Backpacker debt from Australia

ddmcghee

hey folks,

I'm a new poster so go easy on me

I was in Australia between November 06 and May 07. In March 07 I was involved in a car crash and i had no insurance(legal there). So anyway I was told I'd have to cover some cost of the damage on the other vehicle because it was partly my fault.

I never heard a thing from anyone. I returned to UK in Aug 07. I now have received a letter asking me to pay £2300 for the damage to the other car. The letter is from an australian debt recovery agency.

My question is that what will happen if I ignore this. They sent the letter to my parents address and i no longer live there so i could say i never received it. Can they get UK law involved etc???

Any input would be greatly appreciated

Horace

I am assuming that the car that you were driving was a hire car? In my experience cars are not usually hired to people unless they either have insurance or pay for the hirers insurance as part of the hire cost of the car. If this is the case then perhaps you should contact the hire company?

I think that the debt can travel across the world to you - bearing in mind that Australia has very strong ties with the UK. I would also be speaking to the debt recovery agency asking them how they arrived at the figure of £2300 - could it be interest charged etc? Explain that you are no longer in Australia and how this letter is the first that you have received.

I am not an expert in these matters and I am sure that someone who can offer better advice will soon be posting to help you out.

ddmcghee

hey,

it was a campervan i owned that i was driving. the damage costs are for the vehicle that collided with me( i assume). there is no breakdown of costs on the letter tho

robnye

are they asking for the amount definately in uk pounds or is it in Aussie Dollars.......? if Aussie, then its 2[SIZE=-2] [/SIZE]300 Australian dollars = 1[SIZE=-2] [/SIZE]106.9431 British pounds

ddmcghee

no its 4700 dollars

morg_monster

Will you ever want to go to Australia again, if the answer is yes, then you need to pay at some point. If you don't pay, you'll probably be arrested or at least taken in for questioning if you ever try to go back...
Even if the answer is no, well then I'm sure people will be here with more useful advice than mine but I would say morally you should pay up, although you need to try and get more info first. The reason buying cars/vans in Oz is so popular is that you don't need to buy extra insurance in most states, the vehicle being registered with the DVLA-equivalent gives you third party cover and makes it perfectly legal to drive. You took the responsibility when you bought the car that if you got in an accident you would have to fork out.
But as I said, and another poster before me did, write back to the agency and ask for a full breakdown of costs. That'll buy you time, but it might not help at all with getting the amount reduced.

Do you know if the debt recovery agency is acting on behalf of an insurance company or directly on behalf of the person whose car you damaged? Not sure if it'll make a difference... but you might feel less bad about screwing over an insurance company rather than a real person...

ddmcghee

its acting on behalf of the insurance company. i just think its strange its taken so long for them to get in touch. i mean what would they do if i didnt live at that address now???

morg_monster

I don't think they will legally be able to enforce a debt made in Aus, against you in the UK.
They may have a UK partner company, if they do then the UK partner may chase you for it, with other tools eg the electoral roll to use, BUT I still don't think they will be able to legally take you to court, or summon bailiffs against you, since the debt was not created in the UK. Of course, they still may hassle you a lot over it.
If you ever go back to Oz though, there's a chance they will not let you into the country, or make you pay the amount plus 10 years of interest or whatever. but they may not...
Try googling "australian debt chase UK..." type thing... I did and found that the UK has reciprocal agreements for civil debt (which is what this will be) with Canada and Germany, only on forums so don't want to quote it, but no mention of any other countries. I also found out that Australian debt collection agencies have to operate under much stricter laws than in the UK (can't contact more than 3 times a week, can't call at house or phone after 9pm, can't threaten anything which they can't legally do, etc). So it is hard enough for them to chase debts in Oz let alone overseas.

I'm sure you agree that morally you should pay it back, but it's not always as easy as that is it. good luck with whatever route you take. As you said, what if you weren't at that address. What would they do then.