The main issue for us was still being contactable because of getting post forwarded - because we wanted to stay in contact for certain things it also meant keeping in contact for everything - and the family back in the UK forwarding the post are not responsible just because they have the last known address.

I had outstanding payments to be made for certain items (tax for one) and put the money in accounts and left the UK and decided to wait and pay it when it was due and when they asked me - basically I have now been asked and am now making payment.

The global world of shared information and computer databases means we even got checked by an insurance company when we first came over and stated we had not had a claim in three yrs and they countered with what about the claim 18 months ago in the UK!

I do not know the legalise of the different issues but am fairly sure unless you can disappear successfully without any contenction to the past like your name and address you are going to be tracked for the money.

Yup..
Totally agree with you Darkless.
I think the OP is just curious, (as am I now after reading this thread) about how the system works. It's actually a really good question but nobody who has replied so far seems to know the answer.

I've got no UK debt either. In fact I never had a credit card in my life before I came to Oz. I've had to get one here to pay my internet bill.

I do know someone though, who did max out the UK cards after emigrating.
That was 4 years ago & they've still not been, "caught up with".
It would be interesting to know if they ever will be, or if the companies give up after a while.

I am curious aswell, and also have NO UK debts

However, no matter what the situation is today, with the constant "shrinking of the world" in information movement terms, I have no doubt that people will get chased in the future, no matter where in the world you are.

As far as I am aware, the 7 year limitation only applies if NO legal action has been taken. Once a court has determined an order, there is no time limitation in which to get out of it.

I would think maxing out the credit cards the day before you leave the country with no intent of paying them back would be classed as fraud and you could end up in jail, if you built up the debt over a long period of time on general living expenses and made some attempt to pay them back by making a couple of payments then this would look like bad money management which you should not be jailed for. If you owe say 30,000 you could explain to your creditor that you are having financial troubles and offer to pay 20,000 as a settlement with no more to pay, they may accept this rather than risk nothing from you. I would never do this since in I am likely to inherit my parents house in 40 years, and I do not want anyone else to take a piece of this and the creditors will have no problem waiting with the compound interest and fees and charges. Unless you are going to make it worth your while with 500,000 then its not worth the hassle.

I would think that any sensible people who have managed to avoid their debts without any consequences would not publish their methods on a forum where they could be tracked down very easily by the people monitoring your every move on the Internet. So its unlikely that we will find anyone who has gotten away with it.

I sympathise with anybody that did do a flit with debt, we all make bad decisions some times, and some come back and bite us in the arse.

We however paid every single remaining bill we had, on the morning we left England. I had made special arrangements with my phone provider to keep the phone on until 12.00, so I could pay ALL outstanding bills before we left, over the phone by credit card. Consequently I read all the meters that morning, then rang all the relevant companies with the readings, stayed on the phone whilst they worked out the final bill......paid it by cc, and took a reference number, and employee name from each company. I paid the phone bill last, as obviously I needed it right till the end.

Would you believe two of the four companies I paid that morning are still sending me solicitors letters, to recover the "debt" I owe them. I have my credit card statements with the amount they are both chasing showing as paid, yet still they persist.

My most recent communication to both companies, by letter, involved two words in very large type, the second being OFF. Therefore if peope were to leave with unpaid debts I for one would have little sympathy for the companies concerned.