Running away from debt....

jimmy900 · 1 November 2016 at 10:57AM

Hi all,

I have considerable student debt (bank overdrafts at three banks to the tune of around £5000 total) which was sold to debt collection agencies periods ranging from 8-12 years ago.

I ignored and binned all correspondence from both banks and agencies and stopped receiving letters altogether around 4 years ago asking for repayment.

I am really sorry and I know it’s people like me that cause bad credit rates, economic disasters and the refugee crisis in Calais (I exaggerate but I know how venomous people are with bad debtors like me) but I have no intention of repaying these debts – ever.

How does this affect my credit file?
Can the debt collection agencies still pursue me?
If I ever receive another letter should I follow my process of binning the correspondence?

I’m not asking for tips on how to avoid repaying my debt, just what continued legal recourse they have to come after it should they suddenly start sending me the collection letters.

My plan was to just never acknowledge, never respond and as abhorrent as most of you will find this, put the debt down to the exuberance and carelessness of youth.

I know it sounds like I’ve “gotten away with it” but the fact this stuff is haunting me throughout my adult life goes to show that the fear of financially ruinous recrimination always stays with you.

jimmy900 · 1 November 2016 at 11:01AM

I think you'll find it was the "exuberance and carelessness of youth".

curty510 · 1 November 2016 at 11:03AM

non payment of debts shall cause you many issues in life. It can prevent you from obtaining further credit/mortgages etc. Ok you might not need either now, but you never know what is round the corner.

After 6 years of non payment/no contact etc, debts should be removed from your credit file, but lenders will still keep you on file and not go near you with a barge pole.

Finally, with debts over £5k you can be forced in bankruptcy by your creditors, thus making future credit & employment difficult. See how that works out champ.

lambda · 1 November 2016 at 11:06AM

I think you'll find it was something beginning with an "s" and ending in a "d'.

Sorry but attitude like this "but I have no intention of repaying these debts – ever." really makes me extremely annoyed.

jimmy900 · 1 November 2016 at 11:07AM

You seem to think I'm boasting or trolling, I'm not.

I accepted there would be some people who don't read the detail, don't care and just want to smugly judge.

Three different debts, to three different unrelated creditors:

Bank 1: £1,450
Bank 2: £1000
Bank 3: £2500

National_Debtline · 1 November 2016 at 11:11AM

Hi

When the bank called the overdraft debts in and asked you to repay in full they would have defaulted the accounts. If 6 years pass from that point with no payment from you, no written acknowledgement and no court judgements the debts would be statute barred.

That means they would be unenforceable in court. If you inform debt collectors that they are collecting a statute barred debt they need to prove it isn’t statute barred or stop collecting.

If the debts aren’t statute barred the debt collectors can continue to pursue you and could start court proceedings to recover the money.

James
@natdebtline

EssexHebridean · 1 November 2016 at 11:14AM

I'm not going to comment on the "rights" or "wrongs" of the stance you are taking, However, I will say that if it's haunting your life as you say, is the best course of action for the sake of your own mental health not to knuckle down and deal with whatever (if anything) is still payable? Assuming you are now in a position where you are earning and paying your own way, you could probably deal with anything that's still showing relatively quickly, and shake off the fear you mention in that final paragraph? Assuming, of course, you meant that final paragraph...

jimmy900 · 1 November 2016 at 11:16AM

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi

When the bank called the overdraft debts in and asked you to repay in full they would have defaulted the accounts. If 6 years pass from that point with no payment from you, no written acknowledgement and no court judgements the debts would be statute barred.

James
@natdebtline

Thanks James, really helpful.

This is certainly the case as all of the banks sold the debts to collection agencies so the debts would have been treated as defaulted in that respect?

I moved address a lot and as I said binned any correspondence that happened to reach me from Lowell or Moorcroft or whomever. They stopped contacting me over four years ago and even before then it was only a letter or two a year.

jimmy900 · 1 November 2016 at 11:17AM

EssexHebridean wrote: »

I'm not going to comment on the "rights" or "wrongs" of the stance you are taking, However, I will say that if it's haunting your life as you say, is the best course of action for the sake of your own mental health not to knuckle down and deal with whatever (if anything) is still payable? Assuming you are now in a position where you are earning and paying your own way, you could probably deal with anything that's still showing relatively quickly, and shake off the fear you mention in that final paragraph? Assuming, of course, you meant that final paragraph...

Would a check of my credit report show this?

EssexHebridean · 1 November 2016 at 11:21AM

jimmy900 wrote: »

I think you'll find it was the "exuberance and carelessness of youth".

To put your flippancy into context. There are people on here who have been left picking up debts after the death of a spouse. Others who lost their jobs through genuine illness and disability. I know of at least one couple who lost their way financially following the death of their very young child. We have watched people - friends in fact - on here battling their debts whilst fighting cancer (Taxi, Kissjen, RIP). Your comments come dangerously close towards taking the right royal p*55 out of an awful lot of people - can I cordially suggest that "when in a hole, the best course of action is to stop digging" . You spent money you didn't have - is the bottom line, A lot of us on here did it. Most of us turned into adults, realised we were wrong, and turned our attentions towards doing the right thing and dealing with it. PLEASE don't feel it's appropriate to waltz onto these forums as a newbie and behave in a way that others may quite genuinely find upsetting.

MrsTinks · 1 November 2016 at 11:23AM

My issue with your attitude aside (you'll find we all understand not being ABLE to pay, not being willing is what will upset a lot of people... ) then check all three credit files, see if any of these ever went to CCJ.
The issue may be that if you haven't opened these letters or run from addresses that a CCJ may have been filed at a previous address for you and you wouldn't know until you do some digging if your previous addresses and your current one aren't linked properly. That means in theory an old CCJ could be lurking for a while.

If this is causing you issues mentally then you need to deal with it whilst you're in control and not when you're at a low point for other reasons.

Suggest you get someone who can help you and support you and start looking into this. As you've completely ignored your debts it's hard for us to help as we do't have any idea what stage or state any of these debt are at.

Running away from debt....

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