Credit check - avoiding detection

harryjoyce

Hi,

I have some loans that I have no intention of paying off. They were incurred over 9 years ago and are fairly substantial for somebody in my financial predicament. The money was loaned to me by a bank shortly after my 18th birthday when I had no idea of money management and I do not see why I should remain trapped in a debt cycle when I have paid more in tax since and a large portion of that has been given to the bank in question as a "government bailout".

I have been living abroad for some years and, when I've been back, I've used a credit union for my deposits. I have not been in debt since.

However, I was alarmed as my father was recently contacted by a debt collection agency about this debt. My father has the same name as me so it was actually a case of mistaken identity rather than the harrassment of a family member. He told them they had the wrong Harry Joyce without mentioning my existence and subsequently received a letter of apology.

I am surprised that such an old debt hasn't been written off. I was actually about to open a National Savings account until I realised that advising Experian of my existence would be an error in the circumstances.

Does anybody know how I can check the status of this debt without revealing my address to the banks to whom I "owe" money?

Regards,
Harry

RAS

Do you understand the statute of Limitiations?

Tixy

Despite the tone of your post and your complete unwillingness to accept responsibility for what you did I will still answer you. The point about paying tax is completely irrelevant. Your tax goes to fund all aspects of the government. I'm assuming you would not like to be turned away from a hospital when you need treatment on the basis that you have argued that the tax you paid went to prop up the banks. A ridiculous attitude.

You can check if any of your debts have CCJs using the registery trust online website - it costs £8 and is untraceable (as anyone can search this for any other person in the UK).

Old debts are never written off.

For any debts without CCJs then they could be statute barred, that will depend on how long ago since you last paid anything towards the debt or acknowledged in writing that you owed the debt. If they are statute barred they are not written off but cannot be enforced in court and if you write to tell them you know they are SB and do not intend to pay at that point they must stop chasing you for payment.
A debt with a CCJ can never be statute barred.
So when did you last pay anything towards the debts?

DarkConvict

I agree with Tixy, you need to live upto your responsibilities, running away is not the answer, remember the banks needed bailing out because of bad debt, bad debt is people who did not pay it back.

If the loans were substantial there is a real chance a CCJ was taken out for them, this would mean they can enforce it via bailiffs. if a CCJ was obtained, then if you apply for credit, or get credit checked for a job they are likely to be linked to where you live now.

hullight

If you owe them enough they will go to extreme lengths to find you.

You can't apply for any financial product, a lot of service agreements (telecoms, internet, etc.), buy a house, rent certain places, get a £2 credit report to find out who you owe, work in the financial sector or a lot of call centres, vote in elections...

Hope you enjoyed the money and that it was worth a life of running away.

To put your argument another way...do you steal medication from NHS hospitals on the basis that you alone paid for them, and you alone should benefit?

Greatgimp

How can you sleep at night? You borrowed money and you were too immature to accept the conditions of the loans. That doesn't make it right. Nor does the way we're shafted by the government and the national banks.

You make me angry.

As my grandmother used to say "pay your debts"!

Classylady2010_2

Words fail me so all I shall say is ditto Greatgimp
cl

Ames

Would it still be statute barred though if he's left the country and deliberately avoided the debts?

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

I think by age 18 folks have a pretty good idea of money management. I'm still paying off what I borrowed when I was 18. I knew it would be hard to pay back but I needed it to get through University.

I think if they don't catch up with you at some point then you're really really lucky to not have been hounded like some folk on here have been.

You can't do much investigating into what you owe without popping back up on their 'radar'.

It all depends on how much you want that savings account!!

josephine82

At the end of the day we all got into debt because we had no idea about money management- but everyone on here is working hard to learn to manage money, sort out the debts and face up to what we owe.

Halifax gave me a loan to consolidate my debts, I didn't know what i was really signing up to, didn't understand the true cost of the loan.

I still paid it off, scrimped and saved and overpaid until it was clear- and everyone else on this site is doing the same, we want to be rid of our debts, fulfil our responsibilites and learn to live within our means.

I believe you should face up to the money that you owe and start paying it back.

Tixy

Ames wrote: »

Would it still be statute barred though if he's left the country and deliberately avoided the debts?

I believe so Ames, but as these sound like large debts they may well have CCJs and I think the fact that he was out the county and intentionally avoiding the debt would mean a court would be much more likely to extend a CCJ. So they will likely catch up with him eventually.