Can credit card debt follow you abroad?

talana

Thanks for the replies.
This is exactly what we have said to her. She still lives at home and doesnt contribute to anything - her parents fault!!
She hasnt said where she is going but knowing her she will disappear and then phone us.

So she's always been sheltered and never paid her own way in the real world?
It sounds like this threat to disappear abroad is just that, not a real plan.
Put these points to her to discourage her:
- where is she planning to go? If outside the EC, she can casually go somewhere on a tourist visa but can't stay indefinitely and can't work!! Not without prior planning.
- where is the air fare coming from? She hasn't got any money, no bank will lend her more now and (I hope) neither will the family.
- what's she going to do for a job?
- And what about accommodation? She'll need money right away, it doesn't come for nothing. Welcome to the real world, no family to fall back when she disappears abroad!
- After all that, her debts here could still catch up with her!! And unless she mends her ways she could easily get into yet more debt abroad!!

teffers

Can and will these debts catch up with her or does it depend on where she goes I don't know where your family member is going but the Greek authorities have a reciprocal agreement with UK and the above person was caught up with, had to return to attend court, and relinquish the car.

You must remember Car hire/purchase agreements are unlike finance agreements used for things such as credit cards and loans. The car remains the property of the finance company until a certain percentage of the payments have been made therefore if you cease payments before that time the car finance company still OWN the car.

Also I think 'horrified' is a little strong lol, she could do a lot worse things than run up some debt from companies who's sole purpose is to make profit from debt (don't kid yourself credit card companies / finance companies do anything else).

I ruined my credit 15 years ago (never got anywhere near £20K tho) and I'm still repairing it so I wouldn't recommend doing it if you plan on staying in this country, but as I said there's worse things to worry about. And don't start with the 'it raises % rates for the rest of us' cos that's naive in the extreme, years when companies reduce their bad debt don't follow with % rate drops on credit cards and loans lol. That's why conpanies like Capital One have products aimed directly at poor risks - I mean people (like me) who have shown a capacity to get into problems and credit companies STILL can't resist trying to make some more money

For credit companies they take a gamble, sometimes they lose...not worth clucking about in the grand scheme of things is it really.

bristol_pilot

As she has no assets, she can declare herself bankrupt and walk away from her debts. She will be discharged in a year or so and able to start over. A year abroad in the meantime would be just the ticket.

talana

Also I think 'horrified' is a little strong lol, she could do a lot worse things than run up some debt from companies who's sole purpose is to make profit from debt (don't kid yourself credit card companies / finance companies do anything else).

not worth clucking about in the grand scheme of things is it really.

Sorry, but this is one of the daftest non-arguments I've heard in a long while.
Sure, no doubt we can all think of worse things someone can do. And your point is?
You appear to be saying such behaviour is OK, perfectly acceptable.

A young person with no financial self-control, who absolves herself of all financial responsibility and who is going to ruin her future financial prospects for many years is plenty to be horrified about. I would be if she was in my family.

talana

As she has no assets, she can declare herself bankrupt and walk away from her debts. She will be discharged in a year or so and able to start over. A year abroad in the meantime would be just the ticket.

And that's the sort of flippant, moronic comment that helps no-one and may well be offensive to anyone who's taken the responsibility of paying off their debts.

Not to mention being against what this site stands for.

NickX

talana wrote: »

And that's the sort of flippant, moronic comment that helps no-one and may well be offensive to anyone who's taken the responsibility of paying off their debts.

The poster is correct though.

Bankruptcy would be a suitable option for this individual because they have no assets to lose. You may not agree with the morality of this, but it is a fact of the world we live in that you can go bankrupt and if you have no assets your debts are written off.

However, bankruptcy will say on the Credit File for 6 years, so for that time they will struggle to get any further credit, so its not all champagne and roses.

bristol_pilot

It wasn't a flippant comment it was a serious suggestion.

talana - reported for abuse.

NickX

Simon_P wrote: »

So what exactly would it be then if it's not theft? Taking someone elses money with no intention of paying it back is hardly honest & legit.

Well it is going to be difficult to prove the intent to not pay the money back at the time of borrowing the funds.

Otherwise, every case of people having financial difficulties and defaulting on loans could be classed as theft which clearly isn't the case.

I suspect that if the creditor can prove that the funds were borrowed with the intention of not paying them back, then they may have a case to report the individual for fraud. Indeed if this can be proven, then the police would be within their rights to issue a international arrest warrant to apprehend and possibly extradite the individual. So, lets hope that this person didn't tell any lies to get the funds otherwise they could be in trouble.

nzseries1

When I got my job here, I had a credit check done in my home country (New Zealand).
I have also heard that you can be arrested on re-entry to the country if you have purposely abandoned your debts. Therefore I hope she never ever wants to come back.

krisskross

Wonder what skills she is taking with her to enable her to earn a living in her new country? Presumably it is in the EU as no one else will take her without serious delving into all aspects of her life.