People getting into a mess with CC.

longleggedhair

A relative of mine has spent his life getting into a mess with cards. As long back as I can remember he gets hugely into debt into the 70-80K range, then stops paying them. Waits 6 years and does it all over again. He’s rarely been taken to court and offers a pound when they do!

it amazes me the lack of action and that for the most part banks are willing to write off thousands and let customers do the same thing six years down the line.

it makes me wonder why I bother being prudent and paying off my balance in full each month.

eskbanker

Controls and guidance on credit lending (and persistent debt, etc) tighten year by year, so the prospect of someone being able to do that in future is remote....

Dandytf

I've found myself in past trouble, not quite at the quoted range.
I personally believe unrealistic Credit Limits are the main driver of temptation, which lead lot's of people into unmanageable debts.

kuratowski

I think being in debt is stressful, the more unmanageable the debt, the more stress, and insolvency arrangements are no walk in the park either.  So I don't envy your relative, even if they appear to have got away with some money at the banks' expense.

Of course, the debt could also be a symptom of another underlying problem; one of my relations-in-law has a gambling addiction, which is a rapid route into unmanageable CC debt.  Although controls have been tightening in this area as well.

MovingForwards

My sibling has been heavily in debt twice, both times ignored it and all he got was letters. Hasn't learned and currently owes about 10k, possibly more as I don't think they are totally honest with me when asked.
- Sibling doesn't respect credit nor think of the consequences of it. Why would they, they never had the struggle to pay it off and didn't learn.

I entered a DMP as my marriage was failing, unfortunately the company didn't include one debt even though it was on the list and discussed at length. I ended up with a CCJ, which the company was supposed to defend on receipt of the court papers.
- Took me several years to clear the debts. I respect what's offered on my CC, occasionally use them, don't run them up and pay in full or take advantage of any offers. If the money isn't in savings or as surplus from income, the purchase isn't made.

Some people will never learn and shouldn't have credit if they can't control themselves. We see it repeatedly with some members of the forum.

Obviously circumstances change, loss of job, relationship breakdown, sudden health change etc all can lead to a massive financial shift, having excess savings make it easier to handle outstanding debt and deal with the change.

sleepyjones

I don't really see how this is possible to be honest (maybe £10k, but £80k seems unrealistic).
You'd need to move about a lot, fraudulently get a new bank account/new mobile phone contract, new broadband, new utilities at each new address or the credit suppliers would track you down,  especially for the numbers you're talking about
(You would need to literally cut off all links to that old address and start fresh with a new credit file.)  
Even if Barclaycard (or whoever) can't be bothered chasing you for £5k (unlikely), they'll sell it to Cabot or whoever who will chase it down and if there's any record of a new address (be from switching your mobile contract address, or your utilities) they'd find you no problem.

I don't think it would achievable, and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone try it.

born_again

sleepyjones said:

I don't really see how this is possible to be honest (maybe £10k, but £80k seems unrealistic).
You'd need to move about a lot, fraudulently get a new bank account/new mobile phone contract, new broadband, new utilities at each new address or the credit suppliers would track you down,  especially for the numbers you're talking about
(You would need to literally cut off all links to that old address and start fresh with a new credit file.)  
Even if Barclaycard (or whoever) can't be bothered chasing you for £5k (unlikely), they'll sell it to Cabot or whoever who will chase it down and if there's any record of a new address (be from switching your mobile contract address, or your utilities) they'd find you no problem.

I don't think it would achievable, and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone try it.

Credit file only shows the last 6 years history. So after that point companies have no idea. Unless someone is daft enough to use a same lender who keeps records and twigs.
Yes moving may well help.

Writing off debts is not done on a whim. There is a lot of thought in when it's done, as banks have to balance cost against return. Remember if they agree a repayment plan, interest is lost & requires account monitoring to ensure it is kept up. Credit reps are not cheap, Compared to signing the debt to a 3rd party.

eskbanker

born_again said:
Unless someone is daft enough to use a same lender who keeps records and twigs.

Why would a lender keep twigs?   Although I suppose many have branches....

alfred64

No wonder credit card rates are so high if there are people actually using them like this. 

longleggedhair

sleepyjones said:

I don't really see how this is possible to be honest (maybe £10k, but £80k seems unrealistic).
You'd need to move about a lot, fraudulently get a new bank account/new mobile phone contract, new broadband, new utilities at each new address or the credit suppliers would track you down,  especially for the numbers you're talking about
(You would need to literally cut off all links to that old address and start fresh with a new credit file.)  
Even if Barclaycard (or whoever) can't be bothered chasing you for £5k (unlikely), they'll sell it to Cabot or whoever who will chase it down and if there's any record of a new address (be from switching your mobile contract address, or your utilities) they'd find you no problem.

I don't think it would achievable, and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone try it.

Oh I think you misunderstood me. He doesn’t move & he doesn’t change anything. He just ignores them and obviously 6 years later his credit file is clear.

sleepyjones

Yeah, that's what I mean ... I could understand if he was changing address and removing all references (By getting new bank accounts etc) he might get away with it ... but I dunno how he's getting away with it without doing any of that.  You'd just live in fear your whole life of someone turning up at the door with a warrant to remove goods or something.