Unsure where to start and what to do.

Bazrazmataz10

i have a debt problem and want to get my life back on track but I'm not sure how to start. In January 2010 I had a breakdown after a lot of stress at home and work I packed a small bag and ran off 350 miles away I stopped paying everything and lived as long as I could on what was left on my credit cards before they stopped working. My flat I'm assuming got repossesed and I imagine I have around 25k in credit cards and hp somewhere out there. After a year I managed to get my head together thanks to a new partner I got back into work , got divorced re married and have two wonderful children with this debt all looming around in background.

I have not had an ounce of credit in my name since I have a basic bank account , Sky in my name and car insurance and that is it. I have never had a single debt letter or a phone call which I find strange. I want to get my financial side in order but am worried suddenly if tonnes of letters come and people stArt knocking on the door it will put me back to where I was before.

What are my options to sort this out ? Should I go bankrupt and how come no one has ever sent me a letter or even called me ?

Any advice would be gladly received

sourcrates

Hi,
Could be all correspondence has gone to your old address, have you had any post forwarded to you at all ?
There's not an awful lot you can do until you start getting letters.

The temptation here would be to wait and see what happens, other than that, there's little else to say.

Bazrazmataz10

Nothing forwarded on I have moved twice but been in current place for 4 years. I want to sort it all out so I can perhaps buy a home again in future and have credit card to help from time to time we struggle often without these and I am to frightening to apply

sourcrates

Have you checked your credit file ?

You can register at Noddle for free, Experian and Equifax will charge you a £2 statutory fee.

But, big but, this action will alert your creditors that you have surfaced again, so only do this if you want the letters and calls to start again, points to note, all your debts could be statute barred in less than a year if you have ignored them since 2010, it's a big decision!!!!

National_Debtline

Hi Baz


Even just having a basic bank account and Sky at your current address should normally be enough to link your credit file to those previous addresses, so it is indeed a little odd that no creditors are contacting you there.


You're worried about doing anything that might trigger a flood of creditor correspondence, and I understand that. The best thing might be for you to contact one of the free advice agencies in confidence, and get their take on what you would/could do if you were suddenly being chased for £25k of debt or even more, whether it be bankruptcy or something else. At least that way you would feel prepared and not quite so terrified if letters etc. did begin to materialise.


It's worth addressing your fear of a "knock at the door". The kind of debts you mention here are much less likely to result in doorstep visits than, say, council tax arrears or unpaid court fines. It's relatively rare that county court bailiffs are used to recover things like old credit card debts.


It sounds very much like you're now looking to make a fresh start. Realistically, that's likely to mean confronting these old debts sooner or later, one way or another.


Best of luck


Dennis
@natdebtline

Bazrazmataz10

Thanks for the advice I may press ahead and get a credit file and just deal with the letters etc. is it possible that my current bank account etc are on a totally separate credit file that is not linked to my old address ? I have a pretty common name and can remember from when I got stopped for speeding 54 people were born on the same day as me with same name

sourcrates

Bazrazmataz10 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice I may press ahead and get a credit file and just deal with the letters etc. is it possible that my current bank account etc are on a totally separate credit file that is not linked to my old address ? I have a pretty common name and can remember from when I got stopped for speeding 54 people were born on the same day as me with same name

Any accounts you hold can be reported to any one, two, or all three credit ref agencies.
It depends on which ones they report to, and which one the bank uses, without seeing your report you don't know for sure what's on it, so it's just speculation.