Debt from Scotland - living overseas

Freckleface

Hi,

I’m new to the forum and have tried to find answers to my questions, but feel like I’m going round in circles and very stressed about old debt that I built up when I was young, stupid and in a darker place. I'm not particularly proud of where I find myself and hoping my questions don't offend anyone, but without excusing the situation, there were extenuating circumstances at the time.

Long story short – built up credit card debt when I was younger and continued to pay monthly interest for years while living in Scotland, never able to reduce the debt. I migrated from Scotland over 5 years ago and have lived out with the UK/EU since that time. I have an apartment in Scotland (less than £15,000 equity in it) which has been rented out and only just covers the mortgage (I think I “earn” £1 every month!). When I left Scotland I had several credit card debts and tried to maintain payments on them for 1-2 years of living overseas, at which time it became impossible to maintain these payments and meet daily living expenses, meaning I was forced to stop paying. These cards therefore defaulted and having checked my credit file I recorded the following (approximate) debts for each creditor:

Major UK bank
Outstanding amount – over £10,000 (credit card)

Lowell Financial Limited
Outstanding amount claimed by Lowell – over £3,000

Robinson Way
Outstanding amount claimed by Robinson Way – over £2000 (all figures deliberately vague)

Having checked my credit file I note that I have not made payment or communicated with any of these companies for a number of years (although short of the time required to statute bar the debt). The default dates were late 2013 for the first two and late 2014 for Robinson Way (or rather the card they are collecting for)

My mail is forwarded to a family member via the post office and I have been advised that I received a “pre-legal assessment” from Lowell’s offering 40% discount. I have been advised Robinson Way have also sent a letter offering a payment plan. There are no collection procedures in play (to my knowledge) via the Bank for the largest credit card debt at this time.

My questions are as follows:
1. Can any of these companies commence court proceedings against me given I am no longer resident in Scotland? I read somewhere that there may be issues around this but unsure of the accuracy

2. If so, can I be made bankrupt by my creditors given I no longer reside in Scotland?

3. What are the possible implications with regards the apartment I own (and have tried to use to clear debt by attempting to sell it unsuccessfully on 3 occasions over the last 6 years)?

4. Is it likely I will be able to “see out” the remaining time (just over 1 year) to statute bar the first 2 debts or do these companies typically proceed with more stringent action?

I am very concerned for the impact on my apartment and while I have no plans to return to Scotland, you never know what is around the corner and I am worried something might force me back in the future and I will be burdened by the consequences of the above. I have tried to sell my apartment several times in the past to help with these debts but with the market being so flat in my part of Scotland this has been a non-starter and I had to pull out to avoid scaring off the tenant (or be faced with additional unpayable monthly costs). I considered remortgaging to access the limited equity for debt but I cannot do this from overseas and if I moved back, my credit file is such a mess no lender would (understandably) come near me to enable me to remortgage and access the limited equity.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

sourcrates

Hi,

The default date is not the cause of action date.

The important date is the date you last made a payment.

That is likely to be some months prior to the default date, that's when the statute barred clock starts ticking from.

Can you remember when you last made payment ? Bearing in mind the Limitations period in Scotland is 5 years.

Bankruptcy is unlikely, and to proceed to court action they would need an address for you, last known address will normally be used.

Little else they can do if you live abroad, they would need to trace you first.

Freckleface

Hi sourcrates,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The last payment date was in May 2013, so still a bit short of the limitations period for Scotland.

If the last known address was used for court action, would there be any possibility of this impacting the apartment in any way (i.e. forced sale, frozen bank account impacting mortgage repayments etc).

Would it be advisable for my family member to return the mail they received as 'not at this address', or would that likely prompt further action from them?

Many thanks again for your advice

sourcrates

Your debts are unsecured, but a creditor can apply for a charging order once a CCJ is secured (similar procedure in Scotland).

However a forced sale is very rare, they no longer keep records of forced sales as there are so few, last available figures saw 19 orders for sale out of 3600 final charging orders.

So it's not something to worry about to be honest.

It's highly likely though they may try and trace your current address.

Freckleface

Hi

Many thanks again for your reply.

This the part where I sound a bit thick as even after your helpful information I am unsure about the best course of action.

How likely would it be that these companies would fail to take court action prior to the limitation period? Are they generally on top of these timelines or is it worth taking a chance and waiting?

Last question...What does a typical collections timeline look like from first letter to court action? Weeks, months, years?

Thanks again for your help

sourcrates

Debt collection can take years, no hard and fast rules unfortunately, it's anyone's guess what they will do.

Freckleface

Hi

My apologies for the slow reply to your previous advice, I have been trying to do a bit more reading online but think I have information overload.

With regards to the above situation, would there be any benefit to writing to the relevant parties (without acknowledging the alleged debt) to advise that I live permanently overseas? My reason for asking is with regards to possible court action as I had read that court action cannot be initiated (and last known address cannot be used) if they are aware I live overseas permanently. I also read that any court action could be set aside if it becomes clear that the creditors were aware that the individual lives overseas (and out with the courts jurisdiction)

Is this correct or am I confusing myself?

Many thanks again