Can UK Debt Follow me to another country

[Wondering]

Hi There everyone,

 

Hopefully someone can shed some light for me please!!

 

I lived in the UK for 6 years and left 2 years ago to return home to SA, i left about 6000 pounds debt in the UK 900 with Barclays (Credit Card) and the rest with Egg, I keep getting calls from RMA International but i do not take these calls as i do not have the money to make the payments, with the exchange rate the way it is i just cannot pay that money back. I wanted to ask if they can actually send Debt collectors to my parents home here or take me to court will it stand up in another country? What are the implications of ignoring them? And also can they stop me entering the UK for a holiday?

 

Thanks

Wondering

[MARTIN3030]

No they cannot stop you coming here for a holiday,neither can they hold anyone else to account.

They may issue proceedings although if they cant serve papers on you, then you wont go to Court.

Many of the debt collectors have overses contacts-in fact many of the bigger DCAs in the UK ARE overseas companies.

[Wondering]

Thank you very much... but just to make sure i understand correctly if they have contacts in this country can those contacts serve papers on me and i will have to go to court?

 

Many thanks

[MARTIN3030]

Yes they can file a claim on you,but the likelyhood of it succeeding would depend on many things.

Firstly the debts may be statuite barred outside the 6 years and so they cannot legally collect payments.

Secondly,Its very likely that the agreements were unenforceable given the timescales.

If you wanted to challenge them,then obviously you would need an address.However if you did decide to dispute them and made the right applications for copy documents that could decide on this,then by putting the accounts into dispute status,they would be required to suspend any collection attempts.

One way around this if you are worried about it,would be to give someone power of attourney to act on your behalf,this will get you the paperwork and documents.

Have you a friend that you could ask ?

[Wondering]

Thanks for the information - yes i could get someone to do it for me, but i was hoping to ignore it and maybe it would go away...

I am not sure what you meant about forms, i mean i took the loan and had the card so i am surely responsible for the debt? There really is nothing to dispute is there? Its been about 5 years since i took the credit card out, although i have made payments over the years, none made for the last year and about 4 years since the Egg loan again i have made payments but not in the last year, they know where i am in terms of address here in SA... I am not worried about my credit rating in the UK as i do not intend to move back there, but i am concerned that they stop me at the airport or something?? or i get arrested here?? Please excuse my ignorance but i have no idea what the implications are, my intention when i left was to continue paying the debt but financially its just not viable!

 

Thanks for your assistance

[MARTIN3030]

I was talking about the agreements that you signed when you took out the accounts.Many of the older ones,in particular the time you are talking of,were very flawed.If this is the case with yours,then you could force them to cease collection on the basis that the debts are not enforceable.

The powers of debt collectors are very limited and they certainly cannot arrest you,enter property uninvited take goods etc.

They would require a Court order,or judgement to force you into making any payments.

[wavsurgeon]

Following on from this, would your credit rating follow you around country to country ?

[Agent Mulder]

Following on from this, would your credit rating follow you around country to country ?

 

Apparently not. I went to the USA in 1996, however, before leaving the UK, someone had obtained a credit card in my name. I did not find out about this until three years later but, in the meantime, I had established good credit in the States. I ran a check with Equifax over there and there was nothing on there about the UK card and, as far as I know, there never has been.

 

I moved back to the UK in 2006 and opened a bank account. Two weeks ago, I received a message on my rarely-used, pay-as-you-go mobile. It was from JBDR. I haven't called them and I don't intend to but I assume they're trying to recover money from me. The debt is statute-barred in any case and if their actions cause me any problems vis-a-vis my UK credit standing, then I'll seek redress.

Edited January 14, 2009 by Agent Mulder