Moving out!! what to do with Debt?

kairiozuki

Hello,

So, gonna give some of the backstory.
I was living in UK for 8 years, And now i am in debt for 16k £. I had decent job, and was paying every month for around 500£ for the last 3 years. However, recently i lost my job, gave it some thoughts and decided to go back to my homeland. Parents getting old and have some health issues, so planing to take care of them as well. I decided to move out before i have to pay for another month of rent, since job-hunt might take a while and get me even deeper in debt.

So i am moving out in a week. Job back home gonna be only 450Euros a month. i have no way of paying off my debt. i tried to apply for DRO but it takes some time, and didn't got decent answer yet. If my application for DRO fails, what should i do? I know it's not the best option, but can i just runaway from it? whats the consequences? can they hunt me down in other EU country?

Thank you for any ideas

sourcrates

Hi,

We do have recipricol agreements with most EU countries yes.

The thing is they would have to find you first, if they did find you, they could apply through your local court for a CCJ (or the equivalent in your country).

It would depend how much effort the creditor, or debt collector, wants to put into finding you, they have to weigh up the chances of how likely it will be, to get any money out of you, verses the cost of finding you and starting litigation in a foreign country.

It would also depend which country you had moved too.

To eliminate this coming back to bite you, i would pursue the DRO if i were you, then at least you wont be looking over your shoulder for the next 6 years or more.

kairiozuki

Well i'm not gonna look over my shoulder anyway. But DRO approvement isn't up to me. I did apply, and want to take care of it in legal way, but i am still waiting. the thing is by the time i'll get response, i'll be in another country already. Not sure if UK will even bother to consider my DRO application. i have 16000£ debt with 3 different lenders, not sure if they would bother to chase me eather

limars19

i presume it depends on who the lenders were

kairiozuki

Hitachi Capital 6600£
Barclays Credit Card under DMP 7400£
Vanquis Credit card 1000£

Kidder81

I don't think anyone will be able to answer your question.

It sounds to be like you've already decided to do a runner and just want validation. Personally I'd resolve it, being in another country doesn't stop you receiving letters, emails or calls to resolve it. It's rubbish to suggest that once you leave the country, you can't resolve it.

Personally I like to honour my commitments and don't like looking over my shoulder just in case I'm pursued. It's up to you.

fatbelly

Any intermediary is going to struggle to do a DRO in a week, not least because we're busy and our organisations have a waiting list of some length or other.

However, you can do a DRO by phone with Stepchange or MAS (if referred by CAB) and you only need to have been resident in England/Wales at some time in the past 3 years.

You have to meet the relevant criteria and stay that way for 12 months.

kairiozuki

It's not that i already decided to do a runner. I did apply for DRO already, just wondered if i can do it while i am not UK resident anymore, and wondered How long it usually takes. If i couldn't do it while living away then, i would need different solution.

Also, just wondering, how can i prove that i am unemployed right now? cause DRO asks for proof of income. but currently i am unemployed, and gonna take like 2 months until i'll get my 1st wage back home. And 500£/month while you are unemployed is kind of hard to deal with. So i wanted to sort out DRO sooner. If i send old payslip or statement, it wont look like i need any help

fatbelly

kairiozuki wrote: »

It's not that i already decided to do a runner. I did apply for DRO already, just wondered if i can do it while i am not UK resident anymore, and wondered How long it usually takes. If i couldn't do it while living away then, i would need different solution.

Also, just wondering, how can i prove that i am unemployed right now? cause DRO asks for proof of income. but currently i am unemployed, and gonna take like 2 months until i'll get my 1st wage back home. And 500£/month while you are unemployed is kind of hard to deal with. So i wanted to sort out DRO sooner. If i send old payslip or statement, it wont look like i need any help

You can't prove a negative. If you have no income tell that to your intermediary.

As I said before, you only need to have been resident in England/Wales at some time in the past 3 years.

kairiozuki

So i got DRO application, and since i didn't knew what to do with "Income Proof" i contacted StepChange, to get advice. As you mentioned, i can finish off my DRO while i already moved away, as long as you do it in 3 years period. After contacting StepChange DRO Team, one person looked like wanted to help, and send my all info from previous Debt concerns to Advice Team.

However, after few days i got a very disappointing advice, which says like:
As you have permanently moved out of the UK, we are no longer able to provide you with the best advice. We can advise you on the actions your creditors could take to collect debts within the UK or Ireland, but not on the actions they can take in the country you’re now living.

I recommend you seek advice in your current country and determine the best way forward.

It doesn't sound that they really keen on helping me anymore. Since i moved out, they don't care what's gonna happen for me... By Debt is UK Based, if i go somewhere in my country who gonna bother to do anything anyway? This is very frustrating... 1 says that you can do it within 3 years after you leave, but when you actually leave over says that he don't care about my debt anymore...

fatbelly

kairiozuki wrote: »

So i got DRO application, and since i didn't knew what to do with "Income Proof" i contacted StepChange, to get advice. As you mentioned, i can finish off my DRO while i already moved away, as long as you do it in 3 years period. After contacting StepChange DRO Team, one person looked like wanted to help, and send my all info from previous Debt concerns to Advice Team.

However, after few days i got a very disappointing advice, which says like:
As you have permanently moved out of the UK, we are no longer able to provide you with the best advice. We can advise you on the actions your creditors could take to collect debts within the UK or Ireland, but not on the actions they can take in the country you’re now living.

I recommend you seek advice in your current country and determine the best way forward.

It doesn't sound that they really keen on helping me anymore. Since i moved out, they don't care what's gonna happen for me... By Debt is UK Based, if i go somewhere in my country who gonna bother to do anything anyway? This is very frustrating... 1 says that you can do it within 3 years after you leave, but when you actually leave over says that he don't care about my debt anymore...

They're just covering themselves. Technically a DRO only protects you within the UK.

Tell them you're taking advice within your present country and still want to continue with your application. They are not allowed to refuse.