uk DEBTS living in Spain

Alba_3

Hi. I need some concrete advice as you know looking on the net there´s so much conflicting stuff. I´ve tried for about 12 years to fight debt problems living in London. Started with a husband who when we split up decided not to pay his share of the mortgage and I was a full time student ending up paying the mortgage for 2 years on a credit card. Things went from bad to worse and I do acknowledge I wasn´t brilliant at managing my finances, you know when you have nothing it feels like you can´t. My bank offered to consolidate my credit card and overdraft with a loan. They told me I had to take a 5,000 pounnd insurance policy and then offered me a credit card at the same time. When I said that was surprising and I didn´t want one, I was asked was I then unable to control my finances, to which I inidignantly said of course and took it. I was being manipulated and didn´t realise it. I lost a job. Took another better paid PA job in an industry I didn´t like but to make more money to pay off debt. Still in trouble the bank gave me a 4,000 pound overdraft before eventually consolidating everything into an unsecured loan of 35,000 pound.

I then lost two more jobs, working for entrepreneurs they tend to be unpredictable about what they want. So I decided to go work overseas in a tax friendly country in banking where I might make more money and pay off my debts. I found a job in Hong Kong. I didn´t like this industry. I really like working in the arts but it doesn´t pay and my debts, the bank and 2 credit cards were trapping me. Sorry this is long but i feel i need to explain the history...

So Hong Kong looked promising. But I lost that job, basically again the bosses changed their mind but I also now had a health problem which had been identified and I was quite depressed. They gave me some money as compensation and I used that to pay 8,400 off one credit card just leaving me the loan and one other card. However, I decided it was time to change my life and start afresh. I moved to Spain. Without Spanish I worked part time for a couple of months and now have an admin job but its reallybadly paid. I ended up running up the NatWest card I had paid off just to pay my bank loan and the other credit card. In fact that´s more or less how my debt has become so bad, using one card to pay another and then using that to pay off the first. Now I can´t pay any of my instalments.

I called all my debtors well ahead of problems as soon as I saw them coming but they didn´t want to know until I was in default.

Now 2 months in Barclaycard have already passed my debt to a debt collection company and NatWest are not far behind, though they are being a little more patient like Lloyds offering to hear from me with a payment plan. My total debt is in the region of 45, 000 plus 10,000 to my parents who sadly tried to help me several years ago but it was too late and just throwing money into a pit. I don´t think they expect to see that money again.

My salary here is about 500 pound a month and half of that goes on rent. There is no way I can pay anything off. I need to start afresh and wipe the slate clean. My family are being supportive.

Thing is I don´t know if i can file for bankruptcy if I´m living in Spain. I have been here for 5 months and before that was living in Hong Kong for 4 months and was employed by the Hong Kong company since June 2006. Before that I was in London. I read somewhere that as long as you were resident no more than 3 years ago you can go to the High Court and petition?

I have paid all the taxes due in both the UK and Hong Kong. I have always been honest and I find this situation scary and the bullying I am now facing on the phone seems unfair considering one debt company advised me to just do a runner but I have informed the debtors of my Spanish address and always respond to all their correspondence, even though they give me 0870 numbers to call which cost a fortune.

Can anyone advise me? I really think that bankruptcy is the only option as I´m a woman of 43 years old with no assets, no pension, renting a room in a flatshare. I need a fresh start and the companies have surely taken their chunk of interest over the years. Lloyds just charged me 105 pound for one direct debit to their loan account even though I´d advised them I wouldn´t be paying...they subsequently reduced it to 35.

Any advice very much appreciated but I think I have to do something this month rather than later.

Many thanks. And so happy to have found this site.

Alba

philnicandamy

Your first port of call should be to contact one of the Debt Charities;
see links below. Their services are free; they have no vested interest
to serve; their advisors are professionally trained and the advice they
give will be objective and in your best interests only. CCCS operate a
system of telephone appointments that are designed to be flexible and
don’t require you to attend an office based interview. At the CAB you
will need to make an appointment with a specialist Financial Advisor;
other advisors may not have the specialist knowledge you’ll need.
http://www.cccs.co.uk/
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index.htm
If and only if you’re advised that bankruptcy is the most suitable
solution to your financial problems then the guys & gals here will help
any way they can.
For more specific advice and support, in an environment that is managed
by people with first hand experience of bankruptcy, and moderated to
ensure that no deliberately inflammatory or abusive posts are made then
please visit:
http://bankruptcysupportersclub.co.uk/default.aspx

rog2

Hi Alba - firstly I agree with Philnicandamy in that you need to take professional advice.
Just a couple of points to bear in mind:
1. If you wish to petition for bankruptcy, you can not do this from Spain - you need to do it, in person, at a UK court. Some courts will do it with very short notice, even immediately, but you need to prepare all the documents in advance.
2. One of your creditors can petition for your bankruptcy, even if you live outside of the uk, but this is likely to result in an indeterminate bankruptcy period, so it would be best if you did it yourself.

Richard_S

Hi Alba,

If you can get a couple of weeks off work and book some cheap flights in advance then you could probably get the whole job done in that time and then return to Spain. It would mean completing the forms on line in advance and making an appointment with a court to coincide with your two weeks in the U.K. It would take some careful organising but it is a feasible option.

There are companies who will do it for you but their services are not cheap. The company in the link below charge £500 for their foreign service and I've never heard anything, good or bad, said about them so it's definitely not a recommendation; just a fact finding comparison.

http://www.bankruptcyadvisoryservice.co.uk/index.php

Best regards

Richard

meehank

rog2 wrote: »

2. One of your creditors can petition for your bankruptcy, even if you live outside of the uk, but this is likely to result in an indeterminate bankruptcy period, so it would be best if you did it yourself.

Hello, my experiences have been very similar to Alba's. The CAB and Payplan have both recommended bankruptcy. I had come to the conclusion that I cannot file myself (cost of travel is more than I can afford at the moment), and would have to accept that the UK creditors will file against me. Other than having an indeterminate bankruptcy period, which will affect me if I return to live in the UK, would my decision have any other serious drawbacks compared to filing in person? I'd really appreciate some feedback, as the local debt advisors cannot advise on UK debts and UK creditors. Thanks.

rog2

meehank wrote: »

Hello, my experiences have been very similar to Alba's. The CAB and Payplan have both recommended bankruptcy. I had come to the conclusion that I cannot file myself (cost of travel is more than I can afford at the moment), and would have to accept that the UK creditors will file against me. Other than having an indeterminate bankruptcy period, which will affect me if I return to live in the UK, would my decision have any other serious drawbacks compared to filing in person? I'd really appreciate some feedback, as the local debt advisors cannot advise on UK debts and UK creditors. Thanks.

If you are given an 'indeterminate' bankruptcy period then , once you return to the UK, it will be as if you had just been made bankrupt and you will have to account to the Insolvency Service. I believe that interest could be applied to your 'debt in bankruptcy' although I'm not 100% sure, but the situation would need to be addressed on your return.
Also, you MAY find that a UK bankruptcy impacts on your credit rating, even whilst living abroad, particularly if a creditor is affiliated to a UK Financial Organisation, or decides to run a UK credit check because of your nationality.