Sonny & Lynne

Having been a debt advisor in the UK. There is a really interesting piece of legislation called the limitation act 1980

The Limitations Act 1980 outlines the time limit within which a creditor can chase a debtor for outstanding debts. The Limitations Act 1980 applies when no contact has been made between the creditor and debtor within the given time limit usually 6 years or 12 years for a secured debt and only applies to residents of England and Wales.

Creditors are given a fixed period of time to chase their debtors The time limit begins when you last admitted owing the money or made a payment.

Should the creditor fail to maintain contact with the debtor, for a period of 6 years or more, the outstanding debt is "Statute Barred" under the conditions of the Limitations Act 1980. That means they cannot make you pay it back and it is not enforcible by a court.

Things are a little different if a creditor already has a CCJ however

legion11

hi all,

if you were to leave the country with a little bit of debt unpaid, you could tell your parents to inform your debtors
(im sure that will be there first port of call)
that you have left the country & joined the foreign legion..

hehe .. just a thought please don't bite me head off
lol

Lord Pom Percy

Someone once mentioned that threads on this forum about leaving the Uk without paying your debts have always been the most popular threads with the greatest numbers of readers, looks like they were right and it does'nt say much about the honestly of people.

dougggy

- if the whole country is going broke, is it going to matter a stuff
if you owe barclaycard a couple of grand ??


have a look round your local industrial estate - anywhere in the uk -
and see all the `to let` signs and if that doesn`t tell that the people
who actually create wealth in the uk are stuffed as opposed to say,
retailers who just sell imported goods, then yes we are all doomed,
so does it really matter if you are worrying about your bar bill on the Titanic

esperanza

What on earth is that supposed to mean? Lots of people are having problems so go ahead and steal?!

fastrhino

not paying a debt is not theft! this is civil matter not a criminal matter, as such it is not a crime to fail to repay a debt, or to break a contract.

This is why debts are dealt with in the civil (county or high courts) not the criminal courts.

those people who claim not repaying is theft are wrong, I really can not understand how some people can be so judgemental about issues they really do not understand.

if these people have a moral objection to not repaying a debt, then fine, but lets not resort to calling people theives.

so come on you upright moral folk stop beating down on those who may have genuine problems and dont have all the answers.

esperanza

I'm not speaking from any legal perspective, purely from an ethical one.
When you take something and agree to pay for it, then don't pay for it, to me that is stealing and is not something that any one should take lightly or consider to be 'ok'. I can see that sometimes people have genuine problems - I think that they should cut back wherever they can and talk to creditors to come to an arrangement to clear their debts. I also think that people should think very carefully before taking debts on. Nobody should build up debts that they cannot pay back - and deliberately accumulating debts and planning to run away from them is straightforward fraud.

None of these comments are intended to be taken personally by any one on here, I wouldn't claim to know about/judge any one's personal circumstances.

dougggy

What on earth is that supposed to mean? Lots of people are having problems so go ahead and steal?!



er..... missing the point somewhat, look at the big picture, people worry themselves (literally) to death over debt ... why! ..... if you take a hungry dog to a butchers is it the dog`s fault if he nicks some sausages off the counter...........

utopia

Guys I posted this in the past but still have the same opinion so I thought I would copy and paste my previous post,here goes!!!!


''Alot of 'holier than thou ' posts!

Some people do have to put finances on hold! For honest and genuine reasons.

No one is in the position to judge....

Uncouth comments should really be kept of this forum!

Unless you have been in the position of breaking point you have no idea how it feels and what you would do in that given situation.

Of late the banking system in the country has come under alot of scrutiny... recently watchdog made a documentary on how banks actually entice you to take out loans and credit cards knowing full well in some cases single parents families are struggling to keep there heads above water.

They give these people loans and cards in the full knowledge that many cannot afford to pay them back....

However it looks good on Sales statistics.....

Many banks and employees are in the process of being investigated as we type and have this discussion.

If these financial institutions knowingly trap desperate people I think they get what they deserve!

I am not saying someone with no principles that knowingly takes out loans with the full intent of not paying it back should get away scotch free!

However no one knows the majority of why people skip the country!

Unless you are aware of every circumstance, and have been in similar situations.

Who is anyone to really pass judgement?''

DrWho

Actually... that's not quite right... and I'm not in the 'holier than thou' camp at all, but...

Spending a load of money on a credit card whilst having no intention of paying it off is definitely fraud no matter how you want to look at it... Whether the credit card company/CPS could prove that is another matter...

But picture this scenario... You've got your Visa, booked your flights, arranged for the packers to come in... A week before it all happens the local salesman at Comet has the best day of his life and you walk (stagger...!) out with 10 grands worth of electrical stuff, all of which gets packed into the container and shipped to Oz...

Or alternatively... You had a few problems a few years ago; nothing life changing but it took a while to get yourself back on your feet and the nett result is that you owe a few grand... You've been paying it off bit by bit for 3 years now...

In both cases you hit Oz and forget about the credit card... Guess which one gets the Credit Manager to pick the phone up and shout 'FRAUD'...!

fastrhino

here, here

people have short memories, like back in the eighties when lenders forced people in negative equity out of their homes because they fell behind on repayments,,,what comes around goes around.

the banks and credit card companies target people and tempt them in to debt,,like a drug dealer grooming an addict.

then turn the screws when things get tight, when the uk has its next big recession then we will see the banks forclose agian and force families in to years of hardship.

dougggy

agreed - there is (again) a bigger picture here - assuming `debt` is a game
some people decide not play by the rules anymore, thus, what happens when
everybody decides not to play the game anymore ?? well this judging by the debt is theft reasoning this isn`t going to happen to soon..........

however ......

is not the ex-pat pysche akin to deciding that rules of the game you are playing is no good and you want to play a differant game..


therefore are ex-pats predestined to burn their financial bridges regardless ?

andy1469

How Can Someone Pay Hundreds Or Even Thousands Moving To Another Country, And Then Turn Round And Say Ohh I Just Couldnt Afford To Pay That Credit Card Bill You Know The One I Paid For My Tickets With!!!
If You Have A Debt Pay It Back

rugbymatt

I think you need to read through some of the other posts.

Why is it that people just assume that others are always on the screw!

Its not as if the op is from................

anyway, read the posts mate.

sassie

And the original poster was never disputing the fact that they didn’t intend to pay the debt back. All they were asking was some advice on how they could manage the debt from abroad if they could not pay it back in full before they left.

We are not to know how much the debt was, or indeed what their financial situation is. It was his debt, not hers, so it doesn’t matter how they financed their emigration, as long as they are prepared to pay the debt back.