Court protection for €20k wedding loan debt

A 47-year old Limerick man with assets valued at 96c has secured court protection from his bank over unpaid debts concerning a €20,000 loan he took out to pay for his wedding reception.

This follows Judge Patrick Meaghan at Ennis Circuit Court granting a Debt Relief Notice certificate to the unemployed Castletroy man.

The certificate is available to those under the Government’s new insolvency laws and it now gives the man court protection from the Bank of Ireland for three years over his unpaid debts.

At the end of the three-year period, the debt will be written off as long as the man complies with the terms of the Personal Insolvency Act.

In court, Judge Meaghan said the man has €17,480 outstanding to the bank on the €20,000 loan.

Judge Meaghan said the man has a monthly income of €742 from the Department of Social Protection and outgoings of €840 before paying his debts, leaving a monthly deficit of €98.

The man was not present in court for the hearing.

Commenting on the case, Ennis priest Fr Tom Hogan said that a couple starting off with debt in their marriage has “a millstone around their necks. It can be a huge burden”.

Fr Hogan added: “There is a lot of social pressure on couples to have the best wedding possible.”

When contacted, wedding expert and TV regular Peter Kelly of Weddings by Franc commented: “I don’t think anyone should get into debt over their wedding. My advice would be ‘spend what you have’.”

Figures from mrs2be.ie show that the man’s spend was above average, with the wedding specialist website’s latest survey showing that the average wedding day spend is €17,690, with an additional €4,808 spent on the honeymoon.

Mr Kelly added: “It’s very hard to say what the average spend is, as the industry is so diverse and there are more people getting married this year than before.”

The desire by couples to have extravagant wedding ceremonies was underlined by Lisdoonvarna priest Fr Conor Cunningham, who yesterday confirmed he has had no take-up by couples for community weddings that would take place as part of Sunday Mass.

He made his offer last year to couples who were putting off getting married because they could not afford the event.