Danish Mortgage Debt and now Living in the UK, being chased by a UK Collection Company

[dizzyblond]

Hi

 

My partner split up last year with his ex. They owned a house together in Denmark which they sold, leaving them with negative equity of £70k. The debt has been split between the two of them.

 

My partner's ex is paying her part of the debt and me and my partner have moved to the UK. He has part time work but doesn't earn much.

 

We have now received a letter from a UK debt collection agency (at our old address, not our current address where we have lived for 6 months) asking for immediate payment of the debt and threatening to take legal proceedings.

 

Does anyone have any advice on what we do next? Do we have to deal with the debt collection agency? I know the rules are slightly different as he's from Denmark.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Jo

[unclebulgaria67]

Danish debts can be enforced the UK, as there are EU wide agreements. UK courts are more helpful than some jurisdictions in dealing with foreign debts.

 

Best advice is for your partner to contact the UK debt collection agency in writing, asking for proof that they have been legally appointed by the Danish mortgage company. Also to ask exactly on what basis they are acting. This information must be provided in writing by the Danish Mortgage company, as no information has been received from them. Then say that once you receive the confirmation from the Danish Mortgage company, you will deal with them as needed.

 

The reason you should give the current address, is that you do not want the creditors to obtain a UK court judgement by default, because you did not receive the court claim. Once they get a UK court judgement, it will be very difficult to get it set aside.

 

Once you get confirmation that the Uk debt collector has been appointed by the mortgage company, then all your partner has to do, is advise them that he has no assets and limited income. He can offer to pay them regular payments based on what he could afford. If they are not happy with that, they can take it to court, where the court can decide how much should be paid.

 

Worse thing for your partner to do is to try to hide. Mortgage debts can legally be enforced in a court for a very long time ( 12 years in the UK and I think 10 years in Denmark under statute of limitation laws)

 

Nb. Is it worth your partner enquiring about going bankrupt in Denmark. If they have no assets at risk, it might be the best way to get rid of this debt. I think he could apply in the UK, but this may be more expensive than in Denmark. They could contact a Danish bankruptcy advisor to ask about this.

[dizzyblond]

Thanks for all that really helpful information unclebulgaria.

 

I'll look into what you said about going bankrupt in Denmark as he has no assets anywhere.

 

Once again thank you so much for your help.

 

Jo