Overseas debt or is it, heeeelp

Aceman_2

I used to live in the Caribbean and about 3 years ago things did not go so well and I ran up some debts with my UK Bank. This debt was passed to a UK collection agency who then passed it through several other agents to a company in the US, they have been trying to use several Carribbean agencies to get the money when I lived there. I have now moved back to the UK, my money is also all here. I have contacted the US firm to pay off the debt but they insist that I pay it in US$ at a exchasnge rate that will add nearly 20%. I have contacted the original companies in the UK to pay off the debt but they are not interested as the debt have been passed on. I want to pay the debt in the UK in sterling.

I have been told that as I lived overseas when the debt happened and the debt is no longer in the UK it cannot return to the UK.

The US firm says I must pay the dollar amount or they will take legal action. It never went to court in the UK, so no CCJ.

fawd1

hmmm, what do you mean by their exchange rate? surely you can exchange the money to dollars over here and pay that way? bankers draft etc. If not, some companies (citibank is one I think) will let you open a US account, so you could exchange money needed at decent exchange rate and pay it back from that account?

Aceman_2

The company insits that I pay the debt in US$ not sterling, the amount they say in dollars I must pay is about 15% more than the current exchange rate. They say they will pass it onto litigation if I do not pay, ????, if it comes back to the UK I will pay it, but I will not be ripped off.