So you want to avail of the new personal insolvency law that is to be passed through the Dail later this week. No problem, however you will be limited to owning no more than €400 of personal items.

Items expempt from the €400 limit will be,

essential household appliances, work equipment, a vehicle worth up to €1,200 .
No allowance for jewellery.

FF wants jewellery exemption in personal insolvency law

THE GOVERNMENT will this week face calls to alter incoming personal insolvency legislation so the €3 million upper limit of debt is reduced and debtors will not have to sell engagement rings.The European Commission has warned that the debt threshold is too high for a scheme aimed at struggling homeowners.Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said expensive jewellery could not be exempt from debt relief mechanisms.Mr Shatter, who is sponsoring the legislation that will allow debtors to emerge from bankruptcy after three years instead of 12, has said he is open to amendments when the proposed law returns to the Oireachtas for discussion on Thursday.Fianna Fáil spokesman on finance Michael McGrath has said property speculators and professional investors could benefit at the expense of owner-occupiers in distress with personal mortgages.“As I understand it, the main purpose of the Personal Insolvency Bill is to provide for a fresh start for individuals and families unable to repay their mortgage and other forms of personal debt,” Mr McGrath said.“People with debts of up to €3 million will have an equal standing in law as people struggling to keep the family home and will essentially be competing for scarce resources from the personal insolvency service,” he added.He also cautioned the best personal insolvency practitioners could gravitate towards larger cases where the perceived fee-earning capacity would be higher.

FF wants jewellery exemption in personal insolvency law - The Irish Times - Mon, Sep 10, 2012

Seems reasonable. I'd exclude perhaps the wedding and engagement rings if it's been purchased more than 1 year before applying for insolvency, but not all jewellery. If you let everything in then what you'll see is people buying expensive items, applying for the insolvency, then selling them off later.

All in the name of giving the banks as much as possible....

Yes, but what about my Ronan Keating album?

Originally Posted by Radix

Yes, but what about my Ronan Keating album?

If you brought an Ronan Keating album, you wont be of sound mind to enter into insolvency!!

Originally Posted by Analyzer

All in the name of giving the banks as much as possible....

Yep,must keep OUR banks content.

Originally Posted by Analyzer

All in the name of giving the banks as much as possible....

You just want Sean Dunne and Sean Quinn to be able to keep all their ill gotten gains.

It will not always be about banks. People have always made rash decisions and they cannot be seen to be rewarded for it. €400 does sound reasonable as a "fresh start". I also agree that they should be able to make a case for core items like marriage jewellery although given that most rocks cost an awful lot more than €400 it might be difficult to convince anyone. It would be a bit "rich" to see a €3K ring on the hand of someone who was allegedly bankrupt.

Id like to know how they will police the €400 limit.

Will they include a partners posessions when that partner never owned any of that debt?
Will they grab the kids Xbox when infact the child owns the Item?

How will they assess what assets you have, people making arrangements to knock at your door, which could result in people hiding their goods or will it be a simple self decleration?

Its going to be very simple to hide a €5,000 ring at someone elses house.

Originally Posted by Analyzer

All in the name of giving the banks as much as possible....

Yes this is true to an extent. However there will be a substantial debt write off in most cases. Unfortunately since the state underwrote them any money not reclaimed by the bankruptcy process would likely have to come from the state.

It really feels like the bank debt deal in Europe is the missing part of the puzzle. It would make some of these bitter pills easier to swallow if people could see we weren't just giving the money to the banks.