A Debt Settlement Arrangement or DSA is a legal debt solution now available for personal insolvency for unsecured debts of over €20,000 without a limit on the amount of debt. A Debt Settlement Arrangement is prepared by a Personal Insolvency Practitioner such as Denis Healy Financial.

The Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA) only includes unsecured debts and is part of the MARP framework. Unsecured debts are debts where the creditor would not be entitled to seize specific assets if the debtor fails to make repayments because that creditor does not hold security over those assets. Certain unsecured debts cannot be included and certain other unsecured debts require the consent of the creditor prior to being included in a Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA). Secured debts cannot be covered in a DSA and would be more likely to be included in a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA).

A DSA is prepared by the Personal Insolvency Practitioner and must be agreed by the debtor and approved at a creditor’s meeting by 65% of creditors (in value). In practice this works best where there is a single largest creditor accounting for most of the debt.

Under a DSA, a debtor’s unsecured debts will be settled over a period of up to 5 years (extendable to 6 years in certain circumstances).

If successfully complied with, the debtor will be discharged from debts specified in the Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA) at the end of the period and be solvent after the DSA process is completed.

For unsecured debts under €20,000, a Debt Relief Notice (DRN) is available from your local MABs office. For a listing of local MABs offices please see www.mabs.ie

Call Denis Healy on 061 633326 or email us to discuss your options.

For more information, visit The Insolvency Service of Ireland or the Association of Personal Insolvency Practitioners.