Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

Can anyone advise on the following dilema -

My wife and I are in the process of of obtaining our visa'a to Oz, we have around £20k equity on our property in the UK (up to April 09) to bring with us, however am debating a couple of things and was wondering what effect it would have if we were successful in or migration application.

We currently owe our creditors £12k in loans and credit cards so do I

1.) Repay them and come over with £8k.
2.) Transfer the monies in my UK account and keep repaying them.
3.) Run with my money and don't look back.

We don't plan on coming back as we are used to living away from our families (currently live 200 + miles away at the moment).

My wife is a secondry school techer (degree & PGCE Educated) so we know we should not have a problem in her obtaining a job, I on the other hand work in finance so if its anything like the UK know that jobs are hard to come by in this industry.

We are moving to start again as a family.

I know what i want to do but not sure what implications would arise.

Any help please

Thanks

Re: Advice
 

Have you done a search for previous threads on doing a runner?

It can get a bit, erm, interesting!

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=600251
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=532830
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=513679

Re: Advice
 

Same position for us - we chose number 2, and I'm glad we did, as it was the right thing to do...

Re: Advice
 

Do you really think that the right way to have a fresh start as a family is to 'do a runner'?
You spent the money, you pay it back.
There are people here who came over with far less than you will have & have made it work. You just have to be careful with your money until you are established.


Now, I'll just go & get the popcorn!;)

Re: Advice
 

...And don't look at me ...I'm not getting involved this time.

Re: Advice
 

:lol: You say that now!

Re: Advice
 

3.) Run with my money and don't look back.



And spend the rest of your life 'looking over your shoulder!!!'

Re: Advice
 

....And hope and pray that nothing happens that causes you to lose your residence status.

(I just had to, it must have been one of the words that you chose ;)).

Re: Advice
 

Hi Pedro,

I'd go with 1) and pay it off now. We were in a similar position but with £20k from the house and £4k loans, but just wanted to get rid of all debts and know that we really only have £16k, the other £4k wasn't ours anymore!
So we paid off the £4k and know £16k is our budget.
We're hoping to start a new life in Oz too and don't want to be paying back UK bills still when we're there.

Good luck, Emma

Re: Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

IS there anone here who immigrated to OZ without paying debts and did you get away with it or did they track you down?

Re: Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

i tihink you will find you will not get an answer to that..........not on here anyways,this thread will be locked before you know it !!:ohmy:

Re: Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

I def think you should pay it off before you come over - you have that option! We have a house in the UK which will only break even with, that's IF we can sell it!! We have left approx 28k worth of debt in the UK, when i say left, we are still paying it through a DMP, and will be for MANY MANY years to come!! We came over with less that 8k, and it has been tight, but we made that decision!

Re: Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

That was going to be my recommendation. No. 3 as an option isnt as daunting as most make out.

Re: Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

indeed........i dont condone doing a "runner" but all avenues have to be discussed.

Re: Advice Leaving Debt in UK
 

I am a bit surprised that somebody working in Finance would seriously consider doing a runner. Anyway I think the second option is the best onefor a few reasons:

1) It is the right thing to do and you will have a clear conscience and not be looking over your shoulder;

2) You say you will never go back but really you don't know that and being 12,000 miles away from family is a bit different to 200 miles. I lived in Bermuda for two years and inadvertently left an unpaid utility bill of £56, in fact it had neve reached me in the first place. I returned 2 years later to a different address and using my married name (bill was in maiden name) and six months later they tracked me down to my current address.

3) My husband also inadvertently left a small unpaid utility bill, his father still in the UK was tracked own by a debt collecting firm. Not a situation we would have liked to put a relative in.