LLoyds TSB are a bit wierd - they just ignore me??

[ricardo79]

Hi

 

I have a little question, if that is allowed for newbies?

 

I had (have) a loan with lloyds tsb which i have been paying for about 4 years. Its probably about 3500-4000 now, excluding all the made up charges..

 

I moved to Spain 2 years ago, didn't end up with the same income as before and informed them that i couldn't afford to pay the normal amount and sent them all the proof of earnings/expenditure etc asked for, reduced payment while i sorted my life out and they accepted it.

I initially left it at my dads address but after them sending more and more threatening letters(which scared my dad) I wrote to them recorded delivery and asked to send me the original loan agreement in accordance to the relevant regs/laws (sent the pound required as well) and informed them of my new address in Spain and told them to stop sending things to the previous address as i didn't live there and would not receive any documentation from them.

 

They were always threatening to default notice me, and all the usual stuff but continued to take the reduced amount, which to be honest was £40 a month, which is a fair amount on that debt..it was only £230 normally.

 

Anyway, upon receiving the letter they sent another one threatening bankruptcy and whatever, which i think was an overlap at there end with the automated system, then nothing...they have canceled the direct debit paying them the money, i haven't , they have, which is kinda weird?

Surely something is better than nothing.

 

I have phoned them and they wont discuss it??? they gave me some 0800 number, which i goggled,and its them still.its listed on this forum somewhere i believe as there collection centre...who i was dealing with before!

 

So they haven't sold the debt to a collection agency, which they threatened, they have just stopped taking the money..I was hoping they would sell it, so i could stop all the charges etc..even though the loan was front loaded interest, they still added more on...

 

They havent written back to me as requested, never sent me proof i ever had this loan (although i did) and now wont discuss my own loan...they have never even acknowledged my change of address!! I know they got the letter, i checked on the royal mail tracker thing.

The letter I sent was polite, business like and properly written. I at no point threatened them, told them i wouldn't pay, i just asked for my proof of agreement and changed of address..

 

Anyone any ideas on what they are planning?

I don't want any bad things being listed at my dads address, as i'm not listed there anymore, haven't been on the electoral role for 2 odd years there and certainly do not want to detrimentally affect his credit rating through my desire for a better life.

 

I haven't got a spanish phone and I'm not spending hours in a phone box, they wont write to me, what do i do? Ill pay them what i was before, but they don't seem to want it?

 

Any advice greatly recieved, they wont discuss it on the phone and wont reply to letters! Seems to be a strange way to recoup a debt!

 

Thanks in advance..

 

Ricardo.

[cerberusalert]

Anyway, upon receiving the letter they sent another one threatening bankruptcy

They can't bankrupt you in the UK, you're not a resident.

 

I wouldn't bother with them, wait until they contact you and only deal in writing. In that way it leaves a nice paper trail.

 

Have you checked to see whether the CCA they have sent you is enforceable?

 

I wouldn't worry too much about them as although reciprocal agreements exist within EU countries in reality unless the alleged debt is fairly substantial it's not economically worthwhile for them to pursue through the Spanish court system.... particularly if you have no assets.

[ricardo79]

Thanks a lot for the swift reply

 

No you are right, i have no assets, i have nothing they could take.

 

Thing is i want to pay it, they just wont let me!!

 

If for some reason i just ignore them, pay them nothing, what will happen?

surely they wont just shelve the debt, i mean isn't there a legal procedure which they would activate? Due to the fact they don't seem to want to write to me, I would never know what they had instigated and may be ccj's without my knowledge. I have read here, that because i am not a uk resident,they cant ccj, but with them refusing to reply or acknowledge the letter i sent, to them , in there eyes i still live here. I have told my dad to just either throw the letters (if they send anymore) in the bin or send them back.

 

If i have bailiffs turning up at my dads address, he will disown me!

 

Ricardo.

[cerberusalert]

If for some reason i just ignore them, pay them nothing, what will happen?

Eventually they will sell it to a debt collection company, in fact because of their silence now they are probably in the process of doing that now. So expect a letter within the next few weeks from them demanding money from you.

I would never know what they had instigated and may be ccj's without my knowledge.

They cannot obtain a CCJ against a non-UK resident, even if they did it can easily be set aside.

If i have bailiffs turning up at my dads address, he will disown me!

They cannot just turn up, they would need a court order giving them permission to take enforcement & they can only do that against the debtor.

[ricardo79]

Hi

 

Once again, thanks for the reply.

 

So if they send the letter to my dads address, ignoring the fact i don't live there, and i dont get it, i have no knowledge of said letter, so i cant pay them.

Trouble is if they do send it to the old address, he lets me know what it says then i contact them, they will know i still have contact..

 

What do Collection agencies do if they cant get hold of you?

Sorry to keep asking questions, its just annoying that they make everything so confusing! They were getting a decent monthly payment, cant see why they would sell it, so now i have to deal with some unscrupulous collection agency.

 

I cant see some agency even bothering with a foreign addressed debtor though for £4000...Even though they probably bought the debt for 40 quid!

 

Ricardo

[William415]

If DCA's can't find you, they can't do anything to collect the money if you are overseas. As others have indicated, they can't get a CCJ against you or force you into bankruptcy if you are not resident in the country.

 

If you are worried about them bugging your father, I would advise that you have your father return any mail then send there in your name - stating that "no one by this name resides at this address" or some such.

 

W

[ozzyboy]

Agree with all that's been said here but without wishing to hijcak the thread, can I just seek clarification on one of your comments cerebusalert?

 

You say that "They can't bankrupt you in the UK, you're not a resident" but I thought there was a minimum time limit of 3 years after leaving the country before one's centre of interest was no longer considered to be in the UK.

 

If the OP has only been in Spain for 2 years, does this apply?

 

Again, I fully agree with what has been said by previous posters that there is no way that with zero assets to chase, they would bother going down this route so please don't thing I'm scaremongering!

[kbob]

You say that "They can't bankrupt you in the UK, you're not a resident" but I thought there was a minimum time limit of 3 years after leaving the country before one's centre of interest was no longer considered to be in the UK.

 

If the OP has only been in Spain for 2 years, does this apply?

 

 

Within the EU this is only three months. Only outside the EU it's three years.

 

I think if you are residing within the EU you should be careful to make sure any default CCJs are dealt with. There is no onus for original proof of service for UK default CCJs to be transferred to EEO/EPOs!

 

I think many of the previous comments in regards to bankruptcy partition are valid - ie It's going cost that single DCA approx 600-1000 Pounds within the UK and perhaps more in a different EU system. Unless they can be sure you have assets and of course your HMRC and secured debts are serviced first by the bankruptcy official receiver.

 

I think for many people having a DCA pay for their bankruptcy would be a bonus! Bring it on a I say it would save me 1k and I'd write off HMRC! The DCA would be the last **** to get a penny.

 

Hope this helps.

[ozzyboy]

D'oh - of course!

It's Spain so it's the EU 3 month ruling Vs the 3 year rest of the world rule isn't it! Sorry!

[poundhound1808]

Sorry to hijack - quick question:

 

If you live abroad and have no mail forwarding in place (anymore), how would you know if someone got a default CCJ against you? Is there anywhere you can check for that, and how often should you check?

 

Also, is there a time limit for a set-aside application after the CCJ has been issued?

 

Thanks!

 

ph

[cerberusalert]

You can check online at CCJs, court orders & fines - Search yourself and others - Trust Online which costs £8.

 

There is no time limit to get a CCJ set aside.... after all if you were unaware of it's existence you could hardly do anything about it.

[kbob]

You can check online at CCJs, court orders & fines - Search yourself and others - Trust Online which costs £8.

 

There is no time limit to get a CCJ set aside.... after all if you were unaware of it's existence you could hardly do anything about it.

 

 

Paying £8 to search yourself on a public record shows what a [problem] the whole UK CCJ process is.

 

Does anyone out there have any experience they could share about having default judgements set aside when abroad? It sounds like if your UK resident you must attend a set aside hearing. Is it really just as simple as posting a form with foreign proof of residence attached?

[cerberusalert]

Paying £8 to search yourself on a public record shows what a [problem] the whole UK CCJ process is.

Using that site is the easiest way when abroad, other than that it means telephoning a court to find out & unless you have a reference no or know the court the judgement was obtained from it can be a very long 'phone call.

It sounds like if your UK resident you must attend a set aside hearing. Is it really just as simple as posting a form with foreign proof of residence attached?

In some circumstances the court can decide to allow your application without the need for a hearing. If this happens, you will hear back from the court that the judgment has been set aside. National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 12 How To Set Aside A Judgment In The County Court Living abroad seems a pretty strong reason for not having to attend a hearing.