CUSTOMERS OF a bill-payment and budgeting firm which closed last week will be treated “sympathetically” by utilities and banks when next month’s bills fall due, the National Consumer Agency (NCA) has said.
The closure of Home Payments last Wednesday left 2,300 consumers exposed to financial losses.
Fears that many already vulnerable people would struggle to pay their bills this month as a result prompted the consumer agency to convene a meeting with regulatory and industry bodies with a view to minimising the impact of the closure.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the agency, the Central Bank, the credit unions, the Irish Insurance Federation, the Irish Banking Federation, the Commission for Communication Regulation, the Commission for Energy Regulation, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs), the Irish Credit Bureau, and KPMG and Leahy Co, who are the court-appointed liquidators of Home Payments.
Agency chief executive Ann Fitz-gerald said customers of the company needed to immediately contact all banks, insurance companies, utility companies and any other organisations they were making payments to through Home Payments.
She said the agency had been “assured that customers will be treated sympathetically and [would] receive help to manage their payments”.
It is not clear whether the companies involved will waive the bills for August on the grounds that the affected consumers have already paid them to a third party, or merely allow people more time to pay the money owed.
Ms Fitzgerald said bills up to the end of July had been paid before the company went out of business.
She added that the liquidator will issue a statement of affairs to customers next week advising them of their current status.
People looking for an alternative bill-paying service were reminded there were 50 credit unions in Dublin which operate bill-pay services, where customers can pay bills through budget accounts.
A list of Dublin-based credit unions that offer these services has been published on the NCA’s website at www.nca.ie.
“We are strongly urging consumers to ensure that any financial service they use is regulated,” she said.
Despite the fact Home Payments channelled millions of euro of its customers’ money through its accounts each year, it did not have to be regulated by the Central Bank, so consumers had no protection when it went to the wall.
“Any savings consumers have with banks, building societies or credit unions are covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, up to an amount of €100,000 per person, per institution,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“Any savings held with unregulated budgeting or bill-payments service are not covered by the scheme,” she added.
Customers of the company who were in financial difficulty should contact their local office of Mabs to get help with budgeting and managing their money if they needed it.
“It is important at this stage that affected consumers look at all the bills that are outstanding or due to be paid and not allow themselves to come under pressure to pay any one provider that is demanding payment,” Ms Fitz-gerald urged.
