Do they have to pay it back?

Lellysmelly

A friend has emigrated to NZ, she already had debt on her supermarket credit card when she left, and has since run up a huge debt of £20k on it. Is she liable for this debt as she nolonger lives in the UK, and what action if any could the credit card company take in NZ? She is trying to pay it off, but only succeeds in paying the interest.... What should she do?

madge7

i thought once you emigrated any debt you had here you didnt have to pay off?

ShelfStacker_3

madge7 wrote: »

i thought once you emigrated any debt you had here you didnt have to pay off?

Depends how willing they are to track you down and make you pay it. HSBC say in their T&Cs that if you run up a debt and emigrate, they might use their foreign subsidiaries or branches to collect the debt from you.

madge7

ShelfStacker wrote: »

Depends how willing they are to track you down and make you pay it. HSBC say in their T&Cs that if you run up a debt and emigrate, they might use their foreign subsidiaries or branches to collect the debt from you.

i guess it depends how much you owe to as whether its even worth their while collecting it?

ShelfStacker_3

Probably £20k, as in the OP, is enough to persuade them...

OP: your friend is irresponsible in the extreme and her actions shouldn't be condoned by anyone.

talana

2 different questions here:

Is she liable for the debt?
Yes, yes, yes, 100% yes!! She spent the money, she's saddled with it.

i thought once you emigrated any debt you had here you didnt have to pay off?

Really? Well I know what my new plan is then. Borrow £100k on credit then emigrate.
Get rich quick!!

Second question, how easy is is for the cc company to pursue her?
I don't know, but they won't write it off. Nor should they.

bengal-stripe

Do I get that right?

Your friend had some debts on a card when she left for New Zealand (obviously without advising the CC Company). Now she sits pretty down there and using an ATM machine, she says “open Sesame” and out comes the dosh. She’s upped the ante and meanwhile the debt has reached GBP 20k. She doesn’t seem to have any intention of paying it back, relying on the fact that nobody can touch her out in NZ.

I’m not a lawyer but I presume what she does is fraudulent, then it will be no longer a civil matter and becomes criminal.