Australian Debt chased in India by Credit Corp

[abhii]

I lived in Australia till 2010. I was using a Credit Card and making all payments on time. Then in 2010 i moved back to India, and i do not intend on going back to Australia. I was making regular minimum payments till about 2013. Then my financial circumstances changed a bit and I was not able to make any further payments. I wrote to the bank asking for assistance in financial hardship, which is a facility that they provide. However my request was rudely rejected.

I stopped making the payments, and I got reminders and legal action threats and so forth. I would get call early in the morning, however I did not answer any of them. This went on for a while and then they sold my debt to a collections company and on behalf of the bank they started contacting me in a rather aggressive way. Again, this went on for sometime and I got notices from the bank and the collections company about threats about legal action and so forth.

The disturbing development is that, they got my work email id from somewhere, they may have tracked things down from social networking sites or pulled out details from the IP Address or something. I got an email this morning about some offers in settling the amount.

I am still not in a situation to pay them back, I want to enquire the following details

1. Since the debt has been sold to a collections company, what can they do to pursue the debt here in India?

2. If they decide to sue me for this and get a judgment against me, what implications does this have on me residing here in India? I am not a resident of Australia. Do civil court judgments have any sort of jurisdiction here?

3. Would they call up my company and harass me? What can I do in such situations?

4. Is it a crime? Would I be punished for it?

5. Should I change my number and address where I live? However I cannot change my work location, now that they have the official email address.

6. If i get a legal notice from the court then what should i do?

Could you please elabote on the answers?

[unclebulgaria67]

This is a UK site and relates only to UK issues.

 

If you want advice about Australian debt repayments and to complain about Credit Corp you need to obtain advice from an Australian organisation.

 

If you want advice as to whether the debt can be enforced in India, speak to an Indian Lawyer.

 

All I can tell you is that it is unlikely that you will be made to pay this debt in India. If you don't communicate with Credit Corp, they will give up and you won't hear from them again. Debt is a civil matter only and will only affect you obtaining financial related services in Australia. It wil not affect you in India.

 

Ignore Credit Corp as they are just trying to bully you. If they phone your work, just say that they have contacted the wrong person.

[abhii]

Thank you very much unclebulgaria67. I came across this forum, and found some really good, active participation here. So i just thought trying to find everyones point of view on this subject. Thanks a lot for the reply, appreciate it.