# Uk debt



## lovemyoz (Jul 14, 2011)

Hi all, 

I know this has been covered in previous Threads but I wanted to get some advice or experience from anyone who has knowledge or information in the last few years.

I moved to Oz ( which i absolutely love ) some years back but I have a credit card which which i was using whilst on my travels and whilst waiting for my permanent visa i was limited to they type of work ( and therefore pay I could get).

I am not, nor ever have been the sort of person to try and deliberately set out to leave my debt, however i have a total of 3900 gbp on the card & another one in Ireland for 6000 EUR and have chipped away at it for the last few years,(not always on time ) however i can only just afford the minimum payment most months and therefore to date it still hovers around the 6K & 4K limit and can see no light ( short of winning the lotto ) to be able to increase this - By the time i pay my banks international fees and the exchange rate at the moment im prett much paying double ( its not so bad right now ) but i just dont have the means to move massive amounts consistently to pay it off quicker or lower it enough so that the interest becomes manageable - If it were not for the interest I swear I would have probably paid it off two-fold by now !!

I have started my life in Oz with a clean credit- rating, I have a house here now and stick to visa debit so as not not bring temptation again , its just the cost of living, rates bills etc but it becomes more and more depressing that this is hanging over my head and will never go away.

Having read the much older threads on what people have done, i am interested ( although it scares me) to consider stop paying it ( as most people have said that other than the calls and letters to threaten there is not much they can do after a while?

My questions ( if anyone can answer them for me are ? ) 

* Is it certain that my credit rating cannot be affected here, or my house in jepody here?

* If i stop paying i can handle the letters and calls for a while, however, when i set the card up I gave my parents address in the uk initally but this would have been over 6+ years and since then I have given them addresses in Oz , so what is the likely-hood that they would start writing to the very first address i have being my parents or even go start hasseling them? or are they likely to only start chasing from the last few known addresses ? 

( the one in Ireland has only ever had Oz addresses so they dont know my parents are in the UK ) 

* I have no other assets or accounts in the UK or Ireland, however there may be sometime in the future where I need to fly back home ( am i likely to be on some hitlist when i come through immigration ( still on my Uk passport ) or be picked up if I use my Australian bank cards in the Uk? ( i dont use my UK card, as far as i know it is now suspended ) but i am at the stage where i have the standard default late notices & the letters to say if i do not respond they will get an agency to come and see me ? 

( i had tried to talk to the bank about 6 months ago to sort out a reduced payments, or stop the interest etc etc , but they were not interested , so now i have stoped contacting them ) 

Is there any advice anyone can give me that is up to date or other ways around it ? - If i did not have these cards I could move on with my life and put the money im sending to better use 

Thanks for your time and look forward to hearing from you all


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

No it cant but not that they wont try and make your life hell. Read read read.......Credit and Debt Management Expat Forum for Expatriates Moving Abroad | Move Abroad, Live Abroad, Work Abroad, Retire Abroad

*UNLESS* it's a criminal matter. ie you take out debt knowing you are not going to pay it back are moving abroad *OR* if it is Government debt, student loans, tax credits HMRC etc etc . For which they can chase you and get you back to the UK regardless. 

You're a bit confused on the 6y thing. It could actually be 15yrs before it's gone. 

Sorry for linking to other forums but it's the best I know on the topic )


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## lovemyoz (Jul 14, 2011)

Thanks Shel for the info i will definately have a read,

I just meant that it was over 6+ years ago that i gave my parents address in the uk so since then they have only had several Oz address 

Thanks again !


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## FEARSONA (Jun 4, 2011)

Lovemyoz,

I have to say I'm disgusted at what you have said. If I understand it correctly, you spent money that in effect wasn't yours and now your plan is not to pay it back and hope you get away with it!

While I have no great love for banks or bankers I think you need to accept responsibility and pay the money back, no matter how long it takes. Presumably you knew the conditions of taking the money before you spent it.


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## dungargon (Feb 6, 2011)

FEARSONA said:


> Lovemyoz,
> 
> I have to say I'm disgusted at what you have said. If I understand it correctly, you spent money that in effect wasn't yours and now your plan is not to pay it back and hope you get away with it!
> 
> While I have no great love for banks or bankers I think you need to accept responsibility and pay the money back, no matter how long it takes. Presumably you knew the conditions of taking the money before you spent it.


If the interest rate on credit cards is the issue, perhaps you should extend the mortgage on the house you have bought in Australia in order to pay off the UK debts.

That way your monthly outgoings will be reduced by the lower interest rate, UK banks will not hassle your family, and you will not be doing anything morally repugnant (albeit "legal").


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

dungargon said:


> If the interest rate on credit cards is the issue, perhaps you should extend the mortgage on the house you have bought in Australia in order to pay off the UK debts.
> 
> That way your monthly outgoings will be reduced by the lower interest rate, UK banks will not hassle your family, and you will not be doing anything morally repugnant (albeit "legal").


 True and most debtors are willing to negotiate if that's not an option. Just after my student days I had a lot of debt. I negotiated the interest with them to enable me to pay. One company froze the interest as they would rather get at least what they lent you back than nothing at all.


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## lovemyoz (Jul 14, 2011)

Thank you Dungaron & Shel, I will talk to my bank here although we have not had the house long so i may have to wait a year to see if there is any equity in it to move the credit card across. 

Fearsona, i take on board your opionions which you are entitiled to, however my understanding of forums was not to have someone judge you but to offer impartial advice (good or bad ) to help people out. Im not sure whether you understood my post ( an why i should feel i have to justify myself ) when i took out the card i had no idea my circumstances would change back then, i had to make a decision to come to oz ( i may not be financially better off but i still believe to have been the best decision for me ) , i have made payments to the card company every month so i am NOT shirking my responsibilities, perhaps you should comment on the other 1000 or so posts where people ( for the majority no fault of their own ) are finding it hard and having already talk to the credit card company are not prepared to come to a mutally agreeable solution.

I obviously mis-understood the intention of forums so i am sorry to have bothered anyone !!


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## seansparkle (Jul 17, 2011)

You are absolutely right, forums are not for judgement, they are for advice, lovemyoz, could you pm me, I have some info and experience which will be of use to you!

Sean


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## lovemyoz (Jul 14, 2011)

Hi Seansparkle, aparantly i cant PM you till i have 5 or more posts? not sure what to do in the meantime but will talk to you soon hopefully !!


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## seansparkle (Jul 17, 2011)

lovemyoz said:


> Hi Seansparkle, aparantly i cant PM you till i have 5 or more posts? not sure what to do in the meantime but will talk to you soon hopefully !!


Yes I was wondering where the PM link was so that's why! I've got a few questions to ask so will have more than 5 posts by the end of the day!


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## dungargon (Feb 6, 2011)

seansparkle said:


> Yes I was wondering where the PM link was so that's why! I've got a few questions to ask so will have more than 5 posts by the end of the day!


Hi seansparkle and lovemyoz

I'm sure you will both be up to 5 posts soon and able to make PMs 

However, wherever possible it is best if you can keep discussions in the public forum - that way the advice is there for the benefit of everyone, both now and in the future.

Of course there will be some things you may not want to share, but you could always change names and places to protect the innocent 

Thanks
dungargon


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## seansparkle (Jul 17, 2011)

dungargon said:


> Hi seansparkle and lovemyoz
> 
> I'm sure you will both be up to 5 posts soon and able to make PMs
> 
> ...


Hi Dungargon,

I would normally, but as this is quite a sensitive issue, and a few people have started judging without all of the facts, you'll probably understand why I'd prefer to discuss in private!


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2011)

seansparkle said:


> Hi Dungargon,
> 
> I would normally, but as this is quite a sensitive issue, and a few people have started judging without all of the facts, you'll probably understand why I'd prefer to discuss in private!


 Who's judging? One persons comments dont make for him feeling judged. Perhaps you do but thats your issue! 

I in fact gave him the best possible info to wade through so he can see his options, possible outcomes & solutions.


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## kellyo (Jun 8, 2011)

Hi
Sorry to hear about your finance issues. I am still paying off a UK Credit card after 3 years of being here in Australia, I totally get you about the expense of it. 
I only have about 1k sterling left to pay off but its still a headache! 

Can you get an Aussie loan here and then pay off debt in the uk & ireland? This would at lease consolidate your debt and it would be perhaps more manageable and stop the interest from racking up. It would also be in dollars which is sooo much better. 

I wouldn't recommend walking away from it. Its somehow going to catch up from you somewhere along the line and if you ever need to go back to the UK, its not going to just go away - or we'd all do that!! 

It might take a while to pay back but you really need to take control of it and sort it out.

Good luck!


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## lovemyoz (Jul 14, 2011)

kellyo said:


> Hi
> Sorry to hear about your finance issues. I am still paying off a UK Credit card after 3 years of being here in Australia, I totally get you about the expense of it.
> I only have about 1k sterling left to pay off but its still a headache!
> 
> ...



Hi Shel, 

I have tried to go in both directions (once a few years back when i was totally honest and said what it was for )- none of the banks i talked to wanted to know about an overseas credit card,( maybe im just not taling to the right people) i dont have a credit card here as if i got a new one i would only be able to take it as a cash advance and have to start paying massive cash advance fees here. At the start of this year I tried again and just asked for a personal loan and did not mention what it was for but for the amount I would need to clear them, I was turned down becuase we have only had the house at the start of this year ( where we live it is almost as expensive to rent as buy ) i know things will become easier in a couple of years but im running out of options in the short-term as the overseas credit cards wont help me at all with any mutal help- i dont want my bills and life to start spiralling out of control here trying to push through the minimum payment every month and still never brining it down sufficiently ) 

I have asked them to help with any of the following : 

Freeze the interest for 6 - months to 1 year , I agreed to pay more than the minimum this way as i would be reducing more of the principal and not the interest

Reduce the amount of interest ( i know what their terms were when i took the card but i seriously have paid back more than the original amount and some ) 

make a smaller payment regardless of the minimum ( i worked out what a could afford in AUD and would send that every month regardless of how the interest or charges worked out their end

freeze the account for 1 year so i can build a bigger balance in AUD and then throw the whole lot at it to reduce the interest.

All of these options have come back with a "sorry" - you can pay less than we ask every month but we will only keep adding on late fees or default interest and keep sending letters which gives me no help 

Im doing everything i can to pay them back everything but im chasing my tail !!!


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2011)

Debt Management Plan, Debt Consolidation, Free Debt Advice & Help | Debt Advice | Payplan

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