NZ debt

[scorpiomnz]

Hi,

I had debt in NZ but we decided to move to UK. I have all the intentions to pay the debt but at the moment my situation is not that great in terms of finances. Having recently moved to UK doing a temp job with not much money. I updated my NZ banks with my address in UK. As i was unable to pay the debts in NZ they have gone to a DCA and one of them is UK based and they have been threating me to take to courts and the other normal language which comes from a DCA. I gave them an offer to accept a lower final settlement which they DCA first accepted on phone but then sent me a full and final offer which is the same amount. I am getting worried as they have been sending letters to me threating legal action. I want to pay them back but it will take time as i am still settling in.

 

Kindly advise what to do.

[cerberusalert]

I am getting worried as they have been sending letters to me threating legal action.

They cannot take any legal action in the UK it does not have the jurisdiction unless they have already obtained a judgement in NZ, which is highly unlikely.

 

What type of debt is it & roughly how much?

[scorpiomnz]

Thanks a lot for your reply. It is roughly around £8900 - 9000.

[cerberusalert]

Well if they want to play games so can you send them this http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?414-CCA-request-letter if they think they can use UK leglislation then so can you.

[scorpiomnz]

Yesterday after going thru CAG i gave one of the DCA an offer but he came back and said he wont accept it. What should i do next ? Should i wait for him and see what he says next ?

[cerberusalert]

Send them letter in post #4.

[scorpiomnz]

The DCA in question here is overseas (New Zealand) . Should i stil send him the same letter via post or should i just reply back via email.

[cerberusalert]

The DCA in question here is overseas (New Zealand) . Should i stil send him the same letter via post or should i just reply back via email.

No, wait until a debt collector in the UK contacts you. The one in NZ can't do anything.

[scorpiomnz]

The DCA has an office in UK as well. the DCA is EC Credit control. Someone from their office sent me a letter asking for money as well. But in the meantime a lady from the same company in NZ also contacted me on email and i had to deal with both.

[cerberusalert]

O.k send them the letter then.

[scorpiomnz]

Even i am very confused. The offer of full and final settlement was given to both the UK and the NZ office. Both of them have rejected that offer. I even sent them the budget sheet which showed them that i dont have enough money to pay you. But she says that to even arrange an agreement i have to put down a 4500 nz dollars as good faith payment.

 

I guess i am not explaining it properly. I wil start again and then i guess you can advise me on how to tackle it. I have 3 creditors whom i need to pay. The amount in question will be around £8000 - 9000 in total.

 

One DCA is ECCREDIT as i mentioned before( they have been chasing me ( from NZ via email and Via post and emails from UK office too), all the others are in NZ. Nobody has chased me from UK for those debts but i have been in contact with them via emails and i have given all of them small full and final settlement figures. So now can you please advise on how should i tackle this situation

Edited February 11, 2011 by scorpiomnz

[cerberusalert]

One DCA is ECCREDIT as i mentioned before( they have been chasing me ( from NZ via email and Via post and emails from UK office too)

If they have contacted you from the UK then send them the letter.

all the others are in NZ. Nobody has chased me from UK for those debts

In that case ignore them until someone from the UK contacts you.

 

Those in NZ cannot take any enforcement action against you... they will more than likely pass the debt on to a UK debt collector to deal with & even then it would not be economically viable for them to pursue through the legal system because a UK court does not have the jurisdiction. This will put you in a strong position to negotiate a reduced settlement.

[scorpiomnz]

Thanks alot for the advise. I will send them the letter on Monday and see what they come up with.

[cerberusalert]

Don't worry, they'll do a lot of sabre rattling threatening all sorts but at the end of the day they are quite impotent.

[scorpiomnz]

It went quiet after Feburary but today i got a letter from the DCA in Uk saying below Be advised that unless settlement of the above account is received within 7 days of today's date, we are instructed to commence legal proceedings without further notice to you. Once Judgement is obtained, The XXX bank may then take any of the following steps to enforce the judgement of the court: 1) Apply for a writ of execution whereby the court may order goods may be seized and sold to satisfy the debt. 2) Apply for an installment order which will enable our client to recover the judgement amount along with awarded legal fees 3) Apply to the court to place a Judgement mortgage over any Estate owned by you. 4) Apply for an order of oral examination. 5) Apply to the court of an arrest and imprisonment order which may result in you being arrested and held in prison at the discretion of the court. Action to secure Judgement will commmence within 7 days of today's date. This will only adversely effect your credit rating but also increase substantially the total amount outstanding by way of inclusion of both court and legal costs. I am bit worried by that letter. Point to be noted is that they have sent the letter to my old address and i only got it via redirection so they dont have my current address. What do you guys suggest i should do.

[cerberusalert]

If they tried for a CCJ in the UK you can defend on the grounds that a UK court does not have the jurisdiction to hear a claim which is covered by NZ law.

[cerberusalert]

Did you send them the letter in post #4 ? If not do so.

[scorpiomnz]

Did you send them the letter in post #4 ? If not do so.

 

I might sound like a dumb guy by asking what is letter#4. Is it one of the letters from your templates.

[scorpiomnz]

Ignore my last post.. yes i think i am a bit thick.. Found that letter in #4.

[cerberusalert]

The letter is the link in post #4 above in this thread. It is asking for a copy of your credit agreement.

[scorpiomnz]

Did you send them the letter in post #4 ? If not do so.

 

Does that mean i have to send my current address to the DCA. By the looks of it they dont have my current address. They only have my old address. Regards.

[cerberusalert]

If you prefer you can wait until they discover your new address, that's if they discover it.

 

Be warned tho' they may attempt to obtain a ccj using your old UK address, if they do and somehow manage to obtain a judgement by default you can apply to have it set aside as you did not receive any court documents. I'm not saying it will happen but it may.

[scorpiomnz]

If you prefer you can wait until they discover your new address, that's if they discover it.

 

Be warned tho' they may attempt to obtain a ccj using your old UK address, if they do and somehow manage to obtain a judgement by default you can apply to have it set aside as you did not receive any court documents. I'm not saying it will happen but it may.

 

On what basis they will try to obtain a CCJ. If they do, does that affect my credit rating ? Will i have to go to court to get it set aside. Once i get it aside what is the next step after that.

[cerberusalert]

On what basis they will try to obtain a CCJ.

There isn't a basis, a judgement by default occurs when a defendant doesn't defend which obviously they cannot do if they do not receive the court papers if they go to an old address, hence the reason for having a judgement set-aside.

If they do, does that affect my credit rating ?

A ccj is registered after a month with the credit reference agencies.

Once i get it aside what is the next step after that.

once a judgement is set aside it goes back to as if no action took place, they would have to apply for a judgement again. As I said your defence would be that it was outside of the jurisdiction of the court.

 

It would be nice to have a copy of your credit agreement because that will show within the terms and conditions that it is governed by NZ law. In which case if a court decided it did have jurisdiction it would have to be heard using NZ law.

[scorpiomnz]

There isn't a basis, a judgement by default occurs when a defendant doesn't defend which obviously they cannot do if they do not receive the court papers if they go to an old address, hence the reason for having a judgement set-aside.A ccj is registered after a month with the credit reference agencies.once a judgement is set aside it goes back to as if no action took place, they would have to apply for a judgement again. As I said your defence would be that it was outside of the jurisdiction of the court.

 

It would be nice to have a copy of your credit agreement because that will show within the terms and conditions that it is governed by NZ law. In which case if a court decided it did have jurisdiction it would have to be heard using NZ law.

 

Thanks for that. One thing which i am still not sure it that on one side we are trying to set the judgement aside by saying that we never received the court papers but then how will i know that there has been a CCJ against me. Will the court do a search on my file and send the judgement to my new address ?