Help - long story but bear with me - i dont know where else to turn

ALIBOBSY

allcriedout wrote: »

I will check re who owns the debt on Monday. Many thanks for replying - I've just scared myself to death by reading (not on this forum) that when you do a credit check - you alert debt collectors to where you are currently living. Surely this is confidential data and cannot be sold on? Fingers crossed Equifax wont pass my new address on.. God this is so scary!!

Unfortunately the credit ref agencies are all in bed directly with a number of debt collectors. There is alot of evidence that when someone does a credit search their details seem to get passed around the DCA's, however the credit agencies won't admit this. I suspect what is assumed is that if you are checking a file you are looking into sorting out debt so they hope you will be willing to make an offer at that stage.

To be honest currently keep your head down and save as much as possible. Don't stress about it and wait for the default to drop off.
It is possible your OH dealt with this and the file hasn't been updated, or they may never catch up with you about it. If and when you get contact then come back here to look at options. at least if you start saving now you will either be able to make a full and final to get rid of them or if they never contact you, theres a chunky deposit for a house.

ali x

SuziQ

A charge could only be put on if both you and the new partner were responsible for the debt.

I'm believe this is incorrect. If the OP is held responsible for the debt then a charge can be out against any property she owns, whether it is jointly held or not. I have found this out to my own cost in the last year and spent good money on a solicitor to find this out!

j19842

I don't wish to come across as rude, so I must start by saying I am genuinely sorry to hear about your previous relationship problems.

All said and done, though, you took out a joint loan for something. This means that, contractually, you have responsibility for paying this money back.

Wilfully avoiding the loan company, and failing to inform them of your new address and contact details, is at best, dishonest.

I think you should do the decent thing, and face up to your debts by contacting the creditor, and making arrangements to pay them off at a rate you can afford.

As others have said, the fact you have searched your credit file demonstrates that you obviously know about the debt, and proves to any enforcement agencies that you are now clearly wilfully avoiding paying what you legally owe.

Note - saying your ex promised to take your name off the loan means nothing, and removes you of no responsibility. What matters, is at the time, you signed up to be part of it.

Am I the only one hoping this gets resolved in an honest way?

clang_uk

Youve clearly been shafted by your ex, and landed in some rotton luck. You have cleared your half as you agreed. However the debt is in your name and the agency will push that you have a legal obligation as its joint.
My advice would be to lie low for the next few months unless you are getting a mortgate. If collectors do start contacting you. Just offer a full and final settlement they should accept. Then send the bill to the ex! Good luck!

Joyful

When I split with my hubby in Scotland the solicitor split the debts between us and we had to acknowledge this. It meant when I started getting phone calls from the ones he had not paid I was able to show paperwork to make them go away. Do you have anything signed? If so speak to a Solicitor.

dancingfairy

You appear to have 2 options:
1) hide
2) try and get a settlement figure etc.

The problem I can see is that for a debt to become statute barred it must be 6 clear years where the debtor has not acknowledged the debt - now I don't know how long your ex will be in prison for but say he makes 1 payments before the 6 years is out - I believe this starts the 6 years process again. I believe it's either of the parties that took out the loan that can restart the clock.
It's an awful situation to be in but unless you can be 100% sure he is not going to make a payment to it or write a letiter to them then it might be easier to try and sort something out with them?
It's not fair but legally as far as I know you are still responsible for the whole amount
Other options would be whether you can convince a court that the loan was taken out under duress or if you can get him to take out a loan under his name to remove your liability for the debt but I can't see either of these options being sucessful to be honest - sorry.
df

summerstreetallotments

I think you should contact Womens Aid...or another Domestic Violence charity to discuss this as it happens all the time in abuse cases...financial abuse...he may well have been keeping this going to have a go at you...the Domestic abuse charities have lawyers who can deal with this...contact your nearest helpline...they may be able to get the debt nullified but telling the judge about the abuse (not promising anything)..it's worth speaking to them anyway...it's likely that a lot of their workers have experienced similar..x