Best course of action for paying UK CC debt from overseas

[pal36]

Hi All,

Back in 2009 i fell for one of those companies who claimed to remove all outstanding debts legally. I need not to go into that detail as we all know what happened to those companies and now i am left with original debt + charges with a default in my name which i want to settle in legally appropriate manner. This debt amount is separate from almost 4K i paid to ClearyourdebtUK for that purpose. Anyway i have two cards now with outstanding balance which i would like to pay off, one is barclaycard and other is Eggcard (i have paid a third MBNA card with short settlement few months ago). I have moved overseas since late 2009 although i started receiving letters from lenders by that time but no default was registered at the time i left UK. Can someone please advise me what will be the best course of action to approach these lenders although according to letters they have been sending to my address in UK, debt has been forwarded to some debt collectors(Andrew Munn and Wescot/Mercers). Also is there any kind of action i can take against clearyourdebtuk although at present my priority is to sort out the credit cards first.

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks

[cerberusalert]

Are you living permanently overseas? Because they cannot take any enforcement action against you where you are now... it's no longer a British Territory. They can only mark your UK credit file not any other nor can they apply for a CCJ against a non-UK resident.

[pal36]

Hi Cerberusalert

Thanks for replying back. Well i have no near term plans to come back but i would still like to get this matter resolved. I understand i got myself into this mess and i cant avoid this. I had AAA credit rating before it all started but the recession made me take this step but i believe most of us got ourselves into this because of the recession but in real and cruel world of finance ethics and sympathies have no place. Anyway, what i would like is to pay them a fair share and have my default settled or am i asking for too much? If i go for short settlement then they will still have default against my name so how much would be the minimum i need to pay for them to have it settled.

Thanks in advance

[cerberusalert]

Anyway, what i would like is to pay them a fair share and have my default settled or am i asking for too much?

It's very rare that they'll remove a default they usually mark it as satisfied or part settled. Remember it only stays on your credit file for six years and then drops off + plus it has no effect on a credit file abroad.

 

Debt collectors usually purchase these debts for between 7 & 20% of there face value + the creditors then claim tax relief. So if you still feel morally obliged to pay them anything I would start at a low figure around 15% say & see what they say. They will be more than aware that they don't have a snowball's chance of taking any enforcement action so they may decide to cut their losses.

 

If they play hardball & if you've paid any unfair charges or PPI on these a/cs you can reclaim them from the original creditors thus reducing the amounts.

[pal36]

Hi Cyberusalert,

Thanks again for your reply and taking time to answer my questions. I agree you are right there about paying them off but i only want to do this because i still have a mortgaged property back in UK (and never missed or delayed a payment for last 8 years) an although i am not planning to come back in near future i may want to benefit from some better remortgage rates once BOE decides to ease monetary policy. thats why i would like to have those defaults as settled and also i am in position to pay it all back and be absolutely debt free compared to couple of years ago when it al started.

Can you please let me know few things?

1- should i call lenders direct because they have passed the debt on to other Debt Recovery Companies?

2- If i pay them say a fair share, lets say around 70% of the debt do i have any chance to have it marked as settled default?

3- Should i contact any of these debt helplines to proceed with the matter or contact myself? is there anyone you can recommend to contact if you think let the professionals handle this- the only problem is after CYD went bust they forwarded the case to Key2Claims and they wanted more money at the top of what i already paid and told me it could take another year or so for any result to be achieved, thats after i waited over a year with CYD.

4- Is there any letter template available to contact lenders for someone in my situation?

5- Can i mention that i am overseas and did not receive any of their mail?

6- Is it true that CCJ cant be served if someone resides abroad?

 

Thanks again for your kind response earlier and looking forward to hear word of advice again.

[cerberusalert]

1- should i call lenders direct because they have passed the debt on to other Debt Recovery Companies?

It depends, if they have sold the debt they would not be able to deal with it, if they've just outsourced it or it is their own in-house collection arm then yes. Be aware their in-house collection teams usually use a different company name to that of the creditor.

2- If i pay them say a fair share, lets say around 70% of the debt do i have any chance to have it marked as settled default?

Yes, but it's always better to start at a lower offer and then negotiate. Be warned any settlement agreement has to be worded very carefully otherwise they may renege on the agreement at a later date after you've made payment.

3- Should i contact any of these debt helplines to proceed with the matter or contact myself?

You can do this yourself, as you have learned these 'helplines' have been known to cut & run at more cost to you.

4- Is there any letter template available to contact lenders for someone in my situation?

Have a read of this blog http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/entry.php?202-Full-and-final-settlements-A-guide-for-the-rest-of-us

5- Can i mention that i am overseas and did not receive any of their mail?

You could but you would be wise to open a post office box number so they can't trace your address.

6- Is it true that CCJ cant be served if someone resides abroad?

No they cannot legitimately obtain a CCJ against a non-UK resident.

[pal36]

Thanks alot for your answers.

When i asked for debt helplines, i did not mean companies like CYD i was refering to CCCs or CAB or anyone who could negotiate with lenders instead of myself who does not have much knowledge about all those legal tactics and wordings. I also wanted some professional to negotiate in a way that even if i pay less (705) i atleast had settled default against my name because when i dealt with DCRI for MBNA few months ago, they agreed on partial settlement but would not agree to have it as settled default. I just checked my credit file today and only CALL CREDIT has it updated to "Partially Settled" default whereas Equifax and experian still show it as "D". Gave DCRI a call just now and guy asked me to contact them myself as they have already provided me with proof of settlement which i can forward to CRAs.

Another thing is Barclaycard still takes money out once in few months from my Barclay current account(they took GBP198 at the start of this month after almost 6 months when they took 179 out). If they could do that why would they default my account then?

 

Once again i thank for your time and efforts in answering my questions.

[cerberusalert]

You could try via CCS but I wouldn't hold much hope with CAB, government funding has been slashed and they are closing offices throughout the country.

whereas Equifax and experian still show it as "D"

You can dispute the entry with them, enclose a copy of the Call Credit entry + any written agreement from MBNA.

Another thing is Barclaycard still takes money out once in few months from my Barclay current account(they took GBP198 at the start of this month after almost 6 months when they took 179 out). If they could do that why would they default my account then?

Is the £179 six months payments?

[pal36]

No its not i dont understand that cuz debt is GBP7900 on that card and monthly payment would be around 180-200 but they randomly take some money out from current account. There's no specific amount or time period for that.

[cerberusalert]

If they're not taking the full amount due every month is it because there's not enough in the a/c to do so?

[pal36]

There's not enough to clear the whole balance (7900) offcourse cuz i wouldnt do that but there's lot more than what they take after every few months. e.g i had just over 1K at the start of this month but they only took 198 out of it.

[cerberusalert]

What I meant was did you have an agreement to pay them x amount per month?

[pal36]

Oh sorry...no i dont have any agreement with them. They dont even know where i am at the moment and i think they have stopped calling or sending us letters back in uk for quite a while now.

[cerberusalert]

Personally I would close the Barclay bank a/c if you can because the bank has the right to 'offset' between a/cs which means Barclaycard can take whatever they want whenever they want from your a/c and in effect clean your bank a/c out and in some cases make you incur even further bank charges.