Friends First wins ruling on €430,000 of bad loans

By Laura Noonan

Irish Independent

Saturday December 12 2009

TROUBLED lender Friends First Finance secured more than €430,000 in judgments against borrowers over a two-day period last week, the latest issue of debt monitor Stubbs Gazette reveals.

Friends First Finance , which is the lending arm of the insurance company bearing the same name, announced plans to quit the market in late August having written off bad debts of €25m in the first half of the year.

The Stubbs Gazette listings show the lender is still actively trying to recoup some of the money it loaned by seeking registered judgments in the courts. On December 1, Friends First registered two judgments in the High Court -- one for €185,500 against a Dublin businessman and another for €45,800 against a Wexford businessman.

A day later, the lender registered a judgment for almost €200,000 against a Laois businessman. Friends First isn't the only lender using registered judgments to chase up bad debts, with both AIB and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BoSI) also featuring in Stubbs this week.

BoSI registered a judgment of €218,500 against an Offaly businessman on December 1, while AIB registered a judgment for almost €44,000 against a Meath building contractor on November 26.