madenglishman

I now live in the USA and when I left the UK I owed a small amount on a credit card and I never paid it off, after 15 months the CC company have written to my US address demanding I pay the debt, I have no idea how they got my address and worse still I have not got the money to pay it. Can I get in trouble with the US law over this? Will it effect my status here? Can I be sent back to the UK to appear in court for this debt?
Please help.
A worried Madenglishman

Vicky88

I doubt if you will be pursued by the US authorities over a UK debt.

However, if I were you, I would face up to your responsibilities, get in contact with the UK company pursuing the debt and make some arrangements to pay the money back. You never know what the future holds, and if you do end up back in the UK it would be a pity if your refusal to take responsibility for a debt which you knowingly incurred, was to prevent you getting a mortgage.

Duncs

I share your concern having a similar problem myself, although i have not actually left the UK yet as i am trying to sort it out before i go and my small debt is £69,000 worth so its a bit more complex!!

You said a small debt how much are we talking about here? Out of interest who is the credit card company? Are you a permanent resident or US citizen? Do you intend to return to the UK?

If you have permanent residence and don't mean to go back i wouldnt get too excited about it although it will ultimately need to be resolved. I would also ignore entreaties to face up to your responsibilities as well, credit companies make millions from preying on human greed and stupidty, f them if they get slapped back once in while.

Firstly a debt in the UK is a civil legal obligation so no criminal penalty in the UK or USA can attach to non payment. You can be summonsed to appear in a UK court but it is not enforceable on you when you are outside of the jurisdicton of the UK. So they cant get you back to a UK court. You are effectively defaulting on a contractual arrangement. This assumes no deception (which is a crime) on your part at any time. Any such default is actionable in civil court in the jurisdiction in which the obligation arose, namely the UK. The company can seek a court order against you for the default under the contract and would likely get it. Their problem is that such an order is only enforceable in the jurisdiction in which it is issued, namely the UK. This leaves them two options: 1. If you have any assets in the UK then an enforcement of judgements order could be obtained and assets could be seized and sold by baliffs etc. 2. They seek a bankruptcy order to wind up your assets and distribute them amongst creditors. The problem they have is that if you have no assets in the UK thats pointless as well and it all costs money, bankruptcy would likely cost them in excess of £3000 in legal costs. Although these would be added to the debt total as well. The downside for you is that all these things are recorded on your credit record and may ultimately impact upon your credit record in the USA as well. Also if you did return to the UK your credit record would be hopeless.

The US authoities wont give a toss about a UK debt but once judgement is obtained in the UK it is possible for the company to make an application for a court order in the USA in whatever jursidiction you currently reside in to enforce a foreign civil judgement. If they succesfully get it the US authorities will enforce it and sieze assets, income etc.. As i understand it though this is a major hassle and can be expensive for the applying party plus its not guaranteed the US court will grant such an order but they might do.

So the bottom line is that ultimately if they seek to recover the debt they can, either in the UK or USA. The upside for you though is that all this costs them lots of legal expenses and hassle. Like most businesses they are in it for the money and will generally be rational about business decisions. They will try to recover what they can at best cost to them. They dont want to risk spending £1000's chasing a small debt and having a US court chuck it out. I suggest you work out an agreeable percentage figure, say 75%, i understand for lot of them thats a magic number, and offer this as a full and final settlement figure. If you cant manage 75% try discussing it with them to get an agreed percentage but don't look for under 50% as they could prbably get that from a debt recovery agency. Ensure that you get it in writing that its a final single payment and not a part payment and that all liability is permanently extinguished by this payment. If you cant do this try arranging some kind of payment plan over time to repay the debt. If your offer is reasonable they will most likely go for it.

Note that the obligation under the contract can be transferred and you may find that they will simply sell your debt to a recovery agency, for a percentage of its worth, who will seek to get the money from you. These guys can be more aggressive so i would try to avoid them if possible.

Try the settlement tactic and see what happens. Some companies have a policy of not accepting settlements but try it as you never know. The one downside of this solution is that it will be recorded on your UK credit record and could affect your ability to borrow in the future, although how much it would affect you in the USA is unknown. Ask me after i move over myself! Although you probably already have 15 months of defaults anyhow. Your credit record only last 6 years so after 6 years are up its gone and forgotten. Bankruptcy or County Court judgements last much longer however so try to avoid them if you can.

hope this helps a bit, regards,

Duncan

P>S> Fight the system!!

NC Penguin

Since you don't have the money to repay the debt now, you do intend to visit or return to live in the UK?

Your debt in the UK probably will not impact legally in the US but will cause you problems if you ever intend to return to live in the UK.

As for getting your address in the UK, when you applied for the credit card, maybe you provided the CC provider with a reference (like your parents?) and the CC provider made contact with them.



NC Penguin

doctor scrumpy

This is indeed a problem, I know the student loans company will chase you for payments, ut basically they can whistle in the wind if you live abroad and just tell em to stick it where the sun don't shine. Any debts you have in the UK would not follow you to the USA unless you owed to an American company is my guess.

Not that I am advocating in anyway refusing to honour any debts that you are owed, that remains your own private & personal choice. If anyone owes me a pint & is emigrating I will track em down !!!

Cheers