Moving house - does debt follow you??!

chelle85

Hi everyone, really new to this so any help would be immensely appreciated.

Long story short, my fianc! and I have debts to 25 creditors in total. These are individual debts, some in his name solely and some in my name solely. We have had 2 years of real bad luck and circumstances are now at a point where we have been paying our creditors £1 a month for over a year and we are still no where close to being able to increase our payments. We now have a small baby too so I am having to give up work which means we will only have one wage coming in.

My question/concern is that we are looking to move house soon and are wondering if there is any point informing the creditors? We have no way of paying them off and some have stopped chasing us altogether. The idea of moving home and having a fresh start is such an incredible thought! But I am very worried we will have bailiffs at the door or CCJs or worse!

Can anyone advise at all or has anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks so much in advance! xx

Cornucopia

The short answer is, yes, your unsecured debts are personal to you, irrespective of where you live or whether you move.

The more detailed answer is, yes, you should inform your creditors that you have moved (they will probably find you anyway). You may, however, find it difficult to pass a credit check for the move if there are significant outstanding debts.

Consider consulting a free debt advice service if you haven't already done so.

chelle85

Thanks cornucopia. Sought debt advice too and they suggest to continue to pay £1 per month but this can't go on forever. If they creditors don't have my new address and I'm not working either then where would they get my new address from? Can't they obtain it legally?? X

tinkerbell28

Yes they follow you. Registering on the electoral role, which is a legal requirement, utilities, phone, bank, internet. Will link you.

I wouldn't "run away". It will just land you with a GAIN marker and make them more likely to go for a CCJ.

Tixy

Have you looked in to and considered bankruptcy?

Creditors can search your credit file and will pick up your new address from there.

If you don't inform them on your new address then they may obtain CCJs against you without knowing in advance.

chelle85

Thanks tixy. We have considered it but haven't got the money to do that either! :-( x

ValHaller

Really, you need to go to the DebtFree Wannabe forum an ask about how to get on top of your debt