Major debt help needed - thinking of the worst......

bloke_not_here

Firstly....hello. I'm new here and I have one ambition in life. To get debt free....

At this stage I'm not interested in the consequences. I just want to remove all my debt and have a clean slate. I don't care for mortgages, cars, or anything like that. I just want to rid myself of all my debt.

Here's the situation. I don't live in the UK. I spent 23 years living in England and I've finally left and am not looking back. However, I left behind quite a mess.

I initially had a £9,000 vehicle loan. This was paid off in full this last December. Unfortunately, that's just scratching the surface.

I also have a £1,500 credit card debt, £2,500 overdraft debt and £9,000 student loan to pay off. The student loan is from 2000-2003.

Total sum: £13,000.

In addition to this, where I live, I had to take out a €4,000 credit to pay for my house deposit. This still has €2,000 to pay off, plus I have €500 of credit card debt to pay here. No problem however as this will all be paid off with next months pay cheque.

The credit costs me €280 every month (more or less), and once I finish paying the bills, rent, living costs (I go out about once a month), I'm left with virtually nothing. In part this is due to the fact that I have my partner to pay for.

She is a student and I have been funding her living expenses now for the last 2½ years. She has now graduated and finally gets her first pay cheque to start contributing here.

I barely scrape even each month where I live and now the SLC wants me to pay back their loan. I worked this out to be approx €210 each month.

In a nutshell, I can't afford this. It'll push me back into debt and I refuse to do this.

So this is my problem.

And here is my solution. Please advise me if you feel I am doing the wrong thing.

I do not wish to return to the UK.....at least for the next 5-6 years and most likely more. This is 100%.

As such, I was thinking of about simply going bankrupt in the UK to dissolve all my loans and debts.

I hate the idea of bankruptcy, however I have been paying off debts now for 5 years and I need start my life. Properly. I can't do that with this debt.

So regarding bankruptcy, I need to ask the following questions:

- How will it affect me in Europe?
- Will it affect my credit status where I am?
- How can I declare bankruptcy in the UK when I live in Europe (EU)?
- Will I have to return any assets or items I own in the country I reside in, in Europe?

Finally, the most selfish of all questions:
- Can I do so quietly without my partner knowing?

I have a life commitment to her and cannot bring myself to tell her of my situation in England. She knows of my debt, however she doesn't know about this idea.

Like I said, I need to start my life. I simply cannot do it with this debt on my shoulders. It just pulls me back at every level and I need to do something about it.

Sorry for the long first post.

I promise to reply to as many people as possible, and thank you in advance for your help.

I know I screwed up in the past, but now I'm begging for help.

smashedbooboo

Hi and welcome to the site, I cant offer much advice but someone will be along soon to help you out, so hang in there. There are a fantastic bunch on here, If you get any odd nasty post just ignore it hun, Someone on here will report if you do. Good luck and again welcome. x x x x

bloke_not_here

loaner wrote: »

If she is now working, surely you have more money available to throw at the debt?

Unfortunately it's not quite as simple as that. She has to repay her own "debts". By "debt", I mean she has to contribute back to her parents plus her salary isn't all that.

It's enough to relieve about €300 extra per month, but I must use this to pay back this credit I took out to pay for my house deposit. Unfortunately this puts me in the same situation as before.

I can't do both that and my SL at the same time. Plus I need to keep sending money back to the UK to pay off my credit card (which is being paid off at the minimum rate as I can't afford any more).

Is there any way to negotiate with the SLA and ask to pay off at just €100 per month???? Do they do that?

P.S. Thanks for the hello smashedbooboo

bloke_not_here

Just another depressing thought.....if I continue to pay off my debts at the requested amount, it'll take 4.6 years to pay it all off.

How can I start my life like this? This is why I'm just thinking to be done with it and declare bankruptcy and get it out of the way.

ikkle87

Firstly I would advise you post a more detailed SOA up although I know it may be a bit harder for people to advise with you dealing in euro's and not being in the UK.

Secondly if she is starting to bring in money from working i would assume this means you have to pay less living costs and rent as these will be shared between the two of you? Meaning you would have extra income which you could throw at the debt.

Thirdly if you can't afford the 210 try writing to your creditor and offering them an amounth that you can afford.

And although you say you dont care about the consequences of how you get rid of the debt I'm sorry to say it sounds a bit irresponsible and is maybe how you got into the debt in the first place. Bankruptcy is a serious matter and does need to be thought about carefully. You could also try posting this on the bankruptcy board.


I'm sorry if I'm wrong with all this cos I am fairly new to it all but am sure someone who knows there stuff will be along shortly

ikkle87

Forgot to say welcome to the board.

Beerworshipper

ikkle87 wrote: »

And although you say you dont care about the consequences of how you get rid of the debt I'm sorry to say it sounds a bit irresponsible and is maybe how you got into the debt in the first place. Bankruptcy is a serious matter and does need to be thought about carefully. You could also try posting this on the bankruptcy board.

Hi BNH,

I tend to agree with the previous posters, bankruptcy is not something to be taken lightly and may not be the magic bullet that you are after.

I googled student loans (as that is the majority of your debt) and banruptcy and found the following passage on teh daily mail website:


MYTH
I don't have to repay my student loan if I move overseas.
STUDENT loans repayments are deducted directly from your pay packet by the taxman. If you move overseas, the UK taxman will not be able to take the cash from you. As a result many graduates think that they will no longer have to pay off their debt, or that their student loan has been forgotten about. REALITY
The penalties for defaulting on your student loans are harsh. You can be fined £246 for every month you do not make arrangements to repay your loan. If you earn above £15,000 you have to start paying it back, regardless of where you are. In May this year the Government invoked rules that ensured it could get foreign governments to chase UK graduates who needed to repay the cash.



I really think that you'll be better off contacting them (SLC) and talking to them about coming to an arrangement on your finances rather than either defaulting or just slapping them with a bankruptcy agreement. Your intetintions to not get into debt again are honourable but it seems to me that you have invested a lot of money in your relationship, you freely admit to supporting your other half for the last two years. I can understand her urgency to pay her folks back but perhaps your contribution should be recognised and some of that repayment come back your way.

I get the notion from your original post that you'd rather she didn't know any of this. A lot of people on here have tried to hide debt from their other halves. In most cases it means they (and you) will end up bearing a huge burden and could even make you ill. They do say a problem shared is a problem halved and so I would urge you to share it with your OH.


It probably wasn't what you wanted to hear but hey its just my opinion and you are best place dto judge your own situation.

I wish you good luck in whatever course of action you take.:beer: