Expat Vs Student Loans collections

[iainu]

Hi,

 

I'm an expat now living in New Zealand, I took 2 (Scottish) student loans in 97 & 98 for 1,600 gbp each (sorry no pound sign on my keyboard!). I deferred payments (including once from NZ) up until nearly 5 years ago until I heard no more from them.

 

I moved house a couple of times and realise now i didn't inform them of the change of address. They've known my employer address from my last deferment and didn't use that for communication.

 

They've now passed the debt of 4563 + arrears of 3274 to a collection agency called Pennine Debt Recovery... I've tried searching for information about them and there is very little.

 

I've just received a letter from them that states:

 

... as this matter is now entirely in our hands, any payment arrangement or query must be addressed directly to us.

 

If you fail to contact us we will assume that you are purposely avoiding repaying this debt and may take the following action:

 

- recommend that our client terminates your Honours Student Loans Agreement. this will result in the full balance of your loans becoming due and you will lose your rights to

 

- pay your loan by installments

- defer repayment of your loan

 

please call us asap etc etc.

My family and I are struggling as it is and this has come as a real shock. I'm really concerned by the amount I owe and I'm not sure what to do next.

 

They want me to contact them asap, and have included an envelope for correspondence. I haven't contacted them yet.

 

I'm a uk citizen with permanent residency in New Zealand. I'm applying for citizenship here too. Can they seize assests such as my home, car etc here?

 

Any advice on this matter would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Iain

[Hippy-chick]

Hi Iain

 

Welcome to CAG.

 

I think the first thing I would do, if I were you, is to check that they have all the paperwork to collect on this debt. So I'd send them a CCA request.

 

The letter N here is a good template: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

This buys you a bit of time while they sort out the paperwork - if they can't, the debt exists, but is unenforceable.

 

Another strategy would be to SAR (Subject Access Request) them and see what this "debt" consists of - so you can start to pay back what you owe, and no more. The letter here would be a good one to send: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html

 

Let us know what you decide. You'll find there's a lot of folk who care here, and you'll get a lot of help and advice.

 

xx

[nooneshotjr]

i think that pennine are the same company as honours students loans, so i wold think they do have the authority to collect. they are ruthless. i have to repay my old student loan now, even though i am currently an undergrad. you would have thought they'd let me finish before forcing a repayment schedule.

 

i have one letter from them in front of me which in on pennine's header but has honours student loans contact email. also, despite making repaying via standing order on a monthly basis to the banking information given to me by pennine, i get harrassed by honours student loans every 2 or 3 months telling me that i am not using the right reference number. (i am, and if they are separate companies, how would they even know..?)

[iainu]

 

I think the first thing I would do, if I were you, is to check that they have all the paperwork to collect on this debt. So I'd send them a CCA request.

 

...

 

Another strategy would be to S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) (Subject Access Request)...

 

Hi and thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

 

Can you tell me if any of the above methods would be deemed as acknowledgment of the debt... Its been nearly five years since they were in contact and I've been reading about cases being statute barred in this timeframe.

 

Another grey area here is that I changed address and didn't tell them. Does that throw out any possibility of it being statute barred anyway?...

 

I have enough things to worry about other than my credit rating in the uk at the moment. Interest rates here are through the roof and I'm trying to support my family on a single income.

 

Do you know if they can enforce collections or seize assets anywhere in the commonwealth? New Zealand and Australia for example...

 

I'm trying to paint a picture of 'worst case scenario' to go forward with this.

 

Again thank you for your input on the matter,

 

Iain.

[Hippy-chick]

Hi Iain

 

Quite right - a debt is Statute Barred after 5 years in Scotland if no written acknowledgement of the debt has been made during that period. So as long as you head any correspondence with "I do not acknowledge any debt to your company" the CCA request will not start the clock ticking and it buys you a bit of time. That's why I'd be tempted to start with that, but that's up to you (and I note what noonshotjr says above).

 

changing your address without telling them might alter the statute barred issue. I'm not sure so I'm going to send a pm and ask someone to pop in and advise you about this.

 

I think it is very unlikely that they will sieze your assets if you're in NZ or Aus. But, again, I'll ask somebody to confirm this for you.

 

Main thing is - don't panic. You can get this sorted out and this is just the place to do so.

 

Noonshotjr - I sympathise. Student Loans inundate me with paperwork and ignore anything I try to tell them. If you want to start your own thread, please do and we can moan about them together!

 

HC

[nooneshotjr]

Noonshotjr - I sympathise. Student Loans inundate me with paperwork and ignore anything I try to tell them. If you want to start your own thread, please do and we can moan about them together!

 

no, thanks. i was just trying to point out that i think pennine can collect on a HSL debt as they seem to be the same company. that and how utterly incompetent they are!

[noomill060]

They cant seize anything without a court order.

 

To do that they would have to go through the NZ courts.

 

They would have to show a NZ judge that you owed them money in the UK and that a regulated contract under the UK's Consumer Credit Act 1974 was enforcable outside the UK.

 

No it isnt.

 

Not unless NZ has renounced self-governing Dominion status and reverted back to a mere colony on the same level as Pitcairn Island, the South Sandwich islands or any of the other far flung and half forgotten outposts of Empire.

[Hippy-chick]

Thanks noomill

 

That's what I thought - but I was unsure of the actual legal situation.

[rory32]

It would be difficult to argue that it wasn't statute barred, they can't pursue you for it anyway realistically. These two loans will only effect your UK credit history if they have entered anything adverse on your credit file so there is no need to worry about it effecting your NZ credit rating.

[iainu]

How's this for a blast from the past, the above died away on its own for the last couple years until now...

 

I started getting letters recently again from a UK collection agency which again I ignored, but this time they passed it to a local agency in New Zealand who sent me a letter stating they were instructed to collect

 

I immediately emailed both agencies with one of your templates asking them to prove the debt was not statute barred and to leave me alone otherwise I'd complain.

 

Victory! I got an email 3 days later from the local outfit apologising for the inconvenience and the debt had been cancelled and was non-enforceable... Orders from the UK.

[the_freedom_trail]

Out of interest, when does a debt become statute barred in New Zealand - is it the same as the UK, shorter period or longer period?

 

TFT

[jimdev1976]

i am in the same situation although i'm an expat, still in europe and have looked into this in great detail. Basically they can do absolutely nothing, unless you plan to move back ot the UK anytime soon, and i doubt you are. i would ignore the letter. after 5 years it should become statute barred, i believe loans from 1997 and earlier are subject to being statute barred i'm not sure after this, all mine were from 1994-1997. To re-claim the money they would need to get a judgement against you in the UK however to get a CCJ they need a UK address, you don't have one, so can't obtain a CCJ. After they have a CCJ, which they can't get, they would then have to sell the debt, or collection duties to a new zealand debt recovery company, they would then need to take you to court in NZ to try and enforce this judgement. I have yet to find one case anywhere in the world where this has happened for a personal debt. The best they can do is pass your details to a NZ debt recovery agent who will attempt to frighten you with all sorts of nonsence into paying, if you politely tell them to bugger off, or say, please take me to court in NZ they will back off because they can't do anything. Seriously how many expats are there in the world (probably millions) and how many cases have you heard of them being taken to court (none). Its threats, they can do nothing and you should just either ignore, or write back as 'not at this address'. there is a website that i will find that deals with this very issue, i will find it and post as its a wealth of info.

 

Edit, found the link-

 

Expat Focus - Forums - Expat Issues (scroll down for country specific forums) - Personal Finance

Edited July 16, 2009 by jimdev1976