Thanks Brigadier. I'm proud of the way she's handled it all. I just wish I had the means to pay off mine.

Her debts have all been settled so she isn't worried about them being statute barred. She is now taking steps to improve her record so that by the time the settled defaults drop off, she will have three years of responsible behaviour showing.

Thank you. She is now dancing round the room!

My daughter has settled loans that were defaulted for three years. Please can someone confirm when these will be removed from her credit record? Six years from default or six years from settlement?

Yes, that is very true and I didn't mean to contradict you, sorry. I just think people should be aware that a poor credit file can still have serious repercussions abroad. In our case we are having to sell our house because the bank refused to extend the term of the mortgage which would have made the repayments affordable.

This is not necessarily true. After my husband was made redundant we applied to the bank here in Spain, for a period of interest only on our mortgage. We were asked to supply UK credit reports.

That's encouraging. At least we'll have a chance of finding somewhere. I'll be able to get a reference from a rental agent here which may help too. Thanks. Fingers crossed the house sale goes through.

We used my husband's last address. I had huge difficulty in getting mine though. Equifax were a nightmare to deal with.

I've been in Spain for nine years, but my husband commuted for six of those and still had a flat in the UK. Nothing at all has been linked to our address here.

We would probably be moving to an area that we don't know, so, no local knowledge. The two debts on my file seem to have been sold on to Mkdp Lip. My husband also has defaults from First Direct, Amex, Preference cards and Lowell Portfolio. Those letting agent fees are extortionate! I wonder if it would be worthwhile trying to get a credit check here in Spain and showing copies of that. I suppose there are credit reference companies here. The record would at least show that we haven't got any bad debts in Spain where we've been living.

No PPI and yes, I wouldn't do anything until I had to. What would be likely happen if I ignored them completely? Great information LaughingGirl. Unfortunately we do have a couple of CCJ although they have been settled. I wasn't aware of them until recently, but have managed to pay them. I suppose they would still go against us. There's a lot of info there that I hadn't thought of or wasn't aware of. Thanks.

Thanks. We would hopefully be able to pay six months rent up front. I wouldn't be looking to take anything on credit at all. Never again! I guess it is pretty inevitable that we will be chased. I now need to work out how best to cause delays in anything actually happening. I've just been looking around the forum for the procedure to follow, but haven't yet found it. I think I start by asking them to prove that we owe the money. Is that right? The debts were defaulted four years ago. I guess demands were sent to my husbands previous address after he had left there. I don't understand why we were never contacted at our Spanish address as the bank was aware that I was living in Spain, yet never contacted me regarding the joint accounts and continued to give credit to my OH although it was clear he was struggling to pay. A phone call to me would have alerted me to the situation that I was unaware of. There is nothing on our credit files to indicate that we have left the UK so they could still be sending demands to the previous address at the moment. The debts have now been sold on. Who would I need to ask to prove the debt, the bank or the DCA?

I hadn't thought about the utilities. I guess it can't be avoided then.

We may have a buyer for our home in Spain and I would very much like to return to the UK to be nearer to my children. Unfortunately we have had to drop the house price so low that we will pretty much just cover the mortgage and there won't be enough left to settle our debts in the UK as we had hoped. We have defaulted debts in the UK that will become statute barred in two years. I'm worried that by moving back we will suddenly be bombarded by debt collectors. Is there any way that we can stay under the radar? We will need to rent, as we won't have money to buy, but we'll hopefully have enough cash to pay six months rent up front. Will the agency still need to do a credit check? Can they do a check if we ask them not to? Will looking for employment result in a credit check being done? How about obtaining an enhanced criminal records check? I will need one of those. What other things would flag us up? We could, once we find jobs, start some kind of payment plan, but it will be many many years until we can clear everything which means we will probably never ever be able to build a credit rating again as we are getting on a bit. I am really hoping we can hang on until the debts become statute barred or we win the lottery and can clear the lot. Wishful thinking, I know. The debts are all unsecured and there are no CCJs. However I'm worried that if a CCJ is taken out when we return, we won't have the money to settle it. Presumably creditors can apply for a CCJ at any time? Alternatively we could just stay in Spain and hope for the best, but if we don't return soon it is very unlikely that my husband will find a job if we return in a couple of years. The longer we stay away, the more difficult it will be. If we had any way of paying the debts, I would happily do so, if only to be free of the worry and guilt, but we are just not in a position to clear them.

Thank you.

This is probably a daft question, but I read somewhere that only the original lender can apply for a CCJ, not a debt collection agency. Is this true?

Thanks for the replies. It is good to know it will come off in 2015. I thought it was six years from settlement date, so I'm very glad to be wrong. I'm worried about my UK file as I would like to move back.

Thinking about my debts,as I do constantly, I'm wondering if there would be any point in me trying to get a satisfied CCJ set aside on the basis that it was applied for in 2009 by which time I had been a resident of Spain for six years. The debt was one of many that my husband ran up unbeknown to me. I only found out about some of these when I managed to get a credit report earlier this year. The CCJ was showing on my file. It had already been settled by my husband and showed as settled on his file, but not on mine. He then wrote to the court and on an application to the trust online this week, I can now see that it shows as settled. However it is going to be on my file for another five years and I would like it removed if possible. If I did ask for it to be set aside, would this alert any debt collectors to my whereabouts? We also have two joint, defaulted debts with First Direct (now sold to Mkd Llp) which I had no knowledge of. I don't wish to contest these as they will hopefully become statute barred in two years, but again I had no contact about the debts despite First Direct knowing I had moved to Spain years earlier. At the time my husband had a UK address and I'm guessing that all correspondence went there. However First Direct knew I was living here and had previously telephoned me here on my Spanish land-line which they had, although never about the accounts being in arrears. Surely they should have contacted me before issuing defaults?

I'm probably coming to this too late to be of help to the OP, but in case it helps someone else...There is a process in Spain called a Dacion en pago. This is where you can negotiate with the bank to hand the keys back. (You cannot just give back the keys without the Dacion, they will repossess). The banks don't have to accept a Dacion and will only consider one if there is equity in the property. For anyone wanting to go down this route, it is pretty essential to get a solicitor to handle the process in order to make sure that all the costs such as Capital Gains Tax, notary fees, Plus Valia tax etc are covered. Without a solicitor you could still find yourself with large bills as the bank will be acting in its own interests, not the interests of the homeowner. The cost of using a solicitor for a Dacion is around €1500 plus IVA..

Are you positive that you won't be able to get an IVA? When I enquired about IVAs I was told that it would be possible and I've been out of the UK for a long time.

The debts to Mkdp Lip and Lowell are both from First Direct. One is a joint one, but on my husband's report the debt is still owing to First Direct. The other is in my name. I have no idea f they have been sold on or if they are just being collected on behalf of First Direct. I don't know why First Direct never contacted me about the debts as they had my address in Spain. Not that it would have helped, by then the damage was done and we had no money.

Do you think it will cause a problem Brigadier? Is there anything I should do about it?

Well done, you must be so relieved. How long after the final payment should the default be lodged?

Sorry to be a pain, I really do appreciate you trying to help. I don't really know how to find out about whether the debt collectors have bought the debts or not. In the hope that they might become statute barred, I haven't wanted to contact anyone about them. What are the implications? Other than knowing that my only accounts were with First Direct, I have no idea what the others were for. This is clearly a ridiculous situation, so I am going to have to pin my husband down and try to extract some more information from him. I'll get nowhere tonight with the football on TV. Tomorrow will be a better bet. As far as I'm aware there has been no correspondance sent to Spain at all. It will have gone to the UK address my husband had three years ago. This is why it all came as a shock to me.

Thanks. That's reassuring.