Living abroad, can I leave uk debts behind?

[darling1]

10110001 - did you hear that comment on radio 2 yesterday? - a chap was looking for dating advice and was getting a lot of amusing replys from the listeners including

Just met a woman that you dont really like and buy her a house! .......that seems to sum it up nicely!

[wanderingsoul]

It is very interesting to read the comments added since my last post. Everyone is afraid of debt, but more so in the UK. I come from Aus, but have lived in the US and UK. By far, the UK is the most expensive. For example, the ridiculous TV license, which was abolished in both US and Aus a long long time ago, needs to stop. 145 squid per year for 4 chanels with nothing ever on? I don't think so. Council tax, where they charge you based on the estimated value of your house/apartment, from the comfort of their car on the street!

Rip off britain it is indeed, which is very unfortunate as in a lot of areas it is one of the most beautiful countries. I would expect to get ripped off in the US, but the fact is the UK will tax you on top of a tax, and then fine you even more when you don't or can't pay.

I'm not saying everyone should run from their debts, just that it isn't surprising that so many people are in debt. I found that I was ripped off by every company I used whilst in the UK, and recieved extremely poor customer service from every single one too. At least in the US and especially Aus, they are happy to have your business, and treat you with some respect.

Going Bankrupt may be the best option in the UK, but before you do, stop paying the stupid bills, like TV tax, save as many pounds as possible, and take advantage of the currently excellent conversion rate from Sterling to US$, or even better, to Aussie $. Not only will you have much more money for you, not the taxman, but the quality of life is far far better.

5 million people in the UK depend on Welfare. Don't become one of them! Hey, England sent all the 'convicts' to Aus as punishment. Well, if you like the sun, surf and water, perhaps you should follow their example....declare yourself an enemy of Britain and move to Aus. Not much of a punishment! Come on down! We have plenty of room! Aus has always welcomed the English, and so do I.

 

Personally, I would rather risk it with the snakes and spiders than with the creeps and beaurocrats in the UK!

 

*Please note this is not meant to speak badly of England, just the beaurocrats who run the UK. I love the UK, just not the government or any company run from there.

[Guest 10110001]

You are right about customer service in the UK but its limited to larger companies and those who think they can get away with by having a frequent but relatively small descreet fee charging policy hoping it wont be enough for a consumer to complain or go elsewhere.

 

They tend to exploit those on low income and less able to do something about it, e.g. gas/electricity meter key charges, non Direct Debit fees, high bank charges, paying insurance premiums monthly on credit terms and high interest charges etc,

 

Britain has become a greedy nation, Ive never come across so much taxation having no bearing on ability to pay. TV License - which is enforced by men going round to homes in vans, Council tax, - back door subversion of Aritcle 8 of ECHR if a subject cannot to pay, parking offences - its penalty without trial etc making Britain unique in the high number of certified bailiffs it has per population capita. Something is not right, it unfairly penalises Britains low income communities which probably contributes to high dependency on welfare.

 

Look at it another way. Britains tax freedom day is only June 3 whereas Isreal at the top of the chart at August 2. I work for a Dubai-based employer - purely for tax and economic reasons, its swings & rounbdabouts. Indonesia, for example has non existent taxation, but there's no public services and corruption in police and government is rife, Poverty is extreme and there is the 'obcene' wealth displayed by the super-rich few.

 

From the American tourist perspective, London has lots to offer, but end up doing fairly little once stepping off the plane, its cripplingly expensive, a 12 minute London taxi ride costs the same as filling the car with a tank of gas twice over.

 

What would you prefer? Choose a jurisdiction according to your preferences.

[crh]

i moved to itlaly in 2005 and had a lloyds loan that i was paying for the first six months i was out there and then due to stupid reasons

 

although lloyds knew where i was they didnt go anything to chase me there at all infact all they did was register a default on my bank which if you do decide to come back to the UK will mean that you can kiss goodbye to getting a current account, mortage, mobile phone or anything else that require's a credit check. I've even been refused a halifax share dealing account because apparently they credit check every application even though i wasnt getting any credit for them i would of been paying for any share's i bought upfront. Although i could never get the customer service simpleton to explain to me why they where credit checking me.

 

Anyway as you can guess i'm now back in the uk and repaying the loan with a higher monthly repayment than what i was paying before which did shut the bank up. But as i said its impossible to get a current account or mobile phone or anything like that.

 

If you do not pay them and then decide to come back you'll find it a total nightmare. Like having to have a visa electron card instead of a proper visa card and having to wait at the station every morning to get your ticket because no train company excepts visa electron and then miss your train!

 

Britain seems to be obessed with credit ratings and giving out cash. you have banks locking people into debt and out of control DCA's and a infomation commisonaire with no teeth. I dont know how equifax or experian can justify that by you requesting your credit file this then give's them a right to pass your details onto DCA's. Or how once you've paid your debts off they can black mark you for the next six years

[darling1]

That is the bit that upsets me the most - You pay off your dept asap, in our case as soon as we realised there was a problem, and you are still black listed for 6 years after.... we didn't know we had a problem, we had asked them (Tesco Finance) to wait for two months when we would pay off our debt in full..... we moved house to release the money and they were informed of our new address, they never contacted us once by letter, hundreds of phone calls though, we were constantly telling them to get our address right, and even now on our credit file is links us to knightsbridge (I wish!) Andover and Leicestershire, we have never lived at any of the addresses that they quote and we now have an insert that says that there is currently a dispute about how correct the information held is. But that doesn't help - we have a sub prime mortgage and a terrible rating.

It is sick that someone else can do this to you, Tesco can get nearly every part of the system wrong - then sell off our debt without telling us - and we pay the price....where is the court of human rights on this one?

 

The latest tax con, is that in some town or other they are taxing you by the length of your car - via the parking permit scheme- apparently for carbon emmissions reasons (yeh right!) - so families with more than 2 kids (like mine) will have to pay extra for a parking permit cos they have to have a longer car (to put the compulsary child car seats in) than someone driving a 2 seater sports car - if its a short one! - how do they think it up?

It will be like the olden times soon, we will have to start bricking up the windows to avoid window tax! or lying about the function of the rooms in our houses, to save on council tax bills.

 

Although I am terrified of any size of spiders and would love to come to Oz. It certainly sounds more laid back there....We really do intend to emigrate in the not to distant future, but probably with all the other Brits, to Spain! We have nearly had enough of it here.

[wanderingsoul]

You poor thing!

That car tax is also ridiculous. You just can't win.

Indeed there is nothing wrong with moving to Spain! It's lovely there and far more relaxed than UK. I'm not sure of the taxes etc there though. Isn't it dissapointing that people feel as if they can't live in their own country that they love at heart due to the government being a bunch of greedy so and so's.

It is a poor state of affairs, that's for sure. On the one hand, some people on here are right. You are better to pay off your debt or you will suffer later if/when you need to return home one day (you will become homesick, or need/want to return to family). However, as long as credit companies make it so easy for consumers to get into debt, by allowing young people to have access to insane amounts of credit - and they count on the fact that you can't pay it back, so incur more and more debt, more locals will leave the country and more foreigners will arrive to take your place. It's a revolving door. I challenge anyone out there to explain why there is so much debt in the world. Aus, the US and especially the UK.

It is also interesting to look online at the most expensive places to live in the world, and London is right up there in the top 10, perhaps top 5. At least in places like Germany you get taxed very VERY high, but they make the streets very clean to live in. I would be willing to pay a higher tax for a higher quality of life, but the tax money in the UK does not go back into the community.

In New Zealand, even proceeds from gambling money goes into the streets to keep it clean. A brilliant idea. You play the slots (pokies), you loose your money, they put it back into the community, so really you don't lose at all.

No government is fair, but when they make you want to leave your own home, to me, that is criminal.

If it is possible for you to pay your debt, even at 5 pounds per month, then you should...though if they want to make it so unfair, then why should you?

[JOSH_IOU]

Just to expand on what Rooster has said, there is now reciprocal debt collection arrangements in a lot of the EU, where he debt can be passed to local enforcement agencies, and sanctions can be placsed on your assets, I believe this goes further to Canada, Aus, US and NZ.

 

So it is very true that you can run but can't hide.

 

some government have now opted out of this....

[wanderingsoul]

Really? Does anyone have any information regarding which countries have now opted out or why?

 

Much appreciated.

[crh]

It is also interesting to look online at the most expensive places to live in the world, and London is right up there in the top 10, perhaps top 5. At least in places like Germany you get taxed very VERY high, but they make the streets very clean to live in. I would be willing to pay a higher tax for a higher quality of life, but the tax money in the UK does not go back into the community.

 

 

I had the same thing in italy the taxes where sky high but each street in the town was cleaned regularly, Trash was collected twice a week and not too weekly and you dont have any wandering chavs or other scummers doing general crime. Its a pretty safe country apart from naples!

 

I'm thinking about going to dubai or aus. I'm hoping you get a fairer deal there

[darling1]

Unless you are very wealthy and are above mixing general rif raf, it is very hard to feel proud of Britain. Peolpe are becoming so rude and unhappy with their lot. No one says hello now, all keeping them selves to themselves, comunities have broken down, the dirt everywhere, rubbish and dog s***t etc

 

It is so beautiful here, I used to think that I could never live without the seasons changing and the history, but....the dirt the money grabbing schemes from the government and the constant worry about money ....the rain, it really does get you down in the end. I live in a Catherdral Market town that is full of history etc, imagine what it must be like in a huge city now.

 

I have paid off all my debts - through the Bank action Group - which I feel is a kind of justice! I feel much happier (believe it or not!) for not having that feeling everytime the phone rings, and a white envelope comes through the door - the rows about money have stopped - although they were really about how scared we were....I do feel that Bankrupcy is the answer for some people - sometimes there is no way to stop the debts rising, and then at least they can put it behind them and move on, albeit without credit - not such a bad thing!

[wanderingsoul]

I had the same thing in italy the taxes where sky high but each street in the town was cleaned regularly, Trash was collected twice a week and not too weekly and you dont have any wandering chavs or other scummers doing general crime. Its a pretty safe country apart from naples!

 

I'm thinking about going to dubai or aus. I'm hoping you get a fairer deal there

Hi CRH. Not sure about Dubai (although I hear it is amazing there) but I can tell you that Aussie cities like Sydney are very very fair, and very clean. Of course, I am biased, and I must agree with Darling1 that it is so beautiful in UK, but the fact is that it is far cheaper, more friendly, and much much cleaner in Aus or NZ etc.

I always say that there are good points and bad points to every place, and it is difficult to say that one place is better than another, but the reality is, as Darling 1 stated:

the dirt the money grabbing schemes from the government and the constant worry about money ....the rain, it really does get you down in the end

I have so many English friends/family who tell me that unfortunately England has gone downhill in a serious way for a while now. It is very unfortunate. I would have loved to have been around in towns like Brighton back in the day!

Luckily, Life can be enjoyed to the full in places like Aus, NZ, Canada, Spain etc, and in my experience, it shows in the people there.

Anyway, I am kind of getting off the point here......

Yet another quote from Darling1:

albeit without credit - not such a bad thing!

I was always taught - If you don't have the cash/savings to buy it, then you probably shouldn't be.

[darling1]

: I was always taught - If you don't have the cash/savings to buy it, then you probably shouldn't be. [/quote from wanderingsole]

 

 

 

 

True - but easier said than done!

[Annoying Twit]

mp.danwho.net -- SNL: Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

[Just~me]

wanderingsole:

 

"Quote": I was always taught - If you don't have the cash/savings to buy it, then you probably shouldn't be. [/quote from wanderingsole]

 

So how did you buy your house.??? Mortgage (debt) or cash. ?

[darling1]

Doh! - good point!

[hope2010]

solution found-debt consolidation

Edited October 2, 2008 by hope2010
solution found-debt consolidation

[hope2010]

solution found--debt consolidation

Edited October 2, 2008 by hope2010
solution found-hopefully-debt consolidation

[patdavies]

I don't think that it is a question of you doing a runner.

 

You have lawful debts in your credit cards and loan , you have transferred considerable sums of money out of the country for whatever reason and you have taken the decision to resign from your job, apparently without considering how you are going to pay your debts.

 

Just who do you think should pay these debts off? The rest of us? Because that is what will happen if you do a runner; not directly, but interest rates etc. are calculated generally to ensure that loans are profitable for the lender - bad debts (like yours) would need to be factored into that.

 

I would also suggest that the US authorities will not take kindly to your behaviour - especially if made bankrupt - and may refuse a visa altogether, never mind a Green Card.

[bazak1]

Very true Pat, it is common knowledge that persons who pay their debts unfortunately have to also pay for the losses these companies receive. ( its a bit like Northern Rock etc, where the government bail them out, but we all know who's gonna pay in the end, US the tax payers ).

I'm not too sure how the land lies with the USA and their laws on bankrupcy, but they probably wont be too keen.

[Just~me]

Hope 2010.

 

Reading between the lines it looks like you are building up credit & other debts then jumping from country to country at the same time moving the money back home to where you were born and using the lame excuse of your elderly parents to justify your actions.

From what I see I would call it fraud. You know what you are doing is wrong then on top of it you want us (the forum) to agree with it and advise how you can get away with it.

If the Homeland Security, (visa issuers) find out you are either bankrupt or have a large debt they will withold your wifes work visa. I lived in Florida for 6 yrs and had to renew my E1 & E2 visa every 2 yrs. We had to declare everything to the INS to be able to continue to work there. If they find out your background I think you will find you will not be welcome there.

[hope2010]

dear members,

 

Not trying to act as a good person here but I accept my mistake and I will pay my debts rather than doing a runner. I feel ashamed of what I was trying to do and thinking that I can escape this mess. I think I better pay for my mistakes and start a fresh life.

 

Many thanks

Hope2010

[hope2010]

Hai,

 

 

I spoke to my parents and told the truth i have been hiding so far--that i am in debt and they were the most co-operative --saying pay it off with whatever the money i have sent them over the last few years and advised to be clean and start afresh. i feel lot of headache, burden and pressure is relieved off my head. they said- they did not want me to do these things and were happy to wait whatever time it takes

[bazak1]

Ya' see, do the right thing and walk with ya' head held high.

I hope everything works out for you.

[chrissyboy78]

Wouldn't the debt be statute barred if you stayed away for over the 7 year credit file records are kept?

[kabukiman]

You can run, but you can't hide. Sooner or later it will catch up with you and who knows what the charges might be then.

 

The CAG does not condone debt avoidance.

 

Don't you mean evasion, unlike tax which is frowned upon avoiding debt is a good thing.