Thanks for the responses guys, very helpful. Bazaar: I assume I have originally admitted the debt by paying some of it off. Basically I received a letter from these clowns saying that they'd purchased the debts off Barclays Bank and that I was to make full payment within 14 days or contact them to arrange a payment option. A quote: "You are urged to give this your IMMEDIATE ATTENTION to avoid additional costs and further recovery action" Any help with the wording on the letter I should send them? I assume this is a statutory demand? Not sure if they served me a notice, the only things I have received are these letters. I originally was given a letter last year about a smaller Barclays debt which I have repaid. And guys the only thing I'm scared of is that this may adversely affect my credit rating in NZ. That's the main thing I'm not sure about in terms of whether they are able to do so. Any ideas on this or should I speak to the credit agencies? Surely there must be some standard practise which means DCA's have to prove these debts before they put them on you credit file? I also cannot find out if I have a CCJ in the UK as I cannot remember the address I stayed at when I was there for 4-5 months back in 2004. I've e-mailed the TrustOnline website or whatever it's called in the UK to see if there's any way they can tell me. My understanding is that if I do have one, then they can fight it in court however I realise it's probably not even worth them doing. Thanks in advance for all the help. Cheers

Guys, I need some help here. Have read the above thread but it's very complicated and I'd love to know where I stand. Have received a response back from the aforementioned DCA. A little more background, I cannot check to see if I have a CCJ against me in the UK as I don't remember the address I was living at (I was only there for 6 months and it's a bit of a blur). I was under the impression I had to personally accept a CCJ for one to exist. This definitely never occurred. Anyway, here is my e-mail, in response to the message posted above, and their response to it: "Well the reason I ask is that I've been doing some research into the enforcement on overseas debt in New Zealand . The advice that I have received is that in order for you to collect any monies from me regarding either of the two debts I currently have is that you need to be able to produce a signed agreement from me within a specified timeframe. Even then debt purchased from the UK is unenforceable in court in New Zealand . At the time of the original request I was under some duress and wanted this to go away therefore just accepted it. Since then I've sought advice and would like you to produce the documents as requested before I make any further payment. Would you please advise where you stand on this matter and what my legal rights are. I am happy to take this further if necessary." RESPONSE "Dear Mr *********, The information you have obtained is not correct, we do not have to produce a signed agreement in order to collect any outstanding monies from you. We collect several hundred accounts from the UK each year without obtaining documentation. The requirement for documentation applies only where we commence legal proceedings, which it had not been our intention to do. In most cases, customers accept that they owe money to Barclaycard & prefer to pay ************ rather than face potentially costly legal action. It is also not correct to say that debt purchased from the UK is unenforceable in Court in New Zealand – under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act, we can enforce a UK Judgment in NZ but again, as I mentioned above, it is not our intention to take legal action against you so that is all a bit academic. I’ll ask our client to get supporting documentation from Barclays in the UK then we’ll go from there. Please note that it may take several weeks to obtain the information as it has to be retrieved from archives. Meanwhile, the offer to waive the interest is obviously no longer applicable." ************

Hi, When I was in the UK in 2004, I left some CC debt behind which didn't catch up with me until mid last year when I received two letters saying that they had purchased the debt and if I didn't comply then it would adversely effect my credit rating. So, I accepted it and started paying it back without asking too many questions. Recently I have been reading your forums and decided I wanted them to produce the CCA agreement so sent them an e-mail stating I wanted this information. My initial e-mail: Dear Sir/Madam Re:− Account/Reference Number XXXXXX On XXXXXXX 2009 I received a letter stating that I owed $XXXXXX for an outstanding XXXXXXX debt. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance. Their response: XXXXX My manager has just asked me to enquire why after some seven months since we first contacted you that all of a sudden you are requesting this information. When this was discussed with you previously there did not appear to be any problems when as we explained to you at the time how the debt came about. To obtain copies of any documents we would need to go back to our client over seas which can take several weeks to be forwarded to us. The balance of the account sent to us by our client was XXXXXX which was converted to XXXXXXX ot the exchange rate for that day. Interest has accrued on the account at the rate of 6% per annum since the date of XXXXX 2004. What we could offer for you is to wipe the interest amount of XXXXXX that has accrued on the account since that period which would mean that there is a balance of XXXX to be paid less the XXXXX already paid. Now it sounds to me that these guys aren't going to be able to enforce this and they're offering me a settlement. Would someone please give me some advice on how I should proceed. The initial debt I began paying back last year has now been paid off and I'm now paying the 2nd, larger debt. Any advice on where I stand and what I should do would be appreciated. Does the CCA letter in your template forum work for NZ? I.e. does the Act mentioned relevant here? Many thanks in advance

cheers for the advice guys. appreciate your time in response.

Hi, I've recently received a credit card in my name to my address. yet I never ordered it. I believe the person who stole my information went through my mail and obtained my personal information this way. The card has not been used and no money has been taken. I called the bank in question, who said because the card hadn't been used that nothing could be done as no fraud has occurred. Is this the case? Does a fraud only occur where money has been taken? Will the police investigate otherwise? I have a strong probability on who the perpertrator is however is there any point? Thanks in advance. TM

Awesome, good to know. Will read up on the setting aside bizzo. Thanks heaps again, this is a great forum.

Is 4,000 pounds a lot to these guys?

So checking if I have any CCJ's won't flag anything to anyone? When will creditors seek a CCJ, always, or only sometimes? What is it dependant upon? Are UK CCJ's enforcable in other countries? Thanks for all the great info everyone, much appreciated.

Thanks for that, is the statute barred thing exist even if a CCJ is on my file? Does a civil debt ever become a criminal matter?

Hi, I was wondering if someone could help me. I left some debt in the UK back in 2004 (4,000 pounds of credit card debt) which has never caught up with me (I no longer live in the UK). I have a UK passport and my wife and I want to return to work and live for maybe 1 or 2 years. My situation doesn't allow me to acknowledge these debts and whilst I'd love to have these sorted out, I really am in a predicament which means I have to continue to try and avoid them. I would love to find out what the situation is with my credit rating and see what's on my file but I'm scared that entering all of my details will lead to creditors picking me up and I do not want that. My questions are: a) What will happen to me when I return to the UK? I realise that there will be no issue getting into the country but do want to know what happens if I begin earning money and paying tax on that money. I'll get some sort of temporary NIN, can the Inland Revenue department pass on my information to creditors? Will they? b) Is there likely to be a CCJ on my credit file for this amount of debt over this period of time? If so, what if they can't track me down? From where I see it, the only way they could find me was by my address I enter when I start paying tax on my earnings. And I guess it would come down to whether the IR pass on my details. Any additional infiormation purporting to my situation would be very beneficial and very much appreciated. Thanks a load. TW

Right, I like the sound of that. Although I guess if I tell them my overseas address that then gives the others creditors a sniff of how they can track me down. WHY DID I DO THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! The stupid things you do when you're young seem to have a way of coming back to haunt you.

One last question - would you happen to know that if I used my other passport as identification when trying to open a bank account in the UK (I used my British one in '04) would I have a new credit file created or would they simply marry up the DOB with my full name?

Awesome, thanks a lot. I think I took out the debts circa May '04 - just to clarify, they will be completely erased off my credit record by May '10 in England and should have come off my record in Scotland already? I guess my credit file will tell me that information? I mentioned my Barclays VISA caught up with me, so I'm wondering why the other debts haven't come back to me yet - wouldn't they all share the same information? Barclays sold my debt to an agency where I currently reside. Thanks for responding to my newbie questions.

Thanks for the great info. Another couple of questions: If I got to Scotland, will my bad credit history in England show up there if I try an open a bank account etc? Or is it limited to just England (sorry if that's a dumb question). I've thought about doing an Experian "free" credit check and am concerned that the information I provide may well be used to pass onto DCA's to find my address etc. Can they do that? I would really like to know what's on my file and what's not. Thanks again TW

Hiya, Hoping for some advice if you will. Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but here's my situation: 5 years ago I was in the UK and got a couple of credit cards, I had no job and had to support myself. Not my finest hour but I then left the country (and the debt) after 6 months to come back to the USA where I've been living ever since. I've since been married and my wife and I want to return to the UK to work. I don't want it to inhibit my chances of getting work over in the UK (I have dual citizenship and have a British passport which I used to obtain the credit). My credit cards were with 2 financial institutes and nothing was signed (they were all online applications). I also had a Barclays VISA which has caught up with me here and I'm paying it back. I haven't heard from the aforementioned 2 cards. Can someone let me know if a) I'll have any trouble getting back into the UK through customs? I'm assuming I won't but just want this confirmed. b) I realise I won't be able to obtain credit, but will I be able to open a standard bank account with a different bank? c) Is there a time limit on when this debt will be written off at any stage? Oh and one more d) Are these debts enforceable if I didn't sign anything. PS. I never made any payments on the accounts. Many thanks in advance, and as I said, apologies if this has been covered in previous posts but I've been stressing about this for ages and haven't been able to find info. I've been too ashamed to tell my wife about this debt also and I'd prefer she never found out to be honest. Cheers TW