UK debt living abroad after 10 years. Feeling wretched.

[dizzygirl26]

Haven't heard anything at my address here…but even after sending them my letter with my new address & my relative telling them on the phone that I don't live there,they are still sending letters to her address. She's just sent a couple back in the last week marked "not at this address". I don't know what was in them as she just sent them back unopened…

[renegadeimp]

Ok. Now we know they are simply fishing for info, or the hopes someone will bite and start paying.

 

If she gets anymore letters like that, simply write a full complaint headed to the company and advise them in no uncertain terms that the addressee does not reside there, and should any communication arrive, then legal action for harassment/stress will be considered. Thats usually enough to make them think twice. If they fail to understand that, get a complaint into the OFT, and perhaps issue them a lba, (Although i think the threat letter will do the trick well enough).

[dizzygirl26]

To be honest it's making me mad. They have my address now,they can't keep posting stuff there for me expecting her to fork out for the postage every time to send every single letter on to me. If they have something to say they have my address here & they've sent absolutely nothing here so far (unless it got lost in the post!) I think I’m going to send them a letter again tomorrow. Any idea what to put & what not to put in it would be most welcome.

[cerberusalert]

TBH I would just ignore them but if your mother wants she could make a complaint to her local Trading Standards office & you to the ICO https://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx They are required to ensure that the data they are processing is correct which includes peoples addresses.

[renegadeimp]

Thats what DCA's do. They wear you down until you give in, as must people don't complain or know who to complain to.

[unclebulgaria67]

To be honest it's making me mad. They have my address now,they can't keep posting stuff there for me expecting her to fork out for the postage every time to send every single letter on to me. If they have something to say they have my address here & they've sent absolutely nothing here so far (unless it got lost in the post!) I think I’m going to send them a letter again tomorrow. Any idea what to put & what not to put in it would be most welcome.

 

Don't bother. They have your address abroad and like I said before they won't bother to write to you to confirm this. They won't note your credit record that you are gone away either.

 

You are misunderstanding how these debt companies operate. They just receive lists containing thousands of debts, which are loaded onto their systems. Using the information they then generate letters and phone calls for a period to see if they can collect any money. If they get anything back i.e information from phone calls or letters, they may or may not note this. Most old debts will not generate any money, so they sell these on after a few months. If any information would make it difficult selling on the debt, then I doubt that they would note it. So I expect your letter has just been filed away somewhere or bined.

 

Just get your relative to put any letters back in the post marked ' return to sender, addressee does not live at the address'. Any phone calls to tell the caller that the person they are phoning does not and has never lived at the address. You relative may be bothered for a couple of months and then it will go quiet.

 

If you send them another letter, you probably won't get a reply again. You will just feel more frustrated. The other possibility is that they now know you relative has passed on the letters, so they think you are worried or embarrassed about your relative receiving post. They may think that they have you hooked and if they continue sending letters to your relatives address while ignoring you, they may break you, causing you to make a payment. Don't fall for this. Just ignore them and ask your relative to do the same. They cannot do anything and will give up.

[dizzygirl26]

Useful info unclebulgaria,thanks. Yes,they know she sent on the first letter of course because after I received that I replied to them from my current address. In the meantime while I was waiting for that first letter she received another which she sent back plus they phoned her and she told them I lived overseas & had done for the past 10 years. The most recent 2 letters came in the period after they received my reply with my new address. I just wish they'd stop sending letters to me at her address as it's a big stress not only for me but for her. I’m not there,I don't have any assets in the UK (not much here either!)& I can't pay them anyway:-(

[renegadeimp]

Ok. i think its time we gave you acute advice, as it seems you are still thinking they are within their rights to do what they are doing.

 

 

From this second onwards, should ANY mail come from them to your relatives house, get your relative to place a label over the address and mark it return to sender : Not known at this address. It may take a month or so for them to get the message, but they'll stop.

 

The reason they are still sending out letters is because they were fishing originally and by you or your relative replying, they think they have a bite. If you stop corresponding with them and just send the letters back, then theyll soon realise that you are the fish that got away, and theyll move on to another "fish". If they fail to do this, after a month or so, your relative then has just cause to start official complaints and possibly legal action against them.

 

Remember, most DCA's do not care about the law. They just want money.

 

Stop worrying, stop panicking. They cannot do ANYTHING to you at all, and its your relative that must follow the instructions given to be rid of them.

[unclebulgaria67]

Ok. i think its time we gave you acute advice, as it seems you are still thinking they are within their rights to do what they are doing.

 

 

From this second onwards, should ANY mail come from them to your relatives house, get your relative to place a label over the address and mark it return to sender : Not known at this address. It may take a month or so for them to get the message, but they'll stop.

 

The reason they are still sending out letters is because they were fishing originally and by you or your relative replying, they think they have a bite. If you stop corresponding with them and just send the letters back, then theyll soon realise that you are the fish that got away, and theyll move on to another "fish". If they fail to do this, after a month or so, your relative then has just cause to start official complaints and possibly legal action against them.

 

Remember, most DCA's do not care about the law. They just want money.

 

Stop worrying, stop panicking. They cannot do ANYTHING to you at all, and its your relative that must follow the instructions given to be rid of them.

 

Exactly.

 

The letters they are sending, just automatically print off their system. They send them for a couple of months and then give up.

 

I speak out of experience. I have had the same for a relative moved abroad. I was your relative. It is a hassle for them, but if they are just told to return the letters marked return to sender, it is not much hassle. If they catch the postmen, they may take the letters back, saving a trip to the postbox.

[dizzygirl26]

Thanks. I suppose it's the not knowing what to expect next that is making things worse for me. I really am trying to stay as calm as possible and your advice is helping me out but it's like every day I expect the worst. I don't know why I bothered to tell them my new address at all sometimes,I honestly thought that was the least I could do as it's my mess.

[renegadeimp]

You do know what to expect though. You know to expect that they cant and wont do anything. They have no legal remit to do so. We keep telling you this but for some reason you are still worrying. From now on, just ignore everything they send. Tell your relative to mark any post, return to sender. In a few weeks to a month or so, theyll give up. The reason they are still contacting you is because they think they are on to a cash cow, so theyre not going to give up. If you stop all contact, theyll send a couple of stronger worded threats and then move on to someone else.

[dizzygirl26]

Oh,believe me I am following your advice & just getting everything sent back marked not at this address etc. I’ ve just been feeling so sick recently & all this isn't helping me to get better. It's been about a month now since the first letter arrived. I know you say they can't do anything but my worst fear is that it did go to court at some point in the past (I haven't been able to check that out yet,I wish I just had a card to take care of checking that myself ) & they could send people round to my relative’s address. I really don't want that to happen.They don't seem to believe anything they're being told about me being out of the country which is worrying to me.

[renegadeimp]

They wont send anyone around. You dont live there, so ANY and ALL court action would be rendered void, as they filed a claim against a non UK resident. Court rules state specifically that claims can only be made against a resident of England or Wales.

 

Again, you are worrying too much. You are thinking about "what ifs" and not what is actually happening right now.

 

If you are concerned about CCJ's etc, then go to http://www.trustonline.org.uk/ and check. If its not there, then theres NOTHING that can happen. If something is there and its close to or more than 6 years ago, then NOTHING can happen.

 

Also, why worry about what the DCA thinks. They have NO legal powers at all, and couldnt do anything, even if they did have. You are falling into their trap by believing what they are saying and doing, instead of actual law and regulation.

 

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but theres only so many ways we can actually tell you all this. I think it's time i dropped out of the thread now, as theres really nothing else i or anyone else can tell you.

[dizzygirl26]

Sorry renegadeimp,no offence taken. Thanks for all your advice up until now and again my apologies for being a pain. I am listening to you. It's just that this is all very new to me & being on the other side of the world trying to deal with this is really proving difficult for me.

[cerberusalert]

Just ignore them. Your a/c will be one of many thousands that they are dealing with from a portfolio of debts they will have bought for next to nothing compared to it's face value. They will soon move on to their next victim when they realise that they are not getting any interaction from you.

 

They will not waste their time, money and energy pursuing this once their automated cycle of threat-o-grams have been exhausted.

[unclebulgaria67]

Found this quite interesting (funnyish) article on Japanese life.

 

http://thisjapaneselife.org/2012/05/09/on-drinking-too-much-in-japan/

 

Perhaps there is a cultural dimension to this ? I know in Japan debt/failure is looked at in a totally different way to western countries. In the US they view debt as essential to life and there is often no embarrassment to not being able to pay it back. In the UK most people of an older generation view debt in a different way to younger people. I think younger people in the UK, now have similar views to US citizens.

 

Going back to the thread. I can see little pointing sitting in Japan worrying about it. It is not as if you have any option, other than to follow the advice given. Worrying won't change the situation.

[steveab1]

Sorry renegadeimp,no offence taken. Thanks for all your advice up until now and again my apologies for being a pain. I am listening to you. It's just that this is all very new to me & being on the other side of the world trying to deal with this is really proving difficult for me.

 

Please take a deep breath and forget all about any past debts and get on with YOUR LIFE.

[dizzygirl26]

I have one piece of good news at least,just checked trust online & nothing registered so am I right in assuming nothing was raised or there was something & it already expired?

[unclebulgaria67]

I have one piece of good news at least,just checked trust online & nothing registered so am I right in assuming nothing was raised or there was something & it already expired?

 

Exactly. If there was a live valid court judgement it would be on trust online. So they have never applied to court or it has expired.

 

For most debts, actually the original creditors and/or debt collector never go to court. The reason being is that they will handle thousands of debts every month, year after year. If there was court action for even a fifth of the debts, they would be in court every day and it would be very expensive. Then having paid the court fees, there would be no guarantee they would get the money back.

 

You can apply to the Credit Reference Agencies for a copy of your UK credit report. If you are that worried about this, you may want to get hold of your credit report, although you do need some documents to be able to do so. This is taken from the Experian site. ( http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/faq/GR1.html#q558

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't reside in the UK. Can I still apply for a copy of my credit report?

 

 

You can apply for a copy of your credit report if you live outside the UK, providing you are asking about a previous UK address.

1. Print a copy of our application form. You need Adobe® Reader® to open the printable form.
   
2. Complete the application, including your full name, present address, and any other addresses you lived at in the UK during the last six years.
   
3. Enclose a cheque or postal order for £2.00 made payable to Experian Ltd.
   
4. Send the application and payment to Experian Ltd, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF.
   

As you are currently living overseas you should send original documentation connecting you to your present address and previous UK address (eg, bank statement, tenancy agreement, solicitor's letter, or recent utility bill in your name), as well as a copy of your birth certificate, passport, or driving licence.

 

We advise you to also contact the other two UK credit reference agencies for a copy of the information they hold, as it is not necessarily the same. Click here for contact information for other credit reference agencies.

[dizzygirl26]

Never knew I could do that UB ,thanks. Only problem is I don't have anything connecting me to my last address anymore,it’s been so long & don't really want to get in touch with my last landlord as I’m pretty sure he doesn't like me much what with all the collection letters they probably got for me there Anyway I’m guessing that it's shot to ribbons so…hmm. I am feeling a bit better about this & next week I plan to get in a complaint to the ICO at least like Cerberus said I could do a while back. Just trying to stand a bit firmer than I have been doing of late if poss. This has all been a bit of a weird learning experience for me.

[unclebulgaria67]

Personally I would not bother with a complaint to the ICO. They won't take any complaint seriously. I suspect that they would just say that the debt company had written to an address that was linked to the person in question, as well as making a few phone calls. They will say that there is no evidence supplied that there have been any breaches of Data Protection. I doubt they will write to the debt company, warning them about writing to an address they now know you don't reside.

[dizzygirl26]

Aagh,gotcha. Wasn't sure if it might be worth a shot. So it's pretty much a question of just waiting things out then? Grr. Looks like there's not much option

[unclebulgaria67]

Aagh,gotcha. Wasn't sure if it might be worth a shot. So it's pretty much a question of just waiting things out then? Grr. Looks like there's not much option

 

Sit and do nothing. Forget about it. You have told them you don't live in the UK, so have done as much as you can.

 

Why worry, when you have been out of the country for 10 years !

[dizzygirl26]

Sit and do nothing. Forget about it. You have told them you don't live in the UK, so have done as much as you can.

 

Why worry, when you have been out of the country for 10 years !

 

 

Well yeah…actually I’ve been the far east’s most antisocial wotsit for the past month since this came up & tonight the very kind friend who helped me out with the online payment to trust online is taking me out for a few beers. When that " nothing registered " came up I burst into tears …you have no idea,he was really worried about me I think