UK debts but living in Spain

alfresco

Hello....I'm new here, and would appreciate any help from the more experienced amongst you!


I have recently moved to rented accommodation in Spain, and am not currently working. I have debts in the UK, a number of credit cards and three loans and three overdrafts. I had a business (sole trader) in the UK but the recession left me borrowing to support the business and it eventually failed, leaving me with the debts and no assets. My house had equity enough to cover the debts but took 18 months to sell and the price had to be reduced so much that there was nothing left, and in the meantime I had been borrowing on one card to pay others, etc., so now have the debts and no assets or income. We are living on a small income that my wife has.


I told all my creditors that I had moved to Spain, and wrote to them explaining my situation. I have been making token payments of £1 to each debt each month. Some of my creditors still write to my old UK address but most write to Spain. Egg has ignored my change of address completely and it's not possible to change it on the website. However, I have managed to change it to 'I have told you I have moved to Spain and you have ignored it' and left the postcode as was, so maybe they will take notice now. Some of the creditors try to call my UK mobile even though I have given them a Spanish mobile number, which I do answer. They also send me letters and text messages asking me to call them, which I can't do from a Spanish pay as you go phone. Barclaycard have changed the address on one account and not the other, and Lloyds TSB write to me in Spain from one department and in the UK from another department about the same account.


I have my UK mail forwarded to Spain but as there is no postal delivery where I live I have a rented PO box, and I have to go there to collect the mail, so this is the Spanish address they have, not the house address.


I do not foresee any way that I can repay my debts, but I do not know what course of action the lenders will take in view of my move to Spain, or what I should do to deal with the problems. Can anyone help, please?

Tixy

Hi

What size are your debts (individually and in total)?

Do you have any remaining assets in the UK? (I presume not but worth asking?)

How long do you expect to live in Spain/when might you return to the UK?

Its quite likely that they might issue CCJs against you. Some might send the court forms to spain, I'm not entirely sure. Do you have proof that you have told all your creditors of your new address? (ie copies of a letter giving your new address and a recorded delivery receipt) - if you have then they should legally send any CCJ to your last known address which would be the Spansih one.

If you don't respond to the court forms then the CCJ will be granted, if you do respond you could be asked to be allowed to pay in installments, again I'm not totally sure how it would work with you being outside the UK.

A creditor normally has 6years to recover money ower under a CCJ but if you returned to the UK in say 8years they may be able to get a court to extend the CCJ as you have been out of the country which would probably be considered a reasonable reason for them not to have been able to recover the debt.

If any of your debts were sufficently large it is just possible that one of them might apply to make you bankrupt in your absence.

From your business do you owe any money to HMRC? vat, personal tax, paye etc? These are often the most likely to start bankrupcty proceedings.

Tixy

Another thought - are you maintaining a UK bank account to pay your token payments? Is that bank with any of the banks that you owe money to? If so you may well find that they will close that account and take any remaining funds towards the debts you have with them.

alfresco

Thanks....the largest is about £35k, smallest about £3k, apart from £1400 income tax. I have no assets now in the UK or Spain.

I understood that they can't get a legal CCJ if I do not have a UK address, and they can't bankrupt me in the UK after 3 months of being in Spain. I intend to stay here for the foreseeable future. The problem is that they will try to do things that they should not do if I don't know my rights.

alfresco

Sorry, should have said £170k total, all unsecured.

Tixy

I haven't heard that, and I do know people have been made bankrupt when residing outside of the UK (and almost certainly after a 3month period).

Might be worth contacting national debtline for advice. You can email them if calling is not easy.

alfresco

Sorry, going back to the bank account question.......I opened a basic bank account with Think Banking to make the payments. Funnily enough, probably the most helpful bank I have ever dealt with!