Living in Oz, but got debt in UK

davenpv

A friend of mine has been living in Oz on a work visa for the past 18 months and has continued sending money to her bank in the UK to pay off her credit card and overdraft. She's not returning to the UK, so contacted her bank to see what they could do with her remaining debt (about £5,000) They were not very helpfull, saying if she defaulted on her payments she would be passed to the claims department. No big deal you may think, as she is never to return, however, in another 12 months she will be applying for residency in OZ, and as they do a credit check, she cannot risk defaulting or any ccj's.
Does anyone have any experience of this or advice on what would be the best way to get rid of her debts quickly?

mountainofdebt

The only thing I can suggest your friend does is to do what debt free wanabees do if they are living in this country.......cut back and use the money saved to pay off her debts.

The only complication (as far as I can think) is that she will have to take into account the exchange rate. So (and I don't know if this is possible so please don't shout anyone if she can't!) could she get a 0% card in Oz and use that to some how pay off her UK debt?

creditcardking_2

Seems very unusual that they would do a credit check for residencey, I would doubt that the Australian Immigration would care if you left debts behind in the UK. Maybe this is a new thing, I wouldnt mention debts to immigration all the same, they could ask if you are bankrupt. I know a few people who have emmigrated and not one of them had a credit check done.