MABS – Open and Here to Help
22nd April 2020
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March 2020 will be remembered for many years to come, as COVID-19 (coronavirus) has had a big impact on how we go about our daily our lives. These are challenging times, however, there is hope and returning to positive qualities such as re-igniting community spirit, providing support to our neighbours – at a physically acceptable distance – and having the courage to ask for help will mean we will make it through.
The virus does not discriminate; all of us must take the same precautions regardless of where we come from, how we live, and what we believe. This time shows how we are all connected and how we are using technology to remain connected. MABS will continue to connect with anyone who needs us, whether an existing client or not. We might not be able to meet face-to-face, but we will always have your back.
Read on to learn more about this challenge and how MABS is adapting to make sure we are providing support to those of us who need money, debt and budgeting advice.
Our changing circumstances
Our lives have been brought to a halt, and how we go about our daily routine has changed. Simple tasks like grocery shopping are almost a military procedure. We are 'home-schooling' our children, checking in on our 'cocooning' elderly, and supporting the vulnerable in the safest ways possible. Ultimately, our responsibilities are to the safety of ourselves as individuals, our families and our communities. As a nation, we are observing the rules by remaining in our homes, apart from having to leave for the essentials or carry out essential work/services.
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At the beginning of April 2020, figures showed over 500,000 people in Ireland are now in receipt of the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP). These are people, just like you and me, who were working but because of the pandemic can no longer do so. They have been temporarily laid off, which can have a negative impact on our mental and, financial health and wellbeing. The sudden reduced income brings up real questions such as; will I have a job to go back to when this is all over? How will I pay my Mortgage or Rent? Or, how can I manage to budget on a reduced income?
MABS is open and available to support
The Government has identified MABS as an essential service. MABS has identified that the demand for personal money and debt advice will continue to grow. To meet the anticipated demand, we have introduced new features such as a webchat facility on our website. We continue to work with our colleagues in the Citizens Information Board to review and evaluate the level of demand. We provide up-to-date information relating to the financial implications of COVID-19.
We will continue to operate a full service.
Service Operation (Offices)
MABS operates over 60 offices nationwide. All our offices remain open, although face-to-face appointments are not taking place. Each of the offices continues to offer full money and debt advice service, to our existing and new clients. We are providing our service by phone, email & post. We are working with our clients and encouraging them to communicate by email, safe in the knowledge that information will be received and responded to from secure locations.
While we understand not all of you are fully confident in technology, there is always the option to contact us by phone or by post.
Working from Home
In line with Government policy, to ensure all our staff are safe and observing the 2-metre social distancing rule, some of us are working from home. This is a first for a lot of MABS staff. We have embraced this by structuring our personal lives and space to ensure we continue to offer a full service to our clients. We do have access to our emails from home; it is very important that you are aware email communication to and from MABS staff working from home is equally secure to that of communication from staff working from our offices. All staff are adhering to GDPR procedures and policies to make sure your information is safe and secure.
The MABS National Helpline
This vital function of MABS continues to operate as it always has. Advisers are at the end of the phone to listen, understand and signpost you in the right direction. The MABS National Helpline can be contacted on 0761 07 2000 Monday to Friday 9.00am to 8.00pm.
The MABS Website
The MABS website www.mabs.ie continues to support you with all the features you would expect: information on various types of debts, budgeting tools, self-help tools on how to deal with creditors, and so on.
Adapting to changing times
How we interact in our daily lives may have changed, but we all still need help and support with dealing with our creditors, making a household budget, debt, arrears and ensuring we have maximised our income. MABS recognises this, and we are continuing to adapt to this change to continue to provide a full-service offering. Here are a few examples of how we are doing this.
The MABS website has also recently launched some new exciting features:
- COVID-19 MABS Live Feed- MABS has developed a live feed with daily updates with all things COVID-19 in particular relating to your concerns about your finances.
- MABS Blog- Regular blogs by our experienced Money Advisors. Money Advisors share their experience giving practical advice to assist you in managing your money.
- Webchat- MABS has recently added a webchat tool to our website. You simply log in to the Facebook messenger from the website. (You will find the messenger icon at the bottom right-hand corner of our website) You provide us with your query; a MABS Money Advisor will be there to listen, support and respond, signposting you in the right information. The messenger service is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Any queries submitted outside of these times will be responded to when the service resumes at 9am the following morning or 9am Monday morning should you message us over the weekend. We have a 100% response rate and will respond to any queries that come in from the public.
- Social Media - MABS has a new national Facebook page: you will find us by searching for @MABSinfo. We are also on Twitter, and more recently, Instagram - search for @MABSinfo. Twitter & Facebook are updated daily providing accurate, up-to-date information as well as sharing important information from trusted sources.
Abhaile
The Abhaile service continues to operate. Abhaile is available to homeowners who find themselves in mortgage arrears (before, during and after COVID19). This service provides vouchers for free financial (Personal Insolvency) and legal help from a host of expert professionals participating in the scheme. Dedicated Mortgage Arrears Advisers (available through your local MABS office), are continuing their important work at this time. The Court supports such as the Court Mentor, and Duty Solicitor are currently suspended in line with public health guidelines. County Registrar possession hearings are suspended in line with these guidelines, and the lenders have agreed to suspend legal proceedings for three months.
The Abhaile scheme aims to help homeowners find a solution to their arrears, with the ultimate goal where possible to remain in the family home.
Vouchers can be applied for through the MABS National Helpline or one of our countrywide services.
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