Uk debt...Living in Canada please help!!!

[britexpat]

Hi give them FA Quick question...where you are do they have a reciprocal agreement with the UK. Thank you for sharing your experience, its good to hear how other people have dealt with these problems.I have decided to basically do the ignore them bit and see how far it goes.

[give them FA]

I divide my time between two countries. One is in Europe and the other isn't.

 

A few years back when things were more stable I used to be a landlord renting out rooms. A lot of the tenants (mostly on social security) would leave and then letters started to arrive from debt collection agencies. As they had gone without leaving forwarding address I would throw the letters away; and they would soon stop coming. That is when I cottoned on to the fact that these agencies will only work if people contact them. On no occasion did a Court claim arrive. What a creditor could do in theory, and what they will do in the real world are very different things. If one ignores them they have no knowledge of your whereabouts and therefore no-one will take legal action against you as it's a good way of throwing good money after bad.

 

By the way my overall debt was not one big one but a lot of smaller ones average about £8,000 across some 15 creditors. Which is why I had a whole posse of DCA's, each chasing a different debt. All of them have gone away now. With just one debt, you won't have anything like it! Look at it logically. If you ignore then they will almost certainly go away; but on the 1% chance they actually do launch a claim, you can then defend it upon the basis you've paid the debt, plus reclaim any illegal charges. Cross the bridge when you get to it as it will almost ccertainly never come to that!

 

I just thought to add, the one thing you might want to do is to contact the bank where the repayments were coming out of and get them to confirm where those repayments went. If they went to the wrong place you would want to try and recall the money. I'm sure Cerberus could give you better advice on that than myself. But maybe you've already done that.

Edited October 3, 2011 by give them FA

[britexpat]

Ok so I have now recieved a letter a month for the last 3 months from Santander they are just statements but it does not say a whole lot and it only shows the last payment I made which was in september of this year.

I have not opened the one I recieved today so I am now wondering if to put it in the post box and write on it Not known at this address..would this be a good move or a bad move or should I just keep ignoring them.

[cerberusalert]

If it's from Santander carry on ignoring it'll mean the a/c is still in-house.

[give them FA]

Absolutely. Whoever writes to you, ignore, or do what you say, return the letters "Not known at address". It is the one response they can't deal with.

[Husketeer]

Ok so I have now recieved a letter a month for the last 3 months from Santander they are just statements but it does not say a whole lot and it only shows the last payment I made which was in september of this year.

I have not opened the one I recieved today so I am now wondering if to put it in the post box and write on it Not known at this address..would this be a good move or a bad move or should I just keep ignoring them.

 

Just curious britexpat but any idea how they found you so quickly in Canada?

[cerberusalert]

They'll probably use Tracing Agents who employ numerous methods from trawling sites such as Friends Reunited, Facebook etc to 'phoning ex-neighbours trying to glean information.

[give them FA]

Also if you still have any bank accounts in U.K. and have updated your address with them, they put it on your credit file so they find out that way. But if you don't reply they won't be certain. Also they will know they can't take action in an English court, but that won't stop them trying to bullsh*t you because they don't think you will know that!

[Husketeer]

Also if you still have any bank accounts in U.K. and have updated your address with them, they put it on your credit file so they find out that way. But if you don't reply they won't be certain. Also they will know they can't take action in an English court, but that won't stop them trying to bullsh*t you because they don't think you will know that!

 

Thanks guys, always good to know. We have one finance co trying to get a CCJ against us apparently, this is the 3 rd solicitors company that's contacted us now at our old address, we have done as you say and ignored all letters so far

[cerberusalert]

A lot of these letters purporting to be from solicitors are not always what they seem, some are from the creditors in-house legal department & others are from DCAs who pay a solicitor to allow them to use their name & letterheads. A bit like the other form of solicitor & their pimp.

[Husketeer]

A lot of these letters purporting to be from solicitors are not always what they seem, some are from the creditors in-house legal department & others are from DCAs who pay a solicitor to allow them to use their name & letterheads. A bit like the other form of solicitor & their pimp.

 

Thanks, good to know