Australian debt being chased in UK

[maggie36]

SWIM has a debt issue, where they are being chased by Credit Corp for a debt that was run up in Australia, in the New South Wales juristriction.

 

A judgement was placed against him in December 2007, after running up credit card debts. Him & his wife left, to live in the UK in 2008. His wife started to receive phonecalls from Credit Corp two weeks ago, and the man received an email trying to contact him - Credit Corp does not have a postal address for him. Credit Corp have only left voicemails so far, stating that they have a judgement, and can sell the debt to a UK agency, who will be able to start recovery proceedings.

 

Credit Corp does not know where the man in question lives, and he has not acknowledged the debt in any form, and has not made any payments towards it.

 

Friends in Sydney have found out that in New South Wales, the Statute of Limitation for debt recovery with a court judgement is 12 years - which seems different from what has been posted here on several threads. He found this out through the Consumer Credit Legal Centre, NSW.

 

 

What should he do?

 

So far, they do not now where he lives, but the couple are extremely anxious about this, as they have young children and cannot afford to pay the debt.

 

Here is the email (anonymous) that has been sent:

 

I write regarding the above-mentioned account which has been assigned to Credit Corp from Westpac banking of Australia.

Due to the fact the account is an escalated account, it has reached a critical level, and subsequently escalated to myself to make a final decision on.

 

I have tried to contact you on all available numbers, yet I have received no response back from you. Management wish to provide you with one final chance to reconcile this matter on your own accord, prior to escalating it any further.

 

At this point there are three options available to you;

 

1) Full and Final payment with a possible discount, depending on when the account is paid. The discounted amount for both accounts combined $26,XXX must be paid by the 25th May 2012.

- This option immediately saves you $2,XXX, but also saves you on all ongoing interest and possible fees and legal costs.

 

2) 50% of the account up front followed by an amicable arrangement to pay the residual of the account. 50% of the account being $14,XXX this also must be paid by the 25th May 2012.

 

3) To have your account escalated into possible litigation and even outsourced to of overseas mercantile agents. Consequences may include litigation in your country of residence and adverse affects to your overseas credit rating.

- Please be advised that you will incur any costs of any proceedings we may force upon you.

 

As you are aware your Westpac Mastercard account Client Number XXXX has Judgement against you, this means we are able to proceed immediately with enforcement. Please see below for the possibly enforcement actions that may be bought against you.

 

1. A Summons to you to attend Court for examination by our Solicitors under oath,

2. An Attachment of Earnings Order (or Garnishee) against your employer for them to make payments direct to Credit Corp Services Pty Ltd from your salary,

3. A Writ or Warrant to instruct a Bailiff to seize and sell your personal property or land or home,

4. A Court Order to proceed with a Bank Garnishee against your bank for them to make payments direct to Credit Corp Services Pty Ltd from your account

5. Bankruptcy- Where a trustee will be appointed control over your assets i.e. XXXX

Furthermore it is incumbent upon you to ensure that all personal details are fully updated with us at all times.

If we have not received advisement and a firm resolution to your situation by 15/04/2012 this account may immediately be escalated without further notice.

[cerberusalert]

Credit Corp does not have a postal address for him. Credit Corp have only left voicemails so far, stating that they have a judgement, and can sell the debt to a UK agency, who will be able to start recovery proceedings.

They cannot take any enforcement without a UK courts permission. The Oz judgment would need to be re registered in the new owners name otherwise a UK debt collector cannot apply for enforcement.

Credit Corp does not know where the man in question lives,

Neither he nor anyone else has a legal obligation to tell them.

 

His he certain there is a judgment?

 

Roughly how much is the judgment?

 

Does he have any property or assets here in the UK?

 

As for the email he can safely ignore that.

[maggie36]

So far, the only details about the judgement were gained through his Veda file - to verify that there actually is a judgment, and to when it was placed. How would he gain the details about the details of the judgment? (He did not give his current address when gaining his credit file from Veda - he gained it via email).

 

He currently has a joint mortgage with his wife in the UK, therefore has property assets.

 

Is he better to wait for them to find him? Is there any action he should be proactively taking, such as entering a declaration of trust on his property, so that he only has a 1% stake in his property - effectively reducing his assets?

 

He is aware that the debt would need to be passed over to a UK debt agency, in order for them to be able to proceed through UK courts. Have you ever encountered any situations where Credit Corp have sold the debt on to a UK agency, that has been successfully pursued through the UK courts?

[cerberusalert]

There is only one case which I'm aware of where they tried to pursue through a UK court but the defendant came to an arrangement before it was heard. I don't have any details as it was subject to a confidentiality clause.

 

Personally I would wait until they found him, at the moment they are sending out speculative emails which in reality could be going to several people with the same name.

 

he could have a word with the advisors at http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php who will be able to tell him what options he will have if indeed they did try to get a UK court to allow enforcement.

[maggie36]

Yes, I think I saw that case, where the individual was being approached by UK Solicitors, and it was due to go to court. this situatiion seems to differ in that there is an Australian court judgment against him, which extends the statute of limitation by a further 6 years, to 12 years in total.

 

I will encourage him to make contact with the national debt line, and will keep you posted of their advice.

 

Many Thanks

[Mistake maker]

Could he not get the judgement in Australia set aside if he was not in the country when it was issued?

[maggie36]

He was in Aus when the judgement was given.

[krios]

I would write to http://www.creditcorp.net.au/index.php and see if the guy there can shed some light on what might happen. Just because they have a judgment in Aus does not mean it will be easy to transfer to the UK. I understand that the judgement has to be put before the high court in the uk before it can be enforced. Thats just my idea from what i have read and i could be wrong.

Found this.

http://www.loble.co.uk/Enforcement_of_Foreign_Judgments.html

 

1. PROCEDURE FOR REGISTRATION OF A FOREIGN JUDGMENT
   

A foreign judgment is not automatically enforceable in England. Its registration is dependent on the English court being satisfied that particular conditions have been met.

The procedure for the registration of foreign judgments is that the judgment or certified copy, together with a translation into English of the original judgment if it is in a foreign language, is lodged with the High Court of Justice in England, together with an affidavit in support of the application for the judgment to be registered.

The application is made without notice (ex-parte) by lodging papers with the Master's Secretary's Department.

The conditions of the applicable Act must be complied with (see 3.1 – 3.3 below). Assuming those conditions are met, an order will be given for the judgment to be registered. Notice is then given to the defendant that the judgment has been registered and that the defendant has 21 days in which to apply to set aside the registration.

The Notice must be served personally on the defendant. If an application is made there will be a hearing before the Master in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court.

It is important to keep in mind that the English rules of procedure apply when a party is seeking to enforce a foreign judgment.

 

1. 3.HOW ARE FOREIGN JUDGMENTS ENFORCED IN ENGLAND?
   
   

Foreign judgments may be enforced in the UK in one of three different ways, as follows:-

 

1. (1)European Judgments - Judgments of foreign States signatories to the Judgments Regulation 2000 (which replaced the Brussels Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters of 1968 for all EU countries save for Denmark) and the Lugano Convention which applies to EFTA countries;
   
   (2)Judgments of Commonwealth States and States with which the UK has a bilateral Treaty; and
   
   
2. (3)Judgments from courts of foreign States with which there is no treaty.
   
   

Once the judgment is registered, or declared enforceable, it is treated for the purposes of English law as equivalent to a High Court judgment.

I would ignore anything Credit corp say. They will say anything to scare people into paying.