UK Student Loan Debt being chased by CCI Legal in NZ

[pinkpiggy]

I hope this is the correct place for this post.

 

I have a UK student loan that I originally started paying back in the UK.

 

We then moved to NZ and as I wasn't working the loan was deferred for the first 12 months.

 

We moved house again (still in NZ) and

 

I wrote and advised the SLC of our new address a couple of times and even had the mail forwarded from our old address.

I never heard from them.

 

I've now received a letter from CCI Legal in NZ chasing the debt.

 

 

My question is this:

are they chasing the repayments on behalf of SLC or have they purchased the debt?

 

Has anyone got any suggestions for dealing with them?

 

Any advise greatly appreciated.

[fkofilee]

Probably chasing repayments, how much us it currently for?

Funny thing is, I doubt they will beable to enforce it over there as its a UK Debt.

When was the loan given to you? Pre 1998 or after 1998?

Is it one of those "Mortgage Style" Loans

[dx100uk]

I would suspect like 100'000's of others

your debt has been sold to eruido [Arrows DCA]

 

 

pers where you are

I'd be ignoring them.

 

 

I take it CCI legal is some kind of OZ DCA.

[renegadeimp]

CCI are UK DCA's who say they can go and collect anywhere in the world. Or at least send threatograms.

[unclebulgaria67]

I hope this is the correct place for this post. I have a UK student loan that I originally started paying back in the UK. We then moved to NZ and as I wasn't working the loan was deferred for the first 12 months. We moved house again (still in NZ) and I wrote and advised the SLC of our new address a couple of times and even had the mail forwarded from our old address. I never heard from them.

 

I've now received a letter from CCI Legal in NZ chasing the debt. My question is this: are they chasing the repayments on behalf of SLC or have they purchased the debt? Has anyone got any suggestions for dealing with them? Any advise greatly appreciated.

 

Just chasing. But you need to contact SLC to advise them of your position, completing any income/expenses info they required. You may just be able to defer payment for the time being if you cannot make repayments. But atleast you are in contact with them and will know what the score is.

 

If you don't do this, then it is possible for UK debts to be enforced in NZ. They won't just forget about it and write it off, unless the loans were taken out before 1998.

 

Under NZ law the courts there won't consider a foreign debt unless there has been a judgement in a court where the debt was incurred. I believe it is possible to obtain a UK court judgement in your asbsence and then they would transfer it to the high court in Auckland. If you are staying in NZ and not paying the loan back, you would have to think how likely it would be that they would get a UK court judgement and to then transfer to NZ. I am not sure that I have read of such cases happening.

[renegadeimp]

If erudio own it, then why contact SLC? If SLC own it, then sure, contact them. But if Erudio do, i'd be tempted to just ignore, as they will try and make you sign a deferment which is considerably changed to have an advantage to them.

[renegadeimp]

If they gain a UK judgement, theyd have to prove that the OPwas living in the UK, otherwise they could get a set aside.

[dx100uk]

we need to know if this is pre or post 1997

 

 

and who CCI states are their client

 

 

dx

[unclebulgaria67]

If they gain a UK judgement, theyd have to prove that the OPwas living in the UK, otherwise they could get a set aside.

 

I believe it is possible to bring a UK court claim against a non resident if the debt was incurred in the UK, even if the claimant knows the debtor is abroad. There are CPR's covering the service of the court claim papers to a foreign address. The claimant would have to make the case that they could only use a UK court to make the claim, as it is not possible to go directly to a court in NZ where the debtor is resident. Presumably there would be more process involved, with the defendant given more time, with the ability to defend by video conference to the court if necessary.

 

But just because it is possible, does not mean it is likely. Would they go to all this hassle ? I doubt it. But it is important to keep creditors aware of your foreign address, so they can't use this against you or try to get a sneeky default CCJ using a last known UK address.

[renegadeimp]

Doesnt SCC state that the defendant must be resident in england or wales in order for the claim to be served? If thats the case, then if the claimant knows the defendant does not reside in those countries, theyre out of luck.

[unclebulgaria67]

Doesnt SCC state that the defendant must be resident in england or wales in order for the claim to be served? If thats the case, then if the claimant knows the defendant does not reside in those countries, theyre out of luck.

 

If this is the case, then UK residents could move to NZ and never have to pay their debts, as NZ won't deal with foreign debts, unless there is already a judgement in the country where they incurred the debt.

[pinkpiggy]

Thanks for the responses so far. This is an Income Contingent Student Loan taken out in 1998.

 

The letter I received was from a NZ Debt Recovery company (Receivables Management) and they state "We act for CCI Legal Services Ltd on behalf of their client Student Loans Company and have been instructed to collect the above account". The title is Collection Action Commenced.

 

None of their references relate to my Student Loan reference. Is it best to write to them asking them to send copies of the account for the debt owed?

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks for the responses so far. This is an Income Contingent Student Loan taken out in 1998.

 

The letter I received was from a NZ Debt Recovery company (Receivables Management) and they state "We act for CCI Legal Services Ltd on behalf of their client Student Loans Company and have been instructed to collect the above account". The title is Collection Action Commenced.

 

None of their references relate to my Student Loan reference. Is it best to write to them asking them to send copies of the account for the debt owed?

 

If you are not intending to go back to the UK to live, you could ignore. Once you enter into communications, these debt companies will believe they have a chance of gaining payment from you, which they will earn a commission from. I am guessing that they want you to start paying a NZ debt company and they will seek to get you to sign an agreement with them which if you break, they could then use NZ courts.

 

At the moment they are a bit stuck. If they cannot use a NZ court without a UK court judgement and they cannot get a UK judgement in your absence, then they have no current way of enforcing the debt. Hence why I think they could try to fool you into making some agreement with a NZ debt company.

 

I suspect that if you ignore, after a few more letters and phone calls, they will give up. If you get any phone calls asking you to confirm your identity it will probably be them, so never give out personal information to anyone cold calling you.