Abroad

LBN_2

Hi,I live in France and owe Barclaycard£5K which I pay via UK Bank.What happens if I cancel the direct debit?
Will they chase me in France?

Thanks

artbreak

We are also living in France and trying to resolve debts of 10K. It's really difficult to get advice on this situation. Don't listen to that idiot who wants to break your legs. Why have people got a problem with living abroad - we are not all living on boats etc. Wages are alot lower abroad and there are few benefits available.

artbreak

Oh and by the way good luck try this link http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...light=Monument

xgingerx

Well I left for Morcco in 2000 and left a huge debt with Barclays loan and credit and stopped paying them, I got back in 2003 and it was only in 2004 when I got put on the electoral role again that Thames Credit got hold of me for it, anyway when I got my file i found default and CCj on my file for this and also found out they had gone to court again and got a attachment to earnings so they could take money direct from my employer, my old one that is as I didnt tell them id left the country. Well to cut a long story short I did full and final settlement for 4k and got my ccj removed as I was out the country. Just remember if you come back there is always a chance they might chase u when u get back. Also my mistake was when I got back I went on the electoral role AND, so I have a clean file and then I applied for credit and put my old address before I left uk and this linked it and showed all my previous debts. Had I not done this I dont think I would ever have been chased for this.

omelette451

LBN wrote: »

Hi,I live in France and owe Barclaycard£5K which I pay via UK Bank.What happens if I cancel the direct debit?
Will they chase me in France?

Yes of course they will, and quite right too. They will give you chance to pay though, rather than breaking your legs, and will probably be quite understanding if you explain you're on lower wages now, or for currency reasons would rather save and pay one lump sum every so often rather than regularly.

British companies can operate everywhere in the EU completely freely, so there's no reason to assume they'll ignore you.

artbreak

Thank you for responding to the message. We have always struggled in our chosen professions in England and used credit cards and loans just to survive. We took the chance 10 years ago to leave England and start a new life with a better future. It has taken 7 years to find a place where we can work and live within our means but those debts have we incurred in England are strangling us. We have actually paid back the original debts and what we owe is purely interest. So we are on the edge of deciding to offer them a greatly reduced final payment to stop the phone calls and letters or just change our telephone number and return letters to sender. It will be a cold day in hell before we return to Britain with all of it's negativity and aggressive tactics.

omelette451

artbreak wrote: »

Why have people got a problem with living abroad - we are not all living on boats etc.

I don't have a problem with it. In fact I think Britain would be a vastly improved place if British people made more use of their rights to live freely within the EU. The question here though is about people trying or otherwise to abandon their debts when they move abroad, which I don't think is a good thing to do - a statement with which, given your last post about struggling to clear the final hurdle, I assume you'd agree.

LongTermLurker

artbreak wrote: »

We are also living in France and trying to resolve debts of 10K. ...Why have people got a problem with living abroad - we are not all living on boats etc. Wages are alot lower abroad and there are few benefits available.

Who said anything about having a problem with people living abroad? I think Excel was talking about people who have borrowed money and don't want to pay it back. Along with people who think they can live life by scrounging benefits, I reckon they're the scum of the earth.

You both ran up debts in the UK. If you won't pay them then your debt lands on my plate in terms of increased rates, lower interest paid, etc etc and as I work for a living I don't want to pay your borrowings off for you. Don't expect any sympathy on here, where half the people work to ensure they don't get into debt and the other half struggle to pay off the debts they've had to accrue.

If you can't pay, don't borrow.

firsttimestudent

I've known some international student friends who have difficulty applying for student credit cards because the banks (Natwest and HSBC in their case) had bad experiences with many international students who left the country without settling their credit card.

Many of us in the UK enjoy being able to keep our UK accounts and credit cards even when we move abroad. I wonder if many people refuse to settle their debt, like the OP, will the banks revoke all the other law-abiding and trustworthy customers' credit cards and current accounts?

I feel disgusted at such behaviour - not only are you partly to blame for the credit crises (for not being responsible with handling your own credit), you are also possibly causing troubles to many others, e.g. future expatriates etc.

dazza.mk

Barclaycard also operate in France, so they will have local credit control procedures that they could use to 'chase' you if they dealt with the legal issues of enforcing the debt in France.

http://www.barclaycard.tm.fr/

LongTermLurker

artbreak wrote: »

We have actually paid back the original debts and what we owe is purely interest. ... It will be a cold day in hell before we return to Britain with all of it's negativity and aggressive tactics.

Unless you borrow from friends and family, which I'd never recommend, why should you expect your loan to be free? Having to pay interest on loans is a fact of life and no-one on this board would like the idea of depositing money without receiving interest. There are people on these boards who have also had to run up debts through their lives and if you read the posts they are proud to be able to knock £50 off what they owe - your wish to write off what you validly owe sounds pretty bad when you consider that. If they can work off their debts then why should you get the easy way out and abandon yours?

As to negativity and aggressive tactics, that's a fair description of borrowing with no intention of paying back what you owe imo.