Moving abroad - how to handle credit card debt?

ClaraSolis

Hi, I was told to post in this forum, so I'll repost my message here.

My husband and I are looking to move to an EU country in the very immediate future. He is being made redundant as his workplace is closing, and he has managed to secure a job in my home country. We have a 1 year old, so it seemed like the right time to move to be close to family. We only found out yesterday when they offered the job to him, and we'd have to move by mid-August, so it's a very short timespan!

One of the issues I have at the moment, is that we have quite a lot of debt, and I am trying to figure out how to handle this. Between us we have 3 credit cards with debt that we have built up over the past few years (partly due to redundancy and maternity leave). One card is in my husband's name, 2 are in mine. The total debt comes to around £8000. These are all 0% balance transfer cards. But one of the 0% offers expires next month, so I need to transfer it to a new card. The other cards will lose their offer at the start of 2027.

On top of this we also have a car loan with our bank which we pay off monthly. We have 2 years left to pay on it, we pay £281 per month. Our mortgage at the moment is £962 per month, though we're not sure yet what will happen to our house if we move.
And my husband still has his student loan to pay off as well, which is around £7600.

At the moment, I am unsure how to handle our debts. We are making minimum payments (or just above that) to the cards, so they are only slowly clearing. I currently don't have a stable income. I am self-employed, but struggling to work because of the baby. Work has also significantly dried up because of AI, so life has been a bit of a struggle.

Any advice on where to start with this? I'm thinking to move the card that is expiring to another 0% balance transfer for now. But I don't know how to handle all this, especially with a potential move abroad.

ManyWays

The car loan from your bank, is this a normal loan, not car finance? Do you want o keep the car or would you prefer a Left hand drive?

When does your mortgage fix end? How much could you rent out the house for?

sourcrates

This question gets asked on these boards occasionally, basically in a nutshell, unsecured creditcard/loan debt, stays in the UK, it will not be chased abroad, and will not affect you in your new place of residence in any way, shape or form.

Having said that, you have a house, which is obviously an asset, and that can complicate matters somewhat if you were to simply stop paying.

Do you intend to sell the house or rent it out?, if a quick sale is required, there are companies that buy homes for cash, obviously under market value, but it depends how urgent you need to sell.

Paying UK debts from abroad is not impossible, but some institutions charge for international payments.

Such situations are best thought out and prepared for well in advance, but unfortunately time is not on your side here.

Catonthemoon

I can only comment regarding your property. A couple of points to consider:

(1) You could sell, but… would it sell quickly given that you’re now against the clock (and depending on location)? If you think ’yes’ then that would be almost £1000 less per month that you need to budget for.

(2) You could rent it out- the rental income might cover the mortgage. If the move overseas didn’t work out, at least you would have your home to return to.

Good luck 🤞

Brie

Re the house…. do you really want to manage renting it from abroad? If you do decide to not sell then I would suggest placing it with an agency or maybe even your local council to use as social housing. Either way all the laws a landlord is subject to would (presumably) be adhered to.

If you do want to sell then don't, do not, rent it out as selling with a sitting tenant can be a right pain.

ClaraSolis

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033690#Comment_82033690

The car loan is a personal loan. We're not sure yet what we would do with the car. I think initially we would have to keep it just to move over to Europe.

Mortgage fix I think ends in September 2028. No idea yet what the house could be rented out for. I'll have to contact some agencies I think to get a valuation.

ClaraSolis

Thank you

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033697#Comment_82033697

Thank you.
We would not stop paying, I intend to pay off the debt, just need to figure out how we can do this. We don't know if we would someday want to move back to the UK, so I don't want unpaid debt to affect a possible return.

Regarding the house, I don't think selling it in 2 months is possible with the way the market is right now. We could keep paying the mortgage/insurance/utilities while abroad and have it on the market, but that would put a lot of strain on our budget. My husband does get some redundancy pay in August, but we would probably need that for moving and finding someplace to rent abroad etc.

Renting it out means it would cover our mortgage, and we don't lose the house if we do want to move back. But of course then there's the whole hassle of becoming landlords. And we'd have to check if our mortgage lender allows it, and how this would affect our finances abroad (taxes).

There is just so much to do in such a short amount of time. 🤯

ClaraSolis

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033701#Comment_82033701

1. I don't think it would sell quickly, unless we put it on the market for way below its value. The house across from us has been for sale since Christmas I think, and they've already dropped the price about 20k and it's still not selling. Our house is similar to theirs, just with a lot bigger garden.
2. This is the main point, if the rent could cover the mortgage and costs, then this would be an option, if our lender allows it.

ClaraSolis

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033818#Comment_82033818

I don't want the hassle of being a landlord, but I also don't think we can sell in such a short amount of time, and we can't afford to keep paying the mortgage and utilities while also renting abroad.

I need to speak to our lender, but I think they mentioned in the chat that their consent to let is limited to 27 months. So a tenancy would only be limited in time as well

sourcrates

Re: the unsecured loans and credit cards, and this is just for information purposes only.

After a debt defaults, that default stays on your UK credit file for 6 years, it is then automatically removed, whatever happens, paid or not.

Creditors would likely sell your debts pretty sharpish, and whoever buys them would attempt to contact you at your last known UK address, they will not attempt to contact you abroad, as UK debts are only realistically enforceable if the debtor resides in the UK.

After a while they will simply give up, some may get CCJ`s against you, again, only enforceable in the UK, these will be subject to sec 24, limitation act, and after 6 years become unenforceable.

So realistically you could return in say 7 years time and have a completely clear credit file, with most or all of the debt either statute barred or unenforceable.

I just want to make you aware of this as a lot of financial institutions make it quite difficult to make credit payments from abroad, Barclays for instance will not allow customers to keep accounts open for more than 6 months if they move abroad, so the decision my be taken out of your hands.

Shadyocuk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033922#Comment_82033922

Since the renters rights act came into force you cant issue a time limited tenancy anyway