Credit card / overdraft debt

sher_fd

Hi, I have two credit cards with limits of £15k and £14k, plus an overdraft of £4k, all with the same bank. Together, that’s about £33,000. I’ve used them all up to their limits and have missed payments for the last five months. One of the credit cards has already been cancelled. I was a temporary resident in the UK, but my family still lives outside the UK. I lost my job and was also scammed by someone promising me a job and a work visa. At the same time, I had some family emergencies back home that required money. Now I’m in serious debt and don’t see any options left. I’m thinking of leaving the UK because staying might break immigration laws. What will happen to my debts with the bank? Could this lead to police action or create a bad record that stops me from returning to the UK in the future? Also, will the debts follow me back to my home country? Could I get into serious trouble or even prison? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

mta999

The debt will not have anything to do with the police or with getting into trouble or prison. Just make sure you don't do anything that can be classified as fraud.

Again, having an unpaid debt will not stop you coming to the UK but obviously it will stop you from applying for credit should you return as it will stay on your credit file for I believe six years

You could consider going bankrupt which will wipe the slate clean.

If I were you I would ask for this to be moved to the Debt Free Wannabe board where you will get some expert advice of the pros and cons of bankruptcy

sher_fd

@mta999
Well, I used the overdraft after one of my credit cards had already been cancelled. Could that be considered fraud? Also I used the other credit card as well after the first one was terminated. What exactly do you mean by fraud that could cause me trouble ?

leonard_455

Unpaid credit cards, overdrafts, and loans are civil matters, not criminal. That means the police will not get involved, and you cannot go to prison in the UK just for being in debt. Debt becomes criminal only if there’s fraud (for example, taking out credit with no intention of repaying at the start)

sher_fd

I’ve been making the minimum payments on both credit cards for the past 10 months. However, the overdraft was taken out at the last moment and unfortunately I haven’t been able to make any repayments on it. That said, I’ve had this overdraft for the past 18 months and had never gone overdrawn until now. In what kind of situations would this be considered taking out credit with no intention of repaying?

grumpy_codger

£14K and £15K are surprisingly high limits for a person like you. Hopefully you didn't lie when applying, that indeed would be fraud. Anything else isn't.

mta999

Fraud is financial deception. Examples would be

1. applying for more credit knowing you were going to leave the country and had no intention of repaying it

2. Lying on a  credit application form eg telling them you earned 30,000 a year to get more credit when in fact you only earned 10,000