of €1,086 per month! I questioned this but she could not tell me how the bank came to this figure but it was clearly not interest only. I again explained as of last week that we have no income to meet its interest-only figure so could we get a moratorium? The response to this was we would have to go through the process of providing a standard financial statement and all supporting documents. I pointed out that this procedure takes at least six weeks and the next payment is due in two weeks. The bank had no answer to this.

It is clear, that despite all the hoo-ha created after the financial crisis of 2008, that our banking system has not changed.

The banks give you an umbrella when it’s sunny and ask for it back when it’s raining. – Yours, etc,

READ SOME MORE

RICHARD MURPHY,

Seven Heads,

Cork.