UK Debt in USA - Relaunched Topic

[newmrsvick 1]

My situation involves Student Loans (not yet started repaying but will write them a letter informing them of my move) and £7000 worth of credit card debt, that I have NO intention of running out on. So far my plan is to leave 4-5 months worth of minimum payments in my English bank account to pay off online until after Christmas, and then, erm, come up with a better plan?

To be honest I was a bit worried about approaching my bank and asking for a new payment schedule in case they demanded I paid off the debt before I left (impossible, I don't have £7000)... So I still need to find a way to pay this off sensibly and from across the ocean. Is that theoretically a possibility? That they could ask for the whole repayment in one?

[Operator 1,927]

To be approved for credit you had to sign a document. In either credit agreement are there any terms that stipulate your residence? If not you should have no problem.

I really have no business replying to a UK regional post but I imagine this is almost a universal question.

[Britt♥Marco 9]

We have this same problem too

oops, i'm not from the UK, LOL

Edited August 24, 2011 by Britt♥Marco

[Dan & Jenni 457]

just forget about it... there not gonna find you

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Regarding UK student loan payments, you need to notify them before leaving. I'll ask my wife at lunch about the forms you need to send.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Sousuke

[Jessa & Liam 11]

Here is the link that you need for the Student Loans - http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3867114&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Concerning the £7K loan that may depend on the bank itself and your credit history. It may be an idea to look at the timelines of other members and see how long it was between their POE and their adjustment of status to work in the US. 4 months of loan repayments may not be enough to cover you in the meantime and if you applied for the loan through an address you'd by a family member there is little point in having it blacklisted and harming them.

-Liam

Edited August 24, 2011 by Jessa & Liam

[visacat 1]

The property is no longer black listed as it used to be in the past - this would only happen if the person named on the title to the property stopped paying bills as a charge can then be placed on the property by the loan/credit company.

The family member still living at the property may still be harrassed though by the companies through letters, phone calls and home visits they would just need to advise them that you no longer live at the residence. Also your credit history in the UK would be badly damaged and if you intend on returning you may struggle for credit in the future. The future being the six years it takes for the debt to be wiped from your credit file.

Edited August 27, 2011 by visacat

[ali1982 0]

Hey, I am in a similar situation in that we have some credit card debt to pay off in the UK, but we'll be paying it off from the US. If you transfer money from a US bank account into a UK bank account, it can cost up to £25 per international transfer. It generally costs about £10 to pay a US cheque into a UK bank account, which therefore works out more cost effective. The way my fiance and I are attacking our recently accrued credit card debts, is to send a cheque home every month or two, which my mum will pay into my UK bank account. It costs £6 per cheque up to $500, and £12 per cheque up to $15000 with my bank. Hope this helps! (Also, you are not obligated to pay your student loans off whilst you are working abroad, but obviously it helps not to accrue further interest on them... however my sister who works in Dubai was recently told that after 12years if you have not made any payments towards your student loan, it gets written off - but I have NO idea if this is actually true!!)

[JohnandWendyB 21]

Hey, I am in a similar situation in that we have some credit card debt to pay off in the UK, but we'll be paying it off from the US. If you transfer money from a US bank account into a UK bank account, it can cost up to £25 per international transfer. It generally costs about £10 to pay a US cheque into a UK bank account, which therefore works out more cost effective. The way my fiance and I are attacking our recently accrued credit card debts, is to send a cheque home every month or two, which my mum will pay into my UK bank account. It costs £6 per cheque up to $500, and £12 per cheque up to $15000 with my bank. Hope this helps! (Also, you are not obligated to pay your student loans off whilst you are working abroad, but obviously it helps not to accrue further interest on them... however my sister who works in Dubai was recently told that after 12years if you have not made any payments towards your student loan, it gets written off - but I have NO idea if this is actually true!!)

Have you tried paypal? I don't know if it is cheaper?

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I use paypal. I got a good exchange rate (very close to that given on google that day) and paypal charged just $2.50. So, yes, paypal is a little cheaper.

[Kirsten UK 2]

Student Loans Co will give you up to one year off making payments if you tell them you are travelling abroad...I did and they were cool about it. After a year they will write to you and tell you what you owe....I had to send several payslips and they calculate an overseas monthly payment amount based on what you have earned. Every year they will review it.

As for your debt....I consolidated mine and make one monthly payment through my UK bank. I use xe.com for free transfers from US to UK.

It took me 9 months to find a job in my profession, but I was offered my first job after 6 months. You obviously have to wait until your work permit is approved to get a job but in reality nobody would have considered me for work in my field until I had my greencard.

If making the minimum monthly payments is still too much for you, consider contacting a credit counselling agency as soon as possible...they offer free advice and can work for you to negotiate with your creditors to figure out managable repayments over a fixed period of time. My friend used CCCS and they really helped her alot.

Good luck with everything....moving country is stressful enough, its worth taking the time now to figure this out so you don't have to worry about it once you're here.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Kirsten UK

[Ironman140 45]

Is six years standard in europe/ Ireland ?? It's 7 here

I know we will leave some debt behind. But hope to retire back in a few years. Can anyone point me in the right direction to learn more about banking and credit in Europe.

Don't want any surprises if and when we return

Thanks

The property is no longer black listed as it used to be in the past - this would only happen if the person named on the title to the property stopped paying bills as a charge can then be placed on the property by the loan/credit company.

The family member still living at the property may still be harrassed though by the companies through letters, phone calls and home visits they would just need to advise them that you no longer live at the residence. Also your credit history in the UK would be badly damaged and if you intend on returning you may struggle for credit in the future. The future being the six years it takes for the debt to be wiped from your credit file.

[HighlandScott 7]

Also your credit history in the UK would be badly damaged and if you intend on returning you may struggle for credit in the future. The future being the six years it takes for the debt to be wiped from your credit file.

And remember it's six years from the date the debt is marked as settled by the creditor until it's gone from your history.

you are not obligated to pay your student loans off whilst you are working abroad, but obviously it helps not to accrue further interest on them... however my sister who works in Dubai was recently told that after 12years if you have not made any payments towards your student loan, it gets written off - but I have NO idea if this is actually true!!)

That entire statement sounds untrue to me. They do not let you cease payments just because you've gone to work abroad. And I doubt they'd ever write off any debt. You won't find anything about that in the agreement you've signed or their website, etc (happy to be proven wrong on that!)

Student Loans Co will give you up to one year off making payments if you tell them you are travelling abroad...I did and they were cool about it. After a year they will write to you and tell you what you owe....I had to send several payslips and they calculate an overseas monthly payment amount based on what you have earned. Every year they will review it.

If by "travelling abroad" you mean "not working" then I'd agree they would be cool with it. And yes, as I understand it they will tell you what you owe- by way of a very high monthly payment.......unless you prove your earnings like you say which will bring it down MUCH lower.

Is six years standard in europe/ Ireland ?? It's 7 here

I know we will leave some debt behind. But hope to retire back in a few years. Can anyone point me in the right direction to learn more about banking and credit in Europe.

Don't want any surprises if and when we return

Thanks

Certainly 6 years in the UK. Not sure about Ireland or the rest of Europe.

[Kirsten UK 2]

And remember it's six years from the date the debt is marked as settled by the creditor until it's gone from your history.

That entire statement sounds untrue to me. They do not let you cease payments just because you've gone to work abroad. And I doubt they'd ever write off any debt. You won't find anything about that in the agreement you've signed or their website, etc (happy to be proven wrong on that!)

If by "travelling abroad" you mean "not working" then I'd agree they would be cool with it. And yes, as I understand it they will tell you what you owe- by way of a very high monthly payment.......unless you prove your earnings like you say which will bring it down MUCH lower.

Certainly 6 years in the UK. Not sure about Ireland or the rest of Europe.

I mean you are allowed to take a year off repayments if you tell them you are travelling abroad. After a year you need to get in touch and set up a monthly repayment based on your income. You will have to provide payslips. Each year it is recalculated based on what you have earned. If you go on their website it gives examples of monthly repayments for different countries as they take into account the different enconomies to some extent.

Edited September 11, 2011 by Kirsten UK

[Justine+David 218]

We've written 2 letters to the UK student loan company, one in 2010 and one in 2011 saying that David isn't working right now and has no income. Even though I have an income, they are not charging me, so you only have to pay if you as the UKC are working...and even then you have to reach a threshold first...