Northern Ireland

jammin_2

My friend used to live in England. She left in early 2005 to go on holiday in Europe for 3 weeks. She intended on coming back after the 3 weeks, but never did. To this day she has lived outside of the UK. She left just over £10k of debt behind (unsecured loan, bank overdraft).

More than 3 years on, she now intends to return to the UK. Not to England though, but to Northern Ireland.

Now the big question - would this debt follow her to Northern Ireland, if she were to open a bank account or get a mobile phone, or anything else similar? If so, is she liable to pay it back?

poppy_f1

yes it will as Northern Ireland is part of UK

jammin_2

Thanks. What about Southern Ireland?

immoral_angeluk

Southern ireland is not part of the UK. Technically debt can follow you ANYWHERE.. it's just how much the creditors can be bothered to chase you.
BTW the 10k won't be 10k anymore... add charges... ccj court costs... possibly bankruptcy costs if the creditors went to court to get a bankruptcy order in her absence..... the list is endless. Whatever it is.. it needs sorting out as she can't keep running away from the problem.

jammin_2

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Southern ireland is not part of the UK. Technically debt can follow you ANYWHERE.. it's just how much the creditors can be bothered to chase you.
BTW the 10k won't be 10k anymore... add charges... ccj court costs... possibly bankruptcy costs if the creditors went to court to get a bankruptcy order in her absence..... the list is endless. Whatever it is.. it needs sorting out as she can't keep running away from the problem.

Serious?

Ok but it's already been 3 years. What if she waits another 3 years before returning to the UK? After 6 years, it would be Statute Barred, no?

immoral_angeluk

jammin wrote: »

Serious?

Ok but it's already been 3 years. What if she waits another 3 years before returning to the UK? After 6 years, it would be Statute Barred, no?

Yes, but it's 6 years from the date of default... that of which you would only find by getting a copy of the credit file from Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.
I'm not condoning running away from debts. Running up debt and then purposefully not paying it (ie having the abilitiy to pay but just refusing to..) can constitute fraud.

jammin_2

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Yes, but it's 6 years from the date of default... that of which you would only find by getting a copy of the credit file from Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.
I'm not condoning running away from debts. Running up debt and then purposefully not paying it (ie having the abilitiy to pay but just refusing to..) can constitute fraud.

It wasn't purposely, she didn't intend on not returning to the UK. And in any case, I know for a fact that she's now earning a pittance and wouldn't have the ability to pay even if she wanted to. But anyway..

I read other threads on this site that mentioned it's 6 years from either when a payment was last made or the debt was admitted, there was no mention of it being from date of default. Can someone clarify?

immoral_angeluk

jammin wrote: »

It wasn't purposely, she didn't intend on not returning to the UK. And in any case, I know for a fact that she's now earning a pittance and wouldn't have the ability to pay even if she wanted to. But anyway..

I read other threads on this site that mentioned it's 6 years from either when a payment was last made or the debt was admitted, there was no mention of it being from date of default. Can someone clarify?

It's 6 years from the date of default as long as no payments have been made or the debt acknowledged in writing.

Oh and I wasn't saying she's commiting fraud... just want to make sure that she understands how it may be seen... obviously circumstances etc change and sometimes it's easier just to run away. A lot of people on this board have been in the same boat. I didn't mean to come across as harsh or anything. Sorry!

jammin_2

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Oh and I wasn't saying she's commiting fraud... just want to make sure that she understands how it may be seen... obviously circumstances etc change and sometimes it's easier just to run away. A lot of people on this board have been in the same boat. I didn't mean to come across as harsh or anything. Sorry!

Not at all, I'm grateful to you for the advice and shall be passing it on. Thank you!

rog2

Whilst I agree that 'debt can follow you anywhere' the real issue is whether UK consumer debt can be legally enforced anywhere. For unsecured consumer debt, the answer is no. UK County Court Orders and Judgements have no validity outside of the UK.
Of course Debt Collection Agencies can try to collect UK 'debt' from a debtor who is resident in any country in the world, but they would have no legal powers and payment would be at the discretion of the debtor.
It will be a different matter if, and when, that debtor returns to the UK. If a CCJ has been registered, even if it is more than six years old, the creditor can appeal to the courts to re-instate the judgement.
Equally, should one of the debtor's creditors decide to petition for the debtor's bankruptcy (providing that creditor is owed more than £750 and the creditor is willing to stump up the court fees - £590 - and associated solicitors' fees - often more than£1000 - in the knowledge that he may not get one penny back) the debtor is likely to be given an 'indeterminate' bankruptcy period, rather than the normal 12 months. This means that the bankrupt will have to answer to the Official Receiver on his/her return to the UK, no matter when that is.

immoral_angeluk

Thanks for clearing that up Rog