Returning International student with debt

[ted-danson]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm a returning international student with about £3,000 in credit card debts, phone loans and overdraft that I blasted about a year ago. Now that I have a postgraduate offer to study in the UK again, I was wondering what can I do to stay out of trouble.

 

Obviously, I was young and immature to have been doing such acts back then.

 

I was hoping to pay continue paying said debts above upon my first return home but the job market is tough and I was not able to even make enough back home to cover (especially when earning below average salary and local currency is worth 0.20 to a quid.

 

 

Fast forward, I am definitely sure I would need to open a bank account to survive as Britain is a cashless society, and need an account to receive student allowances.

 

What are my options at this point?

[martin2006]

Most high street banks offer basic accounts with a debit card but no additional facilities like overdrafts etc, they are functional and can have direct debits.

 

These would be available if you were declined for a standard account for example.

 

Obviously avoid applying to any bank or bank in a group of banks, that you still owe money to.

 

Your current debts, ie credit cards, loan, overdraft etc can be dealt with in various ways depending upon their current status

[dx100uk]

Find me first

Comes to mind....

[martin2006]

Find me first

Comes to mind....

 

I would agree but if the OP needs to open a bank account, that would trigger a search of his/her credit file and no doubt alert any DCA into action.

 

The obvious answer for now is to open an account and deal with any dca as and when necessary

[dx100uk]

Yep

Dx

[unclebulgaria67]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm a returning international student with about £3,000 in credit card debts, phone loans and overdraft that I blasted about a year ago. Now that I have a postgraduate offer to study in the UK again, I was wondering what can I do to stay out of trouble.

 

Obviously, I was young and immature to have been doing such acts back then.

 

I was hoping to pay continue paying said debts above upon my first return home but the job market is tough and I was not able to even make enough back home to cover (especially when earning below average salary and local currency is worth 0.20 to a quid.

 

 

Fast forward, I am definitely sure I would need to open a bank account to survive as Britain is a cashless society, and need an account to receive student allowances.

 

What are my options at this point?

 

You can open a basic Bank account, but not with any Bank you owe money to. By registering in the UK again at an address, you can expect to start receiving communication regarding debts again at some point.

 

Where you might have problems, is obtaining anything where a credit check is carried out e.g contract mobile phone, broadband, rented house/flat in your name, any loans.

 

As you will be on a visa, you should be aware of UK Home Office rules regarding deliberate non payment of debts. I.e you should not take out finance if you never intend to repay it. If you receive any UK court claims for any debts, you should come back to CAG for advice. Don't ignore them, as you will end up with default court judgement against you and more hassle.

[ted-danson]

Thanks guys for the constructive response, truly appreciate them.

 

Find me first

Comes to mind....

 

I would agree but if the OP needs to open a bank account, that would trigger a search of his/her credit file and no doubt alert any DCA into action.

 

The obvious answer for now is to open an account and deal with any dca as and when necessary

 

Great advice! Thanks! but I was wondering about something; hypothetically, would I be able to go undetected with opening no-credit-check bank accounts such as TM(thinkmny)

 

You can open a basic Bank account, but not with any Bank you owe money to. By registering in the UK again at an address, you can expect to start receiving communication regarding debts again at some point.

 

Where you might have problems, is obtaining anything where a credit check is carried out e.g contract mobile phone, broadband, rented house/flat in your name, any loans.

 

As you will be on a visa, you should be aware of UK Home Office rules regarding deliberate non payment of debts. I.e you should not take out finance if you never intend to repay it. If you receive any UK court claims for any debts, you should come back to CAG for advice. Don't ignore them, as you will end up with default court judgement against you and more hassle.

 

Thanks for the great advice. I was checking my online credit report and I have like several defaults (totaling to about £3,000).

 

 

 

So at this point, if i were to walk up to a bank to open an international student bank account -- they're not gonna put me in cuffs yeah?

[dx100uk]

a jibe at the DCA's - find me first meaning 'you' when you return to the UK.

 

 

dx

[martin2006]

No, nobody will put you in cuffs for a civil debt.

 

You could try somewhere like thinkmoney or maybe a credit union,

they operate bank accounts but with limited functionality depending on the CU.

 

 

Post office accounts are similar with limited facilities but all of those options will hinder any applications for rental properties and other credit services because you wont have normal banking facilities and as stated above,

 

 

any credit applications will leave searches on your file and wake the sleeping dca's

[unclebulgaria67]

Just don't go anywhere near the Houses of Parliament, as you might be put in a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs !

[martin2006]

Just don't go anywhere near the Houses of Parliament, as you might be put in a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs !

 

But you would have your own personal MP

[unclebulgaria67]

But you would have your own personal MP

 

I always wondered what they meant when they talked about back channels being useful to help people

 

Think we better stop this humour on a thread ( sorry )

 

Back to more sober reflection.

 

We get quite a lot of people from other parts of the world asking about whether debt is a criminal issue or whether debt collectors act in the same awful way as they might experience in other countries. Thankfully in the UK debt owed to Banks and privately is purely a civil matter and there are rules that apply to debt collection. I think we tend to forget this, when we moan about tactics of UK debt collectors.

[ted-danson]

No, nobody will put you in cuffs for a civil debt.

 

You could try somewhere like thinkmoney or maybe a credit union, they operate bank accounts but with limited functionality depending on the CU. Post office accounts are similar with limited facilities but all of those options will hinder any applications for rental properties and other credit services because you wont have normal banking facilities and as stated above, any credit applications will leave searches on your file and wake the sleeping dca's

 

Do you think opening up an account like thinkmoney will update credit file?

 

 

Since they claim no credit checks -- I wonder how this would play out.

 

 

I'm not going for any credit applications

-- i.e. phone / rent / internet

- because I'll be living at a friend's place.

 

 

Thinkmoney does actually request for address details for the past 3 years so I'm not sure what to expect upon processing my application.

 

Honestly, I just need a bank account to receive funds/wages without alerting DCA's and that's pretty much it.

[dx100uk]

co op do one too

 

 

don't think you can avoid showing out mind.

[ted-danson]

I always wondered what they meant when they talked about back channels being useful to help people

 

Think we better stop this humour on a thread ( sorry )

 

Back to more sober reflection.

 

We get quite a lot of people from other parts of the world asking about whether debt is a criminal issue or whether debt collectors act in the same awful way as they might experience in other countries. Thankfully in the UK debt owed to Banks and privately is purely a civil matter and there are rules that apply to debt collection. I think we tend to forget this, when we moan about tactics of UK debt collectors.

 

No, nobody will put you in cuffs for a civil debt.

 

You could try somewhere like thinkmoney or maybe a credit union,

they operate bank accounts but with limited functionality depending on the CU.

 

 

Post office accounts are similar with limited facilities but all of those options will hinder any applications for rental properties and other credit services because you wont have normal banking facilities and as stated above,

 

 

any credit applications will leave searches on your file and wake the sleeping dca's

 

co op do one too

 

 

don't think you can avoid showing out mind.

 

 

Thanks again for the consideration guys. After much consideration, I have decided that I wanna pay off my debt with a plan that I can afford. What are my options and how do I go about dealing with it?

 

The £3000 I owe is across 3-4 creditors iirc -- credit card, two separate phone contracts and a bank overdraft. How can I approach all of this at once? Should I be looking for a debt management company or? I can fork out 1/3 of what I owe immediately with the rest on monthly.

 

In addition, I checked my noddle and obviously I have defaults on all of them with gone-away record.

[dx100uk]

paying them off wont improve anything credit file wise

defaults are there for 6yrs regardless then the accounts vanish from your file

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks again for the consideration guys. After much consideration, I have decided that I wanna pay off my debt with a plan that I can afford. What are my options and how do I go about dealing with it?

 

The £3000 I owe is across 3-4 creditors iirc -- credit card, two separate phone contracts and a bank overdraft. How can I approach all of this at once? Should I be looking for a debt management company or? I can fork out 1/3 of what I owe immediately with the rest on monthly.

 

In addition, I checked my noddle and obviously I have defaults on all of them with gone-away record.

 

If you want to do that then when you return to the UK contact Stepchange who are a debt registered charity and they will assist you. Don't go with a debt management company that charges fees, as some of the money you pay towards debts, will be taken in fees.