Confused and Overseas- Where do I start?

[NZGirl]

I now live outside the Uk ( I think you can guess where!) and have some debt issues to attend to. My question is where do I start. They are mostly credit cards and taken out some time back. At present none of them are in default but it is only a matter of time as I cannot keep on top of the payments. I want to be completely up to speed with everything before bad things start to happen!

 

I have been using my sisters address as my UK contact address but I do not want her to be caught up in any fall out from my issues.

 

Should I therefore advise these companies of my NZ address ( it a PO Box anyway since I live in a rural area.) If it came to it would they be able to issue a summons on my last UK address, or is it my last KNOWN address.

 

Should I offer them a partial settlement as F&FS to try and close the matter or is that admitting the debt? Would I be better off doing a CCA request first to protect myself should the need arise?

 

I assume they would have little luck pursuing the debt here in NZ anyway so if they know I am here from the start would they bother with court action?

 

Any assistance would be much appreciated. It is highly unlikely I would return to the UK by the way. I am tax resident and domiciled in NZ. Does that mean I could not be made bankcrupt in the UK?

 

Sorry, lots of questions all at once!

[42man]

OK...well the ethics of paying the debts back are up to you. You have quite a few options

 

Walk away, and everytime a letter arrives at your sisters house with your name on it tell her to send them back saying not known at this address. It is highly unlikely you personally would ever be bothered again, but your sister may get the occasional visit (and possibly the phone calls may start if they have her number as yours)

 

OR

 

Write to them explaining that your circumstances have changed and you have no other option to pay them as much as you can afford.

 

Yes you could send them the CCA requests just in case it gets nasty...

 

At this moment in time they would probably not accept a F&F, but once the debt was sold then they might...

[gni03349]

Just one thing to check. You should check to see if the UK has a reciprocal agreement with New Zealand. It could very well be that if these creditors pursue you, they could do it through the NZ court system, and you might have a NZ default registered against you.

 

I would be inclined to do what 42man said, and ask your sis. to return any letters with "not known at this address", and then wait and see. It would take them a while to track you down (if at all), but it would also give you lots of breathing space to have a plan in case they manage to find you.

 

These **** don't give in easily though really, and it "might" cause your sis some hassle if somebody comes asking for your whereabouts. However, all she has to do is say she doesnt know where you are.. simple as that. You may very well eventually have a UK judgement against you if they go ahead, but as you have no plans to return to the UK anyway, it shouldn't cause you too much grief, unless it somehow gets onto your NZ credit file (not sure how that works, or even if it could happen, bearing in mind the data protection rules).

 

As for the ways of paying it, if thats what you decide, then thats when it might get nasty, as these people will want every penny they can get, regardless of your situation. Do it all in writing... it would take days for the letters to fly back and forth, and who are they to say otherwise (which I'm sure they would do, when they try to say you haven't replied etc etc). However, having said that, if they know your address, you could have problems with a NZ DCA, if they pass it on, but in which case, you could then CCA and SAR the NZ lot, and it would take forever for them to get the info., if indeed they get it at all.

 

Regards etc.

[NZGirl]

Thank you both for your helpful replies. From the research I have done so far there is no reciprocal agreement between NZ and the UK, so I assume anything done in a UK court would have no jurisdiction here.

 

I haven't quite decided what to do, I have never been in this situation before but I just wanted to be informed about my options.

 

One of my main concerns is not to drag my sister in my mess. She is very well informed and no wallflower but even so this is not her problem, she has already helped me out and I don't see why she should have to be bugged because of me. She has had a few phone calls when I have been late with payments; she just tells them I don't live there any more but even so this is why I thought it would perhaps be a sensible idea to let the credit card companies know where I am.

 

It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to work it out anyway, I have been coming backwards and forwards here for six years and regularly using my credit card so I am sure they could track me down if they wanted to do. There are a whole lot less people here for a start!

 

Also if I don't tell them my NZ address then it definitely looks like I am deliberately avoiding the debt and I am not sure that is a good thing.

[42man]

You could always say you did write to them informing them of your new address ?? and you wouldn't get in trouble for debt avoidance unless you were faking your death or using false documents...

[gni03349]

I would still be inclined to leave it, but then it means sis getting any hassle. If she has told them you are no longer there, that should be it, and they shouldn't be bothering her again.

 

Are we talking a couple of credit cards, or is it more like 5 or 6. If you can't keep up with the repayments on all of them, then it might be wise to try to pay off the smallest debt first, so it's one less to worry about, or if you can manage it, two of them. Don't put any actual amounts if you decide to tell us (just say something like "less than £1000.." or something like that. We don't need to know, and DCA's are known to lurk in these forums).

 

If it's overwhelming you, you will get the hassle eventually anyway (or sis "might"), but as you are overseas...

 

Whatever you do though, don't give ANY of the companies your NZ address, even if you decide to pay the small ones first. They will share the data or something .. there will be some way they will find out. Just pay as you do now.

 

Regards etc...

[NZGirl]

OK I will come clean and say it is a few more than 5 or 6, a couple of them are small-ish but a couple are quite big. I have had credit cards for years and done the balance transfer shuffle and then when things got tough, it was easy to just move from one to the next until there was nowhere else to go. Are there are any circumstances where credit card companies band together to pursue a debt?

 

If my bank knows my NZ address (and I think they do) would they be allowed to share this with other parties?

[42man]

Yes they will pass on your details to a debt collection agency...

[NZGirl]

I am not in a default situation with my bank. Also would an NZ debt collecting agency have the right to collect a UK debt?

[gni03349]

There is nothing to stop them if it gets passed to them (or sold to them). They could try, but then you go down the UK CCA and SAR route with the NZ DCA... thats IF it gets that far. They might try to say they don't know anything about a CCA or SAR, but then you just hit them with a "prove it" letter, which means they would have, at least, to get a valid CCA anyway. By your own admittance to us here, you DO owe, but it would get them off your back for a while, and if there is no reciprocal agreement, I'm not so sure any NZ DCA would want all the hassle anyway unless there is a LOT of NZ dollars in it for them.

 

Also, there is the little matter of how long ago the credit cards were taken out, because you could force the credit crad companies to provide a CCA if they get nasty, not to mention claiming charges and interest back from them. It could mean you are quids (or dollars) in. I'd still let things lie though, and let them find you. You still have to prioritise the ones you think would get paid off first though, so that's it's at least one less to worry about/deal with.

[NZGirl]

It is a tricky one, because if I don't tell them where I am then I can't enter into any dialogue with them about the account. My thoughts were that they may be put off even commencing court action if they knew they it would lead nowhere.

 

I don't want you to think that I am asking for advice and then arguing why I should not take it, but I am not sure the leaving them to find me option is really there. If I was trying to find me, with the help of google it would take about two minutes, whether I had told them or not. If it had been a deliberate attempt to disappear, I would have covered my tracks a bit better, but it wasn't!

 

I am hoping things will resolve themselves but forewarned (about possible consequences down the road) is forearmed as they say

[Bubblebuddy]

I know this is quite an old thread now but I thought I would post what I've found in case it helps anyone. I'm just a nobody trawling the internet so please anybody who knows more correct me if I am wrong.

 

NZ and UK DO have a reciprical agreement But it only applies to cases in the supeirior court - which I'm guessing rules out county courts.

 

On hm courts money claim online faq section it says:

"The defendant lives abroad can I still file a claim?"

"No. They must have an address in England or Wales"

Seeing you said you were not in default and already living in NZ then I take this to mean that they will be unable to take you to court in the UK unless you go back.

 

Finally I think under the cca 1974 (or it could have been the oft site I read it) all DCA's must have held a cc licence at the time the debt was incurred to be able to even ask you for any money and I can't see any NZ ones bothering to get a UK licence.

 

Like I already said I have NO legal training so do your research this is just a starting point and Please do correct me if you know better!!!

[ADE&FAB]

Now watching this one, We are close, only 1 to CrapOne and letters started from Debbie Tass.

 

NZ Girl, Please update us on any new info and PM if you want a quiet word.