If letters from your mortgage lender are piling up unopened, or if you’ve had a court letter about your home, you already know how this kind of stress works. It’s not the sort of thing you talk about easily. And once formal proceedings start, the pressure sharpens quickly.
Abhaile is the State’s response to that reality. It’s a free scheme, coordinated by The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) in partnership with the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI), the Legal Aid Board, and the Citizens Information Board. Its purpose is to get expert financial and legal advice to homeowners in serious mortgage arrears who are at risk of losing their home. The help costs you nothing.
This guide explains what Abhaile is, who qualifies, what the vouchers actually cover, how the process runs, and how a Personal Insolvency Arrangement reached through Abhaile could help protect your family home.
What Abhaile is
Abhaile (the Irish word for “home”) launched in 2016. It was created because thousands of homeowners were slipping into unsustainable mortgage arrears without ever getting proper professional advice about their options. Legal help felt out of reach. Financial advice felt expensive. Many people simply carried on hoping the situation would resolve itself, which rarely happened.
Under Abhaile, if you meet the eligibility criteria, you can access:
- Free advice from a Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP)
- Free consultation with a qualified accountant
- Free legal advice from a solicitor
- Access to a Duty Solicitor at court repossession hearings
- Court accompaniment through your local MABS office
You access the service by contacting MABS or a participating Personal Insolvency Practitioner. A dedicated adviser will assess your situation and, if you qualify, issue vouchers for the advice types most relevant to your case.
Who Abhaile is for
Abhaile is for homeowners who:
- Are in mortgage arrears on their principal private residence (your family home, not a buy-to-let)
- Are insolvent, meaning you cannot meet your debts as they fall due
- Are at risk of losing the home
You don’t need to be at the court stage to qualify. If you’re behind on your mortgage and can’t see a way forward, that’s often enough for you to avail of the scheme.
If you’re not sure whether you qualify, ring MABS anyway or speak to ourselves to find out more.
The vouchers in practice
The PIP voucher is the one that matters most for people who want to try to keep their home. Here’s how it works.
You take your voucher to a Personal Insolvency Practitioner appointed under the scheme. The PIP reviews your full financial position, including income, essential outgoings, mortgage terms, other debts, and any arrears history. They then form a view on what could realistically work for you.
There are three possible outcomes at this stage:
- A Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) is a viable option. The PIP will explain what a PIA proposal might look like for you, including how your mortgage and any unsecured debts would be treated, and can then formally propose it to your creditors.
- Another arrangement or informal solution is more suitable. The PIP may suggest a different route, such as a longer-term restructure with your lender directly.
- No formal arrangement will work. In some cases, the honest advice is that no insolvency solution is achievable and other options need to be considered.
Whatever the outcome, the assessment itself is free and the PIP is required to give you an unbiased opinion.
The accountant voucher and solicitor voucher work similarly. They give you a professional assessment in their area of expertise, often used alongside the PIP consultation to help you make informed decisions.
How a PIA could help protect your home
A Personal Insolvency Arrangement is the insolvency solution designed specifically for people with secured debts, including mortgages. It’s a legally binding agreement between you and your creditors that can restructure your mortgage and write down other unsecured debts over a period of typically six years.
For homeowners in arrears, a PIA could:
- Restructure the mortgage so that it becomes affordable again (for example by extending the term, splitting the loan, or writing down part of the principal in specific circumstances)
- Deal with your other debts at the same time, so the overall picture is manageable
- Provide legal protection from creditor enforcement while the arrangement is in place
A PIA is designed to keep you in your home wherever it’s reasonably possible to do so. This is written into the legislation. If your creditors reject a reasonable PIA proposal, there is a court review mechanism (known as a section 115A review) where the court can, in certain circumstances, impose the arrangement over the objection of the creditors.
None of this is a guarantee. Every case is looked at on its own facts. But for homeowners in serious arrears, a PIA reached through Abhaile represents one of the strongest legal tools available in Irish law for trying to keep the family home.
How to access Abhaile
The process is simpler than most people expect:
- Call the MABS Helpline on 0818 07 2000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm), or contact your local MABS office directly. You can also contact us directly on 01 539 5790 or email adviceteam@mccambridgeduffy.ie.
- Speak to an adviser. They’ll go through your situation, ask about your mortgage, income, and any other debts, and confirm your eligibility.
- Receive your vouchers. If you qualify, MABS will issue vouchers for the advice types most useful to your case.
- Book your consultations. You take your voucher to an appointed PIP, solicitor, or accountant of your choice from the panel.
- Get your assessment and decide your next step. Once you have professional advice in hand, you can make an informed decision about what to do.
Nothing you say to MABS or to an appointed professional is shared with your lender without your consent.
What to expect from the process
The first meeting is often the hardest step, mostly because people have been carrying the situation quietly for a long time. Advisers and PIPs are used to that. They won’t judge. Their job is to look at the numbers and give you an honest read of your options.
If you have them, bring:
- Recent mortgage statements
- Any arrears correspondence from your lender
- Recent payslips or evidence of income
- A list of your other debts and monthly outgoings
- Any court correspondence
If you don’t have all of this to hand, go anyway. The adviser can help you gather what’s missing.
Talking to a Personal Insolvency Practitioner
At McCambridge Duffy, our Personal Insolvency Practitioners accept Abhaile vouchers. If you have a voucher, or you think you might qualify for one, we can walk you through what a PIA might look like in your circumstances and what other routes are open to you.
If you’d like to talk it through in confidence, we offer free consultations across Ireland.
Get in touch
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