On the run!

MonkOrgan

Right, so basically a few of years ago when I was 19/20 I went into my overdraft something chronic! I ended up upping and upping the limit and in the end it was £4,500 and I was into it ALL the way. I was, and am still working so my wages were going into it but I ended up going right back down into the minuses every month.

So then I decided to apply for a loan to get me back out of my overdraft and to just start paying that off instead. I applied for a £6,500 loan and to my surprise I had been accepted and my balance roughly +£2000 and I still had the available overdraft of 4,500.

So like an idiot I went through all the money in about 4 months and was back to square one. In my overdraft -£4500 with virtually nothing to show for it.

So in total I owe the bank (NatWest) 11 THOUSAND POUND! AAAH! Since all of that I've moved addresses a few times and I'm currently in a house share and I've been here for 2 years now and I've not heard a peep from them. I'm 23 now so the last payment I made on that debt was about 2 and a half years ago.

I don't know what I should do. I earn between £800 and £900 per month and that is mostly overtime as my contracted hours are 24 per week which would give me around £600 which at any time they could drop to that.

Do I just keep my head low?? What will happen in a few years will it clear? Do I ring Natwest and see what the score is? Would they have sold it on? My head is a mess with it all. I can't even get a basic account with any bank. My wages are (embarrassingly) getting paid into my mums bank account. I desperately want to move out but I'm guessing my credit will be a mess and wouldn't get accepted.

Not only that huge burden I owe money to a network provider for my phone which I had about a year left to pay on. I also had a direct debit with a company to get some equipment for a job which I had about £140 left to pay on that and I've basically ran away from it all in a massive panic and have been laying low ever since. Now 2 years later I want to start sorting it out but am not sure of the best way to go about it.

Please any advice would be appreciated and a HUGE help!

Thank you

Tixy

Hi

The debts won't clear if you just leave it. But if the creditor didn't take court action then after a period of 6years it would become statute barred (which would mean you would no longer be required to repay).

However it is quite possible that the bank has already taken court action, or that they will do so in the next few years.

They don't need to know your current address to take court action, they would only have to send paperwork to your last known address.

It is quite likely that the bank will have sold the debt to debt collectors, and quite likely that at some point in the next few years they will track you down and start sending debt collection letters.

Even with unpaid debts it should be possible for you to get a basic bank account with a different bank. Have you tried to do this and been declined? are you on the electoral roll?

You can check if a creditor has obtained a CCJ against you by checking your credit files or by checking the registry trust. To check your credit files you will have to provide your current address and it is very likely that your creditors will find that out and start chasing you again. The alternative is to check the registry trust which can be done anonymously - but costs £8 per name/address you search.

When you say you want to move out do you mean to rent somewhere yourself? If so then that would involve a credit check.
If your creditors have taken court action then a CCJ would show up on a rental credit check. If they haven't then just defaulted accounts/oustanding debts are not visible on a rental credit check.

Newyorkdreams

Hi MonkOrgan - I'm very much old school, in that if you borrowed it and spent the money, you pay it back no matter how long it takes. Not everyone shares my opinion, but that's my opinion. I'm not sure the best way to do this, however, as I have not been in the position where I have had to take these steps. There are plenty of knowledgeable folks on here who I'm sure will be along to help you soon as well as Tixy's advice.


Good luck whatever you decide.

NYD