Sorry to pop in. Did they remove all interest and just leave the original principal? If I may ask, have they made it clear that if you pay this off you're also clear in the UAE as well? I.e. if you pay, and then travel to the UAE, you're OK because the debt will have been cleared there?

Thanks DX, appreciate the reply Now I know not to trust that site. Since I'm interested in seeing if there is any way to pay the original debt so that I can travel through Dubai, rather than the exorbitant amount it's probably become by now, I was looking at other sites that can possibly check on whether there is a ban registered against me in the UAE. I found [removed - HB]. Has anyone heard good/bad things about that site? Also, original question still stands if anyone can help. Has anyone on CAG successfully negotiated with a bank to repay the amount after being out of the country for several years? Thanks!

Since then my circumstances have changed a lot and I'm interested in seeing if it's possible to repay the debt so I can travel to / through GCC countries. I've read that the banks hike up the interest rates to astronomical amounts, so wanted to see if anyone had successfully contacted them after leaving to arrange paying back the borrowed amount without interest? Some more info: Although I'm British, I don't live in the UK, and have never been directly contacted by a debt collector or UAE bank since I left the UAE. It's 10 years since I left the UAE The last message I got was about 8 years ago with a Final Notice from the UAE bank by email. The amount was around GBP 10K I've contacted (removed website name - dx) as I figured the obvious place to start is to see if there is a case(s) registered against me. Have asked them if they can do a Police check to see if there's anything against me. I have some questions if anyone can help: Has anyone on here contacted the banks after leaving the UAE and successfully negotiated a reasonable amount AND paid that back? Were you able to safely travel to the UAE? Are (removed website name - dx) trustworthy? (I keep reading about a "site that is not mentioned" on this site, but don't know which one people are referring to). My understanding is that the statue bar for the UAE is 15 years. What happens after 15 years, is the debt and the criminal case automatically erased? Is there any way of finding out? Thanks in advance for any help!

Have talked to a couple of solicitors, and essentially what they're saying is that a foreign court judgement can be brought into the UK and enforced via UK courts. See these two docs for more info: http://www.lavellecoleman.ie/cuuploads/editor/file/EnforcementofForeignJudgementsinEnglandandWales.pdf PART 74 - ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS - Ministry of Justice - section 1 So, if I follow this correctly, the Dubai court can issue a judgement, and the creditor can act to have it applied in the UK. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience in whether this could actually happen in practise?

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys. To answer Ruprecht's questions: Does anyone know of any cases at all like this? I've not yet found a case where someone with a Dubai debt, or even a UAE debt, has been taken to court. There does not seem to be any precedent I can find. EDIT: one more thing I forgot, which may back up what fuzzybobble said. When you take out any kind of loan in the UAE you sign a single, blank, undated cheque (if you're takng out a car loan you also pre-sign and pre-date all the monthly cheques in advance). What happens if you do not make a payment is the bank takes that bounced cheque to the Police who can then start a criminal case. So.....would the fact that you're forced to sign a blank, undated cheque in advance automatically mean the CCA was null and void in the UK thereby meaning they cannot enforce any UAE-based judgement?

Thanks David. Would it make any difference if a UK DCA purchased the debt, even though the original debt (and agreements etc.) were from Dubai? The reasons I ask is because I've been researching through this forum and found this post on a similar topic: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/42988-debt-too-old.html#post405373

Just a quickie bump. I've been researching this issue for some months now (for obvious reasons) and have not found a single case where someone who has debt in Dubai (or non-EU) has had their debt enforced in the UK. However I would really appreciate any comments/help other CAG'ers can give on this. There is only one instance, shown in the links below, where a "professional" DCA, based in Dubai, has said action can be taken in the UK. If anyone else reads this and has debt in Dubai, here are some links I've found during my research (they may make interesting reading for other ppl). Some of these are Oz-related as well. Apologies in advance if the links break any rules.

Hi All, First of all - great site. Have just spent an hour searching and going through threads and learning a lot. However I've not yet been able to find a definitive answer to a question: Can overseas debt be enforced in the UK? I'm a Brit living in the UK, but due to loss of job had to leave Dubai (where the debt was created). Can the bank in Dubai try to recover the debt in the UK or can it sell on the debt and can DCA's try to recover it? It's a mortgage plus some credit card debt. We paid off what we could before we left, and made sure our employees were looked after (even though the investor had done a runner). But if any of you are familiar with the way things work over there you'll know you do not tell your bank you're leaving - otherwise you'll first have a travel restriction placed on you then be put in prison. Any help and info would be greatly appreciated.