Proving A Bank Debt In Irish Proceedings

Recent Irish case law has shown that a bank must take great care when considering the evidence needed to establish its claim in debt-recovery proceedings.

A feature of the recession in Ireland has been debtors resorting to disingenuous arguments in attempts to defeat routine claims by banks and other lenders. For the most part, Irish jurisprudence has been characterised by adherence to established legal principles – together with a healthy dose of common sense. That approach is, unfortunately, absent in a number of recent cases concerning the proof of routine (and essentially undisputed) statements of account in debt-recovery actions. Much of the confusion arises from a misunderstanding of the proper role of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act 1879 (as amended) (the "BBEA"). The issue is not only important for banks and other lenders, but also to companies engaged in servicing books of debt portfolios for banks ("Service Companies") and loan book purchasers.