Chapter 10 of 10 · After you buy · 4 of 6
Mortgage arrears: where to get free help in Ireland
Checked 21 Oct 2026the Central Bank's mortgage measures, Revenue's rules and the scheme operators' published terms.
Behind on your mortgage? Your rights under the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, MABS, Abhaile and the free routes before anything else.
Written in plain English for the person buying, selling or switching. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
If you are behind on your mortgage, or can see that you are about to be, two things are on your side. There is a set process that your lender must follow. And there is a set of free services built to help you through it. This guide explains both, in the order to use them. Nothing here costs money. Nothing here is a form. The free routes come first.
First: the free routes
Before you talk to your lender, before you search for a solicitor, before anything else, two calls are free and confidential.
MABS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, on 0818 07 2000, Monday to Friday. MABS is the State's free money advice service. An adviser goes through your income, your spending and your debts, helps you fill in the lender's form, and deals with the lender with you or for you.
Abhaile, through MABS on the same number. Abhaile is the State's free scheme for people in home mortgage arrears. It gives you a dedicated mortgage arrears adviser, and vouchers for a free consultation with a personal insolvency practitioner, an accountant or a solicitor. If your case reaches court, Abhaile provides a duty solicitor there.
Both are on our money help page, with the Insolvency Service of Ireland and the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. See the glossary for the terms used below.
Your rights: the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears
The Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (the CCMA) is a set of rules from the Central Bank that every lender must follow when a home loan falls behind. It applies to the mortgage on the home you live in. It applies from the first missed payment, and also before that if you tell your lender you are about to miss one.
The Code gives you four main protections.
- The lender must follow a set process, called the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process, or MARP. The steps are below.
- The lender must not start court action to take the home while you are in the process and co-operating. Even if it decides it cannot offer you an arrangement, it must wait at least eight months from the first missed payment, and give you three months' written notice.
- The lender must not harass you. It can only contact you a limited number of times a month, and not at unreasonable hours.
- You can appeal a decision to the lender's appeals board, and then complain to the Ombudsman.
The Code is published on the Central Bank's consumer protection page.
The process, step by step
MARP has four steps. Each has rules for the lender and a task for you.
Step 1: communication
Your lender must contact you when you miss a payment, tell you that you are in MARP, and send you its information booklet on the process. It must tell you about MABS. It must deal with you fairly and must not pressure you.
Your task: open the letters, and tell the lender in writing that you want to engage. Call MABS.
Step 2: financial information
The lender asks you to fill in a Standard Financial Statement, or SFS. This is a long form listing your income, your spending, your debts and your assets. It is the same form at every lender. The lender uses it to see what you can afford.
Your task: fill it in honestly, with the help of a MABS adviser. Keep a copy. You can update it when things change.
Step 3: assessment
The lender assesses your case from the SFS. It must consider your whole position, including whether the arrears are short-term or long-term, and must look at every alternative repayment arrangement it offers.
Your task: answer the lender's questions in time. If the lender asks for documents, send them.
Step 4: resolution
The lender writes to you with its decision. Either it offers an alternative repayment arrangement, or it explains why it cannot and tells you about other options, including selling, mortgage to rent, and a personal insolvency arrangement.
Your task: do not sign anything on the day. Take the offer to MABS or an Abhaile adviser. If you turn it down, or the lender offers nothing, you can appeal within the time on the letter.
The arrangements a lender can offer
An alternative repayment arrangement, or ARA, is a change to the loan to make it affordable. The usual ones are:
| Arrangement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Interest only | You pay only the interest for a set time, so the balance does not fall |
| Reduced payment | You pay less than the full amount for a set time, and the shortfall is added to the loan |
| Term extension | The loan runs for more years, so each payment is lower |
| Arrears capitalisation | The arrears are added to the balance and spread over the term, so you are no longer in arrears |
| Split mortgage | The loan is split: you pay on one part now, and the other part is set aside until later |
| Mortgage to rent | You sell to a housing body and stay as a tenant, where you qualify for social housing |
Each one has a cost. Interest only and reduced payments increase what you owe over time. A term extension costs more interest in total. The MABS adviser goes through the long-term effect of each before you decide.
Co-operating
The Code's protections depend on co-operating. That means answering the lender, filling in the SFS, and giving the documents it asks for. If you do not, the lender can class you as not co-operating. It must warn you in writing first and give you time to respond. Once classed that way, you lose the protections and the lender can move to court sooner.
If a letter arrives saying you are at risk of being classed as not co-operating, call MABS that day.
If the lender gets it wrong
If your lender breaks the Code, delays, or treats you unfairly, you can complain. First to the lender, through its complaints process. Then to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (the FSPO) on 01 567 7000. The FSPO is free, and it can direct a lender to put things right. Abhaile advisers help with complaints.
The Insolvency Service of Ireland
If your debts are beyond what an arrangement with the lender can fix, the Insolvency Service of Ireland (the ISI) runs the personal insolvency arrangements. A personal insolvency arrangement can write down other debts and restructure the mortgage so you keep your home. You apply through a personal insolvency practitioner, who is authorised by the ISI. Abhaile's voucher pays for the first consultation.
Where a lender rejects an arrangement that would keep you in your home, a court can review the rejection in some cases. The practitioner explains whether that applies to you.
If your home is worth less than the loan
Negative equity means the home is worth less than you owe. It does not change the Code or the process. It matters if selling is on the table, because the sale would not clear the loan. The lender must consent to a sale, and the shortfall remains a debt unless it is written down in an arrangement. Our guide on selling a house with a mortgage covers the sale side. Talk to MABS before you put the home on the market.
What this site does not do here
MortgageWise does not pass your details to anyone from this page, and there is no form on it. Our switching guide and overpaying guide are for when the payments are under control again. A loan in arrears cannot be switched, and a lender is not obliged to move a loan in arrears to a lower rate.
The order to do things in
- Call MABS on 0818 07 2000.
- Tell your lender in writing that you want to engage, and ask for the MARP booklet.
- Fill in the Standard Financial Statement with your MABS adviser.
- Wait for the lender's assessment and decision, and answer its questions in time.
- Take any offer to MABS or Abhaile before you sign.
- Appeal within the time on the letter if the offer does not work.
- Complain to the FSPO if the lender breaks the Code.
- Ask Abhaile for the personal insolvency practitioner voucher if the arrangement is not enough.
Where this leaves you
Call MABS today, and open the letters from your lender. Everything on our money help page is free and built for exactly this. The Code gives you time and a process, and MABS and Abhaile walk you through both.
Questions people ask
What happens if I miss a mortgage payment in Ireland?
One missed payment puts you in arrears, and the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears applies from that day. Your lender must contact you, explain the process and offer to assess your situation. It cannot start court action for at least eight months while you co-operate.
Who can help me with mortgage arrears for free?
MABS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, on 0818 07 2000. Through MABS, Abhaile gives free financial and legal advice to people in home mortgage arrears, including a voucher for a personal insolvency practitioner. Both are free and confidential.
What is MARP?
The Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process. It is the four-step process every lender must follow under the Code: contact you, gather your financial information on a standard form, assess your case, and offer an arrangement or explain why not. You can appeal the outcome.
Can the bank take my house if I am in arrears?
Only through a court, and only after the Code's process has run. While you co-operate under the Code, the lender cannot start court action for at least eight months from the first missed payment. Even then a court decides, and Abhaile provides a free solicitor at court.
What is an alternative repayment arrangement?
A change to your mortgage to make it affordable: paying interest only for a time, a lower payment, a longer term, adding the arrears to the loan, or splitting the loan into a part you pay now and a part set aside. The lender must consider all of them.