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I can't believe such a comprehensive and useful site exists. I've been reading the forums most of the morning and I've not even made a dent on the topics available.
I'm really after some good advice and these forums seem full to the brim with it so here goes!.....
When I was in late teens I made some silly mistakes resulting in me being about £20k in debt (bank loan, reams of CCs and a couple of hire purchase agreements). When I was about 20 I made the decision to sort it all out and get 'Harrington Brookes' to help me manage the debt for me. I think I stopped making payments after about 2 months (employment problems).
That was in about 2004 - no later than 2005 although I don't have the exact date. As far as I'm aware, that is the last date I acknowledged my debts/made any payment on them. I buried my head in the sand and hoped it would all go away. I changed my address every year or so in the hope I could outrun the credit collection letters (they're amazingly quick at tracing you sometimes!).
This year however, I've decided I really need to do something about these debts. I've been with my girlfriend for the last 18 months, it's serious and she wants some stability. She owns numerous properties and wants us to consider buying a house together. I can't bring myself to tell her I've been in serious debt (she's an accountant and would probably lose all respect for me if she knew!) so I've been fobbing her off with various excuses. Every now and then another collection letter will appear on the doormat and I return it to the sender.
Now, the majority of these debts were last acknowledged maybe 6-7 years ago - I've read up on 'statute barred' but not sure where I stand with it. I've basically ignored these debts for this amount of time - do they drop off my credit file after 6 years? Are the laws different in Wales (I notice that both England and Scotland differ - is Wales covered by England's legal system?
There is one debt I have serious concerns about and I still lose sleep over it. It was a 12.5k bank loan which ended up as a CCJ back in early 2007 which was collected through an attachment of earnings order. I subsequently lost my job (in accounts!) as a result of this and I decided to go off the radar for a bit. I've not heard a peep from the courts since then (I made no more than 4 payments on the CCJ). I've been with my current employer for the last 4 years and I've not had anything directly or indirectly to suggest the CCJ will be collected. This one is the real noose around my neck and I'm not sure how to proceed with it. Do I 'come out of hiding', approach the courts and say 'Hi, here I am, I'd like to pay some money now'? I'm guessing there must be some sort of warrant in affect as soon as a default is made on a CCJ? I had a dealing with the police (speeding) last year - pretty sure they check your record when you're stopped but nothing was brought up. They had my current address then. Am I just fortunate enough that they've not caught up with me yet?
I'm really after some good advice and these forums seem full to the brim with it so here goes!.....
When I was in late teens I made some silly mistakes resulting in me being about £20k in debt (bank loan, reams of CCs and a couple of hire purchase agreements). When I was about 20 I made the decision to sort it all out and get 'Harrington Brookes' to help me manage the debt for me. I think I stopped making payments after about 2 months (employment problems).
That was in about 2004 - no later than 2005 although I don't have the exact date. As far as I'm aware, that is the last date I acknowledged my debts/made any payment on them. I buried my head in the sand and hoped it would all go away. I changed my address every year or so in the hope I could outrun the credit collection letters (they're amazingly quick at tracing you sometimes!).
This year however, I've decided I really need to do something about these debts. I've been with my girlfriend for the last 18 months, it's serious and she wants some stability. She owns numerous properties and wants us to consider buying a house together. I can't bring myself to tell her I've been in serious debt (she's an accountant and would probably lose all respect for me if she knew!) so I've been fobbing her off with various excuses. Every now and then another collection letter will appear on the doormat and I return it to the sender.
Now, the majority of these debts were last acknowledged maybe 6-7 years ago - I've read up on 'statute barred' but not sure where I stand with it. I've basically ignored these debts for this amount of time - do they drop off my credit file after 6 years? Are the laws different in Wales (I notice that both England and Scotland differ - is Wales covered by England's legal system?
There is one debt I have serious concerns about and I still lose sleep over it. It was a 12.5k bank loan which ended up as a CCJ back in early 2007 which was collected through an attachment of earnings order. I subsequently lost my job (in accounts!) as a result of this and I decided to go off the radar for a bit. I've not heard a peep from the courts since then (I made no more than 4 payments on the CCJ). I've been with my current employer for the last 4 years and I've not had anything directly or indirectly to suggest the CCJ will be collected. This one is the real noose around my neck and I'm not sure how to proceed with it. Do I 'come out of hiding', approach the courts and say 'Hi, here I am, I'd like to pay some money now'? I'm guessing there must be some sort of warrant in affect as soon as a default is made on a CCJ? I had a dealing with the police (speeding) last year - pretty sure they check your record when you're stopped but nothing was brought up. They had my current address then. Am I just fortunate enough that they've not caught up with me yet?
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