Debt options living abroad - bankrupcy?

Devo

Hi all,

I've been living here in the Philippines for nearly 3 years now. When I left the UK I had zero debts but since living here I have been rather stupid (relationship/love wise) and found myself in a awkward situation.

I have basically amounted around 17k on credit cards, due to believing that my Filipino girlfriend was using the money "for our future", and have no way of paying them back. I have missed the last 2 months payments and have now made contact with Barclaycard to discuss the situation.

I would just like to know what my options are. My income is around £1.50 a day which allows me to eat etc but there is obviously nothing left to pay the cards! I'm assuming filing for bankrupcy is the only way forward but would just like to know?!!

My Barclaycard accounts are still registered at my mother's house in the UK as they wouldn't allow me to use a foreign address. Will this reflect badly on my mother's house or her credit etc?

Oh and I have zero assets of any kind in the Philippines or the UK.

Thanks in advance
Devo

Voyager2002

Quite a story!

When I lived in the Philippines more than twenty years ago, the basic living allowance paid to VSO volunteers was more than two pounds a day, and living on that was tricky. And of course there was additional support for medical insurance and a range of other living costs. So if your figures are accurate, you must be living at a very basic level and very vulnerable to illness or simple bad luck. Or perhaps some of those debts were used to subsidise your living costs.

Anyway, your debts are likely to cause only minor problems for your mother. If you believed that you were going to stay there for the next six years, you could tell Barclaycard to get lost: there is not much that they could do. However, you would obviously no longer have access to a UK bank account nor any credit cards, and so many things can go wrong in the Philippines that it would be extremely unwise to be marooned there with no lifeline and no access to emergency money.

Bankruptcy is too extreme. You could let Barclaycard know exactly where you are, and exactly what you earn, and arrange to make regular token payments until your financial situation improves. That way you will still owe the money, but would have the opportunity to get some kind of a life before dealing with the debt.

And I hope she was worth it!

rastica

Devo wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been living here in the Philippines for nearly 3 years now. When I left the UK I had zero debts but since living here I have been rather stupid (relationship/love wise) and found myself in a awkward situation.

I have basically amounted around 17k on credit cards, due to believing that my Filipino girlfriend was using the money "for our future", and have no way of paying them back. I have missed the last 2 months payments and have now made contact with Barclaycard to discuss the situation.

I would just like to know what my options are. My income is around £1.50 a day which allows me to eat etc but there is obviously nothing left to pay the cards! I'm assuming filing for bankrupcy is the only way forward but would just like to know?!!

My Barclaycard accounts are still registered at my mother's house in the UK as they wouldn't allow me to use a foreign address. Will this reflect badly on my mother's house or her credit etc?

Oh and I have zero assets of any kind in the Philippines or the UK.

Thanks in advance
Devo

are you planning to move back to the UK? this is a key factor in your decision. If you are living there, month to month with low income, I see absolutely no reason why you shouldn't file for BR. In the UK you'll have 6 years of bad credit but then nothing beyond that. In that 6 years you'll have zero implications abroad.

I went BR then moved to the US. It was the best decision I ever made. It's actually quite easy if you are practical and can just take control of the admin involved to make it work for you. 17K is definitely enough to make it worth it. Just make sure to avoid an IPA (see other parts of this forum about what that means - it's a big deal) and you'll be so happy you did it. BR is barely something I think about at all from day to day and I filed barely a year ago. I was discharged in 6 months then never had to think about it again. Just take control of the situation and have confidence that you made mistakes but are owed the laws of the system - and - they are dealing with 100s of cases a day and you are one of many!!

I highly recommend BR to anyone over 15k debt.

luvchocolate

2 replies two very different points of view, I suggest you get some impartial advise, e mail step change or one of the other charities although the fact you are out of uk may make a difference, do not worry about an ipa you clearly do not have a surplus. br is a big step and most of us see it as a last resort,please get advice, and good luck x

Voyager2002

Note that there are some fairly hefty fees for going bankrupt, and if you are out of the UK and out of reach of UK jurisdiction then I don't see that you would get any benefit from them. Your choice: either do what you are supposed to do, which means giving your creditors full details of your financial situation, making token payments that you can afford, and increasing the payments if your income ever increases; alternatively just tell them to whistle for the money, in the knowledge that after six years with an appalling credit record the slate is likely to be wiped clean again. Either way, your mother may face some minor inconvenience but nothing more: so long as you do not have any joint accounts or financial links with her (if you do then the situation for her becomes much more serious).

evenasus

What happened to the cash from your property sale earlier this year?

Devo wrote: »

I've just sold a property in the UK and am looking at the best way to invest the remaining money I have from the sale (60k).

I currently live in the Philippines and was hoping to invest into something which would pay me something monthly. I already have 2 annuities which do this but I was wondering if there are any other options available as I have been out of the country for a number of years.

The other option is to invest the money here in the Philippines in some property and build a small boarding house for students which would maybe pay around £200 a month all being well.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Annisele

I'm not certain you can declare bankruptcy in the UK.

This article is from the Guardian - and therefore hardly a definitive statement of the law - but in theory you can only declare bankruptcy in England and Wales if your "centre of main economic interest" is here.

I don't know what the test is for your centre of economic interest, but a common sense view (not a legal one) would say if you don't live here and don't have any assets here, your centre of economic interest isn't here.

How have you been paying the minimum payments on the cards up until now?

Devo

evenasus wrote: »

What happened to the cash from your property sale earlier this year?

Ah how I wish that was mine. That post was actually on behalf of a friend here and so nothing to do with me personally unfortunately.

I have nothing financially to do with my mother. I literally used her address as a point of contact when I left the UK as Barclaycard wouldn't allow me to put a foreign address.

I had been paying the minimum payments from the little money I still had in my UK account but now this will be the first month that I won't be making a payment.

I am willing to give Barclaycard full details of where I live, income etc but what constitutes a 'token payment'? Would 30p a month qualify?

As for my living costs etc it is very possible to live on £1,50 a day! That budget is literally just for food & water as I live in a house for free and the utility bills are paid for. We live in the province where the average person doesn't earn more than that so I am living like your average Filipino here. My father also lives here in the Philippines and my living costs are paid for by him. We both got shafted unfortunately by this woman and are reaping the consequences. Fortunately, his annuity goes a long way out here...

I guess my main concern here is my mother. She knows about my situation and I didn't want bailiffs etc going around her house just because I used it as my point of contact in the UK. I guess I could change it with Barclaycard to another address!?!

lawriejones1

I'm intrigued at the story but am not forward enough to ask how this woman fleeced you of all of your money and 'shafted' your father too...

In this situation, I would suggest manning up, phoning Barclaycard and discussing your options with them. Whilst it may not have a great deal of impact upon your mother if you don't pay, do you want aggressive debt collection agencies hassling her?

And as for declaring bankruptcy as an easy option - I think this is a bad idea. Repaying £15k of debt is nothing if you are able to work at it. Some people do, some people don't. It can have some pretty big repercussions personally and career wise if you do it.

Voyager2002

Devo wrote: »

I have nothing financially to do with my mother. I literally used her address as a point of contact when I left the UK as Barclaycard wouldn't allow me to put a foreign address.

I had been paying the minimum payments from the little money I still had in my UK account but now this will be the first month that I won't be making a payment.

I am willing to give Barclaycard full details of where I live, income etc but what constitutes a 'token payment'? Would 30p a month qualify?

As for my living costs etc it is very possible to live on £1,50 a day! That budget is literally just for food & water as I live in a house for free and the utility bills are paid for. We live in the province where the average person doesn't earn more than that so I am living like your average Filipino here. My father also lives here in the Philippines and my living costs are paid for by him. We both got shafted unfortunately by this woman and are reaping the consequences. Fortunately, his annuity goes a long way out here...

I guess my main concern here is my mother. She knows about my situation and I didn't want bailiffs etc going around her house just because I used it as my point of contact in the UK. I guess I could change it with Barclaycard to another address!?!

So long as you are honest with Barclaycard and maintain contact with them, no-one will bother your mother.

I don't know what kind of token payment they would accept, but there is nothing they can do about it anyway. I expect that their main concern will be to ensure that the debt never becomes 'statue barred' so they will want you to acknowledge the debt at regular intervals (by confirming that you owe the money and/or by making a payment). Once six years has gone past without the debt being acknowledged, it becomes unenforceable. In practice they are likely to sell it to a debt collector, who will probably seek to make contact via your mother. Ask her to be honest with them, let them know where you are and how to contact you, and then be sure to reply to them. That should ensure that she is not bothered.

I do hope that you are covered by some kind of medical insurance: filipinos on that level of income really suffer when bad luck or illness strikes. I hope you don't imagine that the British embassy would do anything to bail you out, because they would not lift a finger.

Devo

I spoke to Barclaycard last night and they were actually very accommodating about the situation. I am in the process now of discussing with them about 'token' payments and will see what happens. It is tempting to tell them where to go but that's not in my nature. They have also amended the address on my account to reflect my address here in the Philippines