dave7370

I hope someone can give me some advice on this issue. We are moving to Oz next year and if we have any debt left before we go, we are going to use the collateral from our house to pay it off.

Friends of ours are going this year and are telling us that we should just leave our debt here (like they are going to) as there is no agreement between the UK and Australia with regard to debt so no one will come after them to collect it.

Are they telling the truth (or possibly a warped version of it) or are they in serious danger of jeopardising their future and visa by going without settling up with creditors first? Surely if it were that easy everybody in debt would be up-ing sticks and moving abroad at the first sign of debt problems.

Any help no matter how small would be appreciated as I'd hate them to make a hash of the start of their dream new life.

Many thanks in advance.

belleandscone

Hi dave, there have been many posts debating this, some say there is no agreement yet, but it's in the pipeline. Loads of people have left debt and never been chased up, others say they have heard of people being caught (the main thing there is "heard"!!, everyones heard stories!). So really it's up to you, if you have the money to clear the debts then do it as you dont want to look over your shoulder, or dont if you really can't afford to, really it's down to your own concience and your friends concience.

Good luck anyway with your move abroad and do a search on debt here and youl'll find loads.

Clairex

Kangaroorick

I wouldnt know for sure if there is any credit agreements between UK and Oz collection agents and so on, but I dont rekon it's a gd idea to leave debt here, after all, you take on the debt with a promise to pay it off.

What im hoping to do is be upfront with my bank about my moving to Aus and my personal loan, tell them im unable/unwilling to pay it off in whole and would like to continue regular payments as agreed, that way I stay sweet with the bank and dont have to spend a chunk of my house sale in one go, leaving me more money to emmigrate.........got to think, things might go tits up in Aus, it would be bad enough coming back to the UK without having all that debt and interest

Wendy

Very enterntaining thread on this subject
here


Enjoy

DunRoaminTheUK

Que?

DunRoaminTheUK

Hmmmmm? Character check? Hmmmmm?

ub40fan

What happens if they get there, it doesn't work out for one reason or another and they have to return to UK?

Their debt will still be here, waiting for them! Along with a bad credit score and probably a few other things!

I couldn't do it, I wouldn't take the risk, moving overseas is a big enough risk as it is, but to add to it unneccesarily is (in my humble opinion) rather silly.

Shirley

Wendy

Try again

Grayling

Yep

Persons found to be of dubious character can have their visa cancelled

http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/general/general06.htm

G

marco121068

Don't do it! Ignore what your ['allegedly] 'thieving' friends say and pay it all back.

In an ever shrinking world - it's just not worth risking it.

Besides - there are so many who decide to return after a short time. You could be one of them and your ability to obtain credit in the future would seriously be questioned.

Pollyana

Leaving aside any moral questions, it is possible to pay off UK debts from Australia, so if you do not wish to use all your collateral to pay them first, then arrange with the companies concerned to continue paying from here. Nothing to stop you transferring money to UK bank account and leaving direct debits set up to make the payments.

Dorothy

Exactly what we're doing from Canada. We have an open line of credit with our bank here, which is affiliated with Anzac bank in Oz. We intend to continue making regular monthly payments for the next year until it is paid off by depositing through Anzac into our Canadian bank. Bank of Montreal has kindly agreed to this arrangement. Talk to your banker and let them know of your plans. It is really a very small world as far as banking goes. I mean who would have thought that the Bank of Australia and New Zealand would be affiliated with the Bank of Montreal?????

Wendy

Canada and Australia have a reprocrial agreement with regards to debt. Which probably makes it easier for them to do that sort of thing. There is no such thing in place for the UK and Australia, yet.....

Max&Ozzy

here are some http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...limitation_act

Downies

Tell your friends it is not worth the risk - I am aware of several students who thought as they were leaving they wouldnt have to pay their student loans back - moved to a non-EU country and they still found them.

Not to mention they contacted virtually every single member of the family still in the UK to try and track them down.

Now they have all set up regular payments to clear this up - I think they are lucky they where found so they can repay, as the credit black mark in the UK might cause problems in the future - you never know if they want to come back as they are still young.

Personally - I have been going without everything bar essentials for the last six months and by end of August I will be completely debt free (apart from mortgage - which will be settled during sale) for the first time since I was 18!!! And am I looking forward to that!!

At the end of the day, it is your friends choice - let their conscience decide, you do what is right for you.

Paula