Australian debt enforced in the UK

[LL1982]

Hi All,

 

I was hoping for some insights into my predicament

 

About 2.5 years ago I moved back to the UK from Australia with a substantial amount of credit card debit. I have been paying off the minimum payment for the last 2.5 with the exception of the last 6 months as I have been unable to make the minimum repayment due to reduced earnings (resulting from a chronic back issue). As such, Westpac has sold the account to Recoveries Corp who demanded the full amount ($23,001.26) by the 16th October 2012. I was unable to make this payment and therefore the debt will be referred to Mason Black Lawyers. I am able to offer them $450.00 per month to pay off this debt and am yet to hear if this is acceptable.....

 

If these payment terms are not accepted, are you able to advise which legal steps Mason Black Lawyers will take to recover the debt from the UK? I am in the UK and am therefore not able to attend an Australian court.

 

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

KR,

 

L

[cerberusalert]

I've copied and pasted a previous reply to a similar question;

 

With regard to Jurisdiction, it is possible that an Australian contract can be enforced in a UK court if the UK court is deemed to be the appropriate forum to hear the case. Given that the debtor is a UK resident, it could be argued that a UK court is the appropriate forum.

 

Regardless of Jurisdiction, any contract between an Australian financial institution and a (then) Australian resident, signed in Australia is subject to Australian Law.

 

A creditor would have to sue in a UK under Australian Law, which is not the easiest, or cheapest option.

 

As the alleged debt is covered under Australian Law, the creditor would need to be a member of an Australian financial ombudsman service (there are two: FOS and COSL). Simply disputing the debt with the ombudsman service is going to delay anything for months at least. There are a lot of things a creditor has to do under Australian Law to enforce a judgement in court, not least issue a Section 80 letter before commencing any actions.

 

Anyone interested in reading up should google "ASIC debt collection", "Section 80", "UCCC".