After the "Impresa Italia" initiative, UniCredit Group shows its support for Italy's real economy
Suspend repayments on your mortgage, free of charge, for up to one year: in a nutshell, this is Insieme 2009, an initiative UniCredit Group is launching today to help customers who are in temporary financial difficulty.
Insieme 2009 is aimed at families who took out a mortgage with one of the Group's banks (UniCredit Banca in the North part of Italy, UniCredit Banca di Roma in the South- Centre, Banco di Sicilia in the island or UniCredit Banca per la Casa) in the last few years, and who are unable to make repayments because of one of the following events, in the period from 1 October 2008 to 31 December 2009:
- customers in permanent employment who lose their jobs or belong to the 'atypical' category (workers with multiple contracts, etc.)
- customers in receipt of benefits from the Cassa Integrazione Ordinaria or Straordinaria (payments to workers whose firms shut down temporarily or undergo restructuring, etc.)
- customers who become separated or divorced, and have dependent children
- cases where one of the holders of the mortgage dies
The initiative is intended for lower income families (up to EUR 25,000 gross per family according to tax return for fiscal year 2007). More than 260,000 families can benefit, representing around 30% of the UniCredit Group's household mortgage portfolio.
Under the initiative, UniCredit Group is offering its clients peace of mind should unforeseen circumstances affect their household budgets, enabling them to look for a new job, complete formalities following a death in the family or choose when to move house to benefit from the best market conditions.
The suspended payments will be postponed to the end of the mortgage term at no additional cost to the customer, and repaid once the rest of the mortgage instalments have been received.
In addition, for customers who miss repayments in the above-mentioned period following one of the events described, the UniCredit Group undertakes to suspend legal action for a year, thereby easing the fear of repossession for less well-off families.
According to Roberto Nicastro, Deputy CEO of UniCredit Group, "Insieme 2009 demonstrates UniCredit's concern for families experiencing financial difficulties. In Italy around three million households are paying a mortgage on their homes. Lower income families account for around a million of these, and some of them urgently need a helping hand so they can continue to pursue the dream of their first home and avoid losing their initial investment.
After "Impresa Italia", Insieme 2009 is further testament to UniCredit's efforts to boost the country's economy in these difficult times", he concluded.
"Insieme 2009" follows on from the other initiatives previously implemented by UniCredit Group to help families struggling to pay their mortgages: over 40,000 loans have been renegotiated, and 390,000 of the Group's customers have received letters offering reductions in mortgage repayments under an agreement put in place by the Italian Banking Association and the Economy and Finance Ministry (ABI/MEF), whose terms the Group has adopted.
"Insieme 2009" strengthens UniCredit's commitment to supporting the economy and is in the same spirit as the "Impresa Italia" initiative, in which the Group - in partnership with trade associations and Confidi (credit guarantee bodies) - has set aside EUR 5 billion to provide small businesses with access to credit, thereby showing it is highly attuned to the needs of Italian enterprises at a difficult time for the economy.
Milan, 2 December 2008
Contacts:
UniCredit Retail Division
Paola Chiarelli - paola.chiarelli@unicreditgroup.eu 3356775350