Uk Debts

[Forkinhades]

Anybody that has left the UK before their retirement date should consider making voluntary NI contributions in order to get a full state pension, which now stands at 30 years of credits.

[paulinpattaya]

Anybody that has left the UK before their retirement date should consider making voluntary NI contributions in order to get a full state pension, which now stands at 30 years of credits.

Thanks DC and forkinhades...I'm going to get some rope and hang myself now for being such a bad person and getting in debt! I just hope most of these 'members' don't get jobs for National Debtline, otherwise the suicidal rate in UK will double.

Lucikly I'm thick-skinned and already dreaming of L.O.S and thinking about the bankers counting their losses and share prices tumbling for the next decade....They created this situation up to them to start helping people like me otherwise the Pattaya population will double soon

[DC1066]

Anybody that has left the UK before their retirement date should consider making voluntary NI contributions in order to get a full state pension, which now stands at 30 years of credits.

Thanks DC and forkinhades...I'm going to get some rope and hang myself now for being such a bad person and getting in debt! I just hope most of these 'members' don't get jobs for National Debtline, otherwise the suicidal rate in UK will double.

Lucikly I'm thick-skinned and already dreaming of L.O.S and thinking about the bankers counting their losses and share prices tumbling for the next decade....They created this situation up to them to start helping people like me otherwise the Pattaya population will double soon

Maybe when you start receiving your pension, you can use it to buy some more property in Thailand and if I ever get to stage where I have debt I can't pay, maybe you can put me up

[paulinpattaya]

Anybody that has left the UK before their retirement date should consider making voluntary NI contributions in order to get a full state pension, which now stands at 30 years of credits.

Thanks DC and forkinhades...I'm going to get some rope and hang myself now for being such a bad person and getting in debt! I just hope most of these 'members' don't get jobs for National Debtline, otherwise the suicidal rate in UK will double.

Lucikly I'm thick-skinned and already dreaming of L.O.S and thinking about the bankers counting their losses and share prices tumbling for the next decade....They created this situation up to them to start helping people like me otherwise the Pattaya population will double soon

Maybe when you start receiving your pension, you can use it to buy some more property in Thailand and if I ever get to stage where I have debt I can't pay, maybe you can put me up

-------

Urgent update: I've just spent the last 2 hours talking this through with my parents and they've agreed to help me out! Luckily they have some savings (£30k) which they are going to use to help repay some of the debt, I will then repay them back when I sell a property in Thailand! Might take a year or so but I'm sure the market will pick up one day. Lets face it their savings are at risk anyway with these financial morons who have created this global credit crunch...

The remaining debt I've been told I can reduce by up to 50% if I contact the creditors and make a final offer for payment after explaining the difficulty I'm having. They have no chance but too accept because an IVA or DMP would give them less than 50% anyway. We can do this without even going to court!!

Anyway thanks for your help today, luckily some good came out of it. I still hate the banks and don't think they deserve anything back, but my parents disagree. So I'll follow their advice.

I'll still be in Pattaya before long.

Thanks

[Mossfinn]

and I'm entitled to healthcare having paid taxes for 20 years!

I will then repay them back when I sell a property in Thailand! Might take a year or so but I'm sure the market will pick up one day.

The remaining debt I've been told I can reduce by up to 50% if I contact the creditors and make a final offer for payment after explaining the difficulty I'm having. They have no chance but too accept because an IVA or DMP would give them less than 50% anyway.

Unfortunately, if you are not a resident, free health care goes out the window, no matter how long you paid taxes.

However, I thought I was giving you the best advice, with the info we knew at the time, I am glad you followed it to a certain extent, excepting the parental input, you have good parents there.

I can feel, you feel hard done by, but in my opinion it is better in the long run, just in case you ever want to return and in any case, I have always wanted to stuff the big institutions, just as long as none of the smaller guys took a hit.

Moss

[soundman]

Some nasty and argumentative posts removed.

Please keep it within the forum rules gents.

[Chaimai]

-------

Urgent update: I've just spent the last 2 hours talking this through with my parents and they've agreed to help me out! Luckily they have some savings (£30k) which they are going to use to help repay some of the debt, I will then repay them back when I sell a property in Thailand! Might take a year or so but I'm sure the market will pick up one day. Lets face it their savings are at risk anyway with these financial morons who have created this global credit crunch...

The remaining debt I've been told I can reduce by up to 50% if I contact the creditors and make a final offer for payment after explaining the difficulty I'm having. They have no chance but too accept because an IVA or DMP would give them less than 50% anyway. We can do this without even going to court!!

Anyway thanks for your help today, luckily some good came out of it. I still hate the banks and don't think they deserve anything back, but my parents disagree. So I'll follow their advice.

I'll still be in Pattaya before long.

Thanks

Now we have a bit of a "U Turn".

I fail to see the benefit in using parents hard earned savings to pay off part of the debt - this just p1sses away what they have achieved and dilutes your inheritance.

Now that you have taken the debt management advice i.e. doing it the 'honourable way' what is the point of giving your parents cash away. Would it not be sensible to go to your creditors (preferably through CAB or similar) with the 40% offer with repayment over a few years.

As you recognised it is better than nothing but at least you have not just walked away AND you are not wasting family money.

[soundman]

Now that you have taken the debt management advice i.e. doing it the 'honourable way' what is the point of giving your parents cash away. Would it not be sensible to go to your creditors (preferably through CAB or similar) with the 40% offer with repayment over a few years.

As you recognised it is better than nothing but at least you have not just walked away AND you are not wasting family money.

Why not just offer them the 40% as settlement to the debt citing inability to make future payments? Up to them if they want to settle or chase you around the globe to get their money.

Banks are businesses, if they agree to the discount repayment (I don't think they will agree to 40%, maybe 65%), you will have fulfilled your obligation to the matter.

[ignis]

If you cannot come to a deal with a much reduced payment, Pay your creditors every week/month, pay 1 pound into the account, if the money is not returned to you then you are paying your debt..

CAB will help, they see/advise 100 of people every week, and will draft a letter so you can send to your creditors. DO NOT let the debt be passed to a Debt collection Agency, there are good ones that collect on behalf of the creditors and some very bad ones that buy the debt.

I have seen over the years people that have a VERY small debt [less than 50 pounds] being taken to Court = they end up with Court Fees and Debt Agents fees so the 40 pound they owed becomes 400 pounds..

Don't forget you are not alone, there are 1,000's in the same position..

At the end of the day, with a financial statement from you [CAB will do this for you] you could offer 5 pounds per month reviewed every 5 years, or a once only payment offer of full and final settlement, this would be around 50% of the debt

[APMann]

Reading through the OPs posts, I cannot escape the conclusion that his thread is one monumental wind-up, but even so, lots of useful advice for anyone who actually IS in this guy's situation, so true or not, the discussion was worth having.

[syd barrett]

have you checked your passport expiry date? I am sure UK embassies will be updated about ppl on the run.... I assume you still need to travel (even not to tthe UK) and have a valid passport for many things.

.

...... but I do agree with the majority that this will screw your credit rating for the next few millennia.

No just six years, then the credit rating is wiped clean in the UK. Experian credit agency does not keep data over six years.

[mikethevigoman]

As you can see all the holier than thou are giving you stick,.im actually on my way back and didnt do a runner,( sometimes wish i had ) i know a few that did and they have had no problems, one character in particular had gbp 90000 plus thrown at him by lenders in the uk and did a bunk with it all, he was living in a bedsit, not on the voters list and self employed painter and decorator,.totally iresponsible lending, no wonder the banks/economy is in crisis, id say jump a sinking ship,there is no way uk debtors will chase you in thailand for a bad debt ( especially unsecured ) ,in fact declare bankrupcy, loads are and it only lasts 12 months if you want to go back,no problem,.let your conscience be your guide,

[mikethevigoman]

have you checked your passport expiry date? I am sure UK embassies will be updated about ppl on the run.... I assume you still need to travel (even not to tthe UK) and have a valid passport for many things.

You will not be on the run, you will have defaulted on repayments, you can to the UK without any problems, just dont tell your ex creditors where you will be staying, dont try and credit while in the UK, you can get a new passport no problem. All you have done is defaulted on repayments. It is not fraud.

Correct,.unless a fraud was commited at time of loan application there are no laws been broken,.but on a bright note the banks in the uk now are doing crazy deals for people in debt, you can offer 10p in the pound and the chances are they will take it to settle, just warn them you are considering bankrupcy, they will grab it and run !

[TexasRanger]

It's stealing. Is that who you want to be?

[Ungabunga]

An interesting thread and some over-dramatic posts.

There are countless people in Pattaya who have defaulted on credit carts, loans etc without re-paying even a penny or at least have settled at a much lower amount. It doesn't make it right, but it's not an isolated incident and is not half as serious as what it has been made out to be. Debt is not a crime, but FRAUD is another matter and is quite different. You should separate the two.

It's correct that Experian does not keep records over 6 years. I know because my ex-wife works for them.

Within this time period the credit rating is reduced and at worst CCJ's are given. Credit score can be built back up again over time however.

Had to laugh at the passport comment... class.

[mikethevigoman]

An interesting thread and some over-dramatic posts.

There are countless people in Pattaya who have defaulted on credit carts, loans etc without re-paying even a penny or at least have settled at a much lower amount. It doesn't make it right, but it's not an isolated incident and is not half as serious as what it has been made out to be. Debt is not a crime, but FRAUD is another matter and is quite different. You should separate the two.

It's correct that Experian does not keep records over 6 years. I know because my ex-wife works for them.

Within this time period the credit rating is reduced and at worst CCJ's are given. Credit score can be built back up again over time however.

Had to laugh at the passport comment... class.

I agree, little knowledge is dangerous,.

[GayGordon]

Hello, well the banks in the UK do seem to be behaving rather odd, our next door neighbor is a school teacher and told us 2 weeks ago he had a call from his uk credit card co and asked him to do a means test as he had been late twice with monthly repayments .after doing one with him on the phone they went on to say that he was in no position to make the minimum monthly payments and would he consider paying a part payment to close the account, to cut a long story short he paid 800 pounds to clear a 3200 pound debt, i know its true, i saw the letter of confirmation he was sent,.

[DonTron]

P.S Being in debt is NOT a crime!

No, but running away from debt is the act of a loser!

£40,000 is nothing, peanuts - its easy do dig yourself out of that, and not worth running away for.

Try digging yourself out of £1,2 mill, then you can start whining.

[PhilHarries]

Hello, well the banks in the UK do seem to be behaving rather odd, our next door neighbor is a school teacher and told us 2 weeks ago he had a call from his uk credit card co and asked him to do a means test as he had been late twice with monthly repayments .after doing one with him on the phone they went on to say that he was in no position to make the minimum monthly payments and would he consider paying a part payment to close the account, to cut a long story short he paid 800 pounds to clear a 3200 pound debt, i know its true, i saw the letter of confirmation he was sent,.

Taking this on face value as correct how would this affect his future credit rating? He never asked for the part payment closure the CC company did. If in the future he lands a well paying job and applies for a new CC does the 2400 pound outstanding balance resurrect itself? Or does he get refused as a bad credit rating?

Sounds a good deal, run up a decent debt on the CC, be late a couple of payments, downgrade your earnings when contacted and bail out with a 25% token gesture.

Problem is I don't have any debt so it is my <deleted> money they are using to bail out all these poor misguided people.

[Basil B]

Working it out rather than running away certainly is the decent thing to do, not shore what you do for a living so can not even guess at what your potential income is so I think the comments on how easy it is to pay of your debts to be rather "Pie in the sky".

Best advice is CAB they are there to help people like you and stop the problem getting out of hand.

BB

[chiang mai]

the banks were stupid, greedy and threw money at me. I took the money ok, but if it wasn't offered it I wouldn't have this problem. The banks lend money knowing they will screw you one day when you can't repay them...that's business as they say. The banks also 'factor' in the bad debts to their fees, overdraft rates, lending charges anyway..so no big deal if I don't pay them back.

Like I said before they've caused this financial crisis so why should I help them now they're struggling? I asked them for help just last week, no one is interested... They won't even give me a credit card for a 0% balance tranfer..

I have no choice...

Amazing, no wonder the UK's going down the tubes with attitudes like that!

To answer your question more directly: banks and finance houses have long been aware of this kind of behavior and the scale of losses that result, especially where such losses can be viewed as fraud and criminal behavior. It is for those reasons that they now go much further than before in tracing defaulters and recovering bad debt. So whilst the UK debt collectors are unlikely to come knocking on your Pattaya palace doors, you very likely may find yourself getting pulled aside by UK Immigration and asked to chat with the boys in blue, the next time you return to the UK. Unbelievable I hear you say. Well they didn't install UK passport control systems for no reason at all, did they!

[cmsally]

the banks were stupid, greedy and threw money at me. I took the money ok, but if it wasn't offered it I wouldn't have this problem. The banks lend money knowing they will screw you one day when you can't repay them...that's business as they say. The banks also 'factor' in the bad debts to their fees, overdraft rates, lending charges anyway..so no big deal if I don't pay them back.

Like I said before they've caused this financial crisis so why should I help them now they're struggling? I asked them for help just last week, no one is interested... They won't even give me a credit card for a 0% balance tranfer..

I have no choice...

Amazing, no wonder the UK's going down the tubes with attitudes like that!

To answer your question more directly: banks and finance houses have long been aware of this kind of behavior and the scale of losses that result, especially where such losses can be viewed as fraud and criminal behavior. It is for those reasons that they now go much further than before in tracing defaulters and recovering bad debt. So whilst the UK debt collectors are unlikely to come knocking on your Pattaya palace doors, you very likely may find yourself getting pulled aside by UK Immigration and asked to chat with the boys in blue, the next time you return to the UK. Unbelievable I hear you say. Well they didn't install UK passport control systems for no reason at all, did they!

A couple of years ago I started getting demands from a couple of banks with regards to debts, sent to my office address.

It was really quite bizarre they were from the UK and for names I had never heard of. I can only presume that someone had got the address off the internet somewhere. At first I thought maybe for people who were friends of friends etc that I had never heard of but when no one came to collect, curiosity got the better of me and we opened them. The demands for each person (I think there were 3) were around 10k and boy did the demands keep coming. It was actually quite fun to read all these letters which progressed from bank to debt collection co. etc. But after about a year the debt collection company changed and became one in Singapore. We thought that was a little close to home so we curtailed our amusement and sent those ones back "return to sender, person not at this address". Never got any more after that.

So be warned, not as far away as you thought. True story by the way.

[RetireSoon]

Why not write to the company tell them you cant afford the minimum payment and are thinking of going overseas for a long time, as the the guy earlier the bank accepted 25% of the loan.

If the 40k is made of interest rather than monies borrowed the banks are losing profit rather than money eg the assets they lent you.

Another way is to tell them you cant pay but you are willing to pay £5 or £10 a month to each creditor, if it were me I would look to pay the banks at a reduced rate you have used the money to purchase properties overseas and as an aside you have benegited greatly form the drop in the £ v Baht.

Chances are you will need credit again, the current climate you can do a deal with the banks why back yourself on a corner.

As an aside why offer them 30k when they will bite your arm off for 20k probably 10k.

Edited November 24, 2008 by RetireSoon

[dsfbrit]

Sadly in today's society, especially in the UK, bankrupcy no longer has any/much stigma attached to it. I suspect the OP - troll or not - can walk away from the debt legally, as long as he 'proves' he has no income nor assets in the UK. Citizen's Advice' will give him free legal advice to do this. I suspect he can even claim some benefits from the UK social system if he shows he is suffering 'hardship'.

What the OP must not do though is just 'walk away'. He will almost certainly get County Court Judgments' (CCJ) against him in the local courts and that could cause all sorts of problems in the future.

The way the system in the UK 'rewards' this sort of activity and lets the tax payer pick up the burden, is one of the many reasons I left the 'nanny state' the UK has now become.

Hey don't blame the OP for 'abusing' the system, its rife in the UK and is almost a 'badge of honour' in some social circles to screw money out of the Government

I even know one guy some years ago during the housing crisis in the 90's who did this. He had everything in his wifes name so just her credit rating was screwed. Handed in the keys of their negative equity flat and walked away. Then moved into the house he owned and carried on as normal. I kept hoping there would be some comeback on him. However apart from his wife not being able to get credit for some years - nothing seemed to happen at all. What a stupid system, I am glad to no longer be a part of it!

So to the OP I say again, no need to run anywhere, just play the system and you will be home and dry!

Edited November 24, 2008 by dsfbrit

[chiang mai]

Sadly in today's society, especially in the UK, bankrupcy no longer has any/much stigma attached to it. I suspect the OP - troll or not - can walk away from the debt legally, as long as he 'proves' he has no income nor assets in the UK. Citizen's Advice' will give him free legal advice to do this. I suspect he can even claim some benefits from the UK social system if he shows he is suffering 'hardship'.

What the OP must not do though is just 'walk away'. He will almost certainly get County Court Judgments' (CCJ) against him in the local courts and that could cause all sorts of problems in the future.

The way the system in the UK 'rewards' this sort of activity and lets the tax payer pick up the burden, is one of the many reasons I left the 'nanny state' the UK has now become.

Hey don't blame the OP for 'abusing' the system, its rife in the UK and is almost a 'badge of honour' in some social circles to screw money out of the Government

I even know one guy some years ago during the housing crisis in the 90's who did this. He had everything in his wifes name so just her credit rating was screwed. Handed in the keys of their negative equity flat and walked away. Then moved into the house he owned and carried on as normal. I kept hoping there would be some comeback on him. However apart from his wife not being able to get credit for some years - nothing seemed to happen at all. What a stupid system, I am glad to no longer be a part of it!

So to the OP I say again, no need to run anywhere, just play the system and you will be home and dry!

There's no badge of honor associated with what the OP wants to do and it can't be condoned, even if some think that lots of other people do it - there's absolutely no difference between what he intends and outright theft. And the reason, the bank wouldn't give me a credit card for zero interest transfers, ye Gods, spare us all.

[DC1066]

Sadly in today's society, especially in the UK, bankrupcy no longer has any/much stigma attached to it. I suspect the OP - troll or not - can walk away from the debt legally, as long as he 'proves' he has no income nor assets in the UK. Citizen's Advice' will give him free legal advice to do this. I suspect he can even claim some benefits from the UK social system if he shows he is suffering 'hardship'.

What the OP must not do though is just 'walk away'. He will almost certainly get County Court Judgments' (CCJ) against him in the local courts and that could cause all sorts of problems in the future.

The way the system in the UK 'rewards' this sort of activity and lets the tax payer pick up the burden, is one of the many reasons I left the 'nanny state' the UK has now become.

Hey don't blame the OP for 'abusing' the system, its rife in the UK and is almost a 'badge of honour' in some social circles to screw money out of the Government

I even know one guy some years ago during the housing crisis in the 90's who did this. He had everything in his wifes name so just her credit rating was screwed. Handed in the keys of their negative equity flat and walked away. Then moved into the house he owned and carried on as normal. I kept hoping there would be some comeback on him. However apart from his wife not being able to get credit for some years - nothing seemed to happen at all. What a stupid system, I am glad to no longer be a part of it!

So to the OP I say again, no need to run anywhere, just play the system and you will be home and dry!

There's no badge of honor associated with what the OP wants to do and it can't be condoned, even if some think that lots of other people do it - there's absolutely no difference between what he intends and outright theft. And the reason, the bank wouldn't give me a credit card for zero interest transfers, ye Gods, spare us all.

There is a world of difference between this and theft - failure to repay debt is NOT a crime - unless pre-planned, and this guy's said he's been trying to repay it for years.

A badge of honour maybe not, but all he's doing is taking a legally available option of not continuing to pay - an option that the vast majority of people would take.

If you were in the same position and chose to spend years just standing still paying off the 27% interest and not getting anywhere then well done Saint Chiang Mai, but If there's a legally available option to not pay, then why shouldn't he take it, life's too short.

[chiang mai]

Sadly in today's society, especially in the UK, bankrupcy no longer has any/much stigma attached to it. I suspect the OP - troll or not - can walk away from the debt legally, as long as he 'proves' he has no income nor assets in the UK. Citizen's Advice' will give him free legal advice to do this. I suspect he can even claim some benefits from the UK social system if he shows he is suffering 'hardship'.

What the OP must not do though is just 'walk away'. He will almost certainly get County Court Judgments' (CCJ) against him in the local courts and that could cause all sorts of problems in the future.

The way the system in the UK 'rewards' this sort of activity and lets the tax payer pick up the burden, is one of the many reasons I left the 'nanny state' the UK has now become.

Hey don't blame the OP for 'abusing' the system, its rife in the UK and is almost a 'badge of honour' in some social circles to screw money out of the Government

I even know one guy some years ago during the housing crisis in the 90's who did this. He had everything in his wifes name so just her credit rating was screwed. Handed in the keys of their negative equity flat and walked away. Then moved into the house he owned and carried on as normal. I kept hoping there would be some comeback on him. However apart from his wife not being able to get credit for some years - nothing seemed to happen at all. What a stupid system, I am glad to no longer be a part of it!

So to the OP I say again, no need to run anywhere, just play the system and you will be home and dry!

There's no badge of honor associated with what the OP wants to do and it can't be condoned, even if some think that lots of other people do it - there's absolutely no difference between what he intends and outright theft. And the reason, the bank wouldn't give me a credit card for zero interest transfers, ye Gods, spare us all.

There is a world of difference between this and theft - failure to repay debt is NOT a crime - unless pre-planned, and this guy's said he's been trying to repay it for years.

A badge of honour maybe not, but all he's doing is taking a legally available option of not continuing to pay - an option that the vast majority of people would take.

If you were in the same position and chose to spend years just standing still paying off the 27% interest and not getting anywhere then well done Saint Chiang Mai, but If there's a legally available option to not pay, then why shouldn't he take it, life's too short.

If you can't afford it in the first place, don't buy it, nothing saintly about any of that, just common sense.

[thucydides]

Amazing, no wonder the UK's going down the tubes with attitudes like that!

To answer your question more directly: banks and finance houses have long been aware of this kind of behavior and the scale of losses that result, especially where such losses can be viewed as fraud and criminal behavior. It is for those reasons that they now go much further than before in tracing defaulters and recovering bad debt. So whilst the UK debt collectors are unlikely to come knocking on your Pattaya palace doors, you very likely may find yourself getting pulled aside by UK Immigration and asked to chat with the boys in blue, the next time you return to the UK. Unbelievable I hear you say. Well they didn't install UK passport control systems for no reason at all, did they!

The consequence of the rampant and reckless lending by financial institutions notably in the UK and USA is increasing insolvency among those who in other times would probably not have been induced by the siren charms of indebtedness.

Currently, there is approximately £1.5 trillion of personal debt racked up in the UK. Bankruptcy, repossessions and personal insolvency plans abound. The OP's position is neither remarkable nor indeed worthy of censure.

Filing for bankruptcy is now relatively painless and generally most are discharged after a year without any further scrutiny. However, given the circs outlined by the OP he may wish to consider simply ignoring the debts and living in Thailand without further ado. Sometimes doing nothing is best.The worst his creditors can do is issue a summons for recovery in the County Court but most wouldn't bother if it becomes common knowledge he is abroad with no intention of returning.The Courts have no jurisdiction outside England and Wales and therefore any judgement obtained cannot be executed against goods or assets held in Thailand. In practice creditors sell the debt onto debt collecting agencies but they face the same difficulties as the Courts ......any contact from them in Thailand may be dismissed as superfluous.

The notion that the UK Border authorities or police have a role to play is unsupported by any legislation and may be utterly disregarded.

Personally, if I were in the OP's circs I would happily remain in Thailand on a succession of visit visas obtained through Hull or wherever. Settling those debts by borrowing from his parents is just plain silly.

[dsfbrit]

Sadly in today's society, especially in the UK, bankrupcy no longer has any/much stigma attached to it. I suspect the OP - troll or not - can walk away from the debt legally, as long as he 'proves' he has no income nor assets in the UK. Citizen's Advice' will give him free legal advice to do this. I suspect he can even claim some benefits from the UK social system if he shows he is suffering 'hardship'.

What the OP must not do though is just 'walk away'. He will almost certainly get County Court Judgments' (CCJ) against him in the local courts and that could cause all sorts of problems in the future.

The way the system in the UK 'rewards' this sort of activity and lets the tax payer pick up the burden, is one of the many reasons I left the 'nanny state' the UK has now become.

Hey don't blame the OP for 'abusing' the system, its rife in the UK and is almost a 'badge of honour' in some social circles to screw money out of the Government

I even know one guy some years ago during the housing crisis in the 90's who did this. He had everything in his wifes name so just her credit rating was screwed. Handed in the keys of their negative equity flat and walked away. Then moved into the house he owned and carried on as normal. I kept hoping there would be some comeback on him. However apart from his wife not being able to get credit for some years - nothing seemed to happen at all. What a stupid system, I am glad to no longer be a part of it!

So to the OP I say again, no need to run anywhere, just play the system and you will be home and dry!

There's no badge of honor associated with what the OP wants to do and it can't be condoned, even if some think that lots of other people do it - there's absolutely no difference between what he intends and outright theft. And the reason, the bank wouldn't give me a credit card for zero interest transfers, ye Gods, spare us all.

Not in your circles chiang mai I am sure. Not in my ciircle of friends nowadays either. However to suggest these groups of people don't exist is just wishful thinking on your part I am afraid. I personally have known people who have had a completelly different attitude to the World as I now see it. I am glad not to associate with them any more, bellieve me!

However having 2 jobs and claiming unemployment benefit and bringing in van loads of cigarettes and booze to sell on the black market are just 2 of a whole list of things I know people currently doing. Don't you know at least one person doing something illegal - fiddling their taxes or something?

Regarding theft, sadly there is a difference. The person that goes into a local shop and steals an apple ia a thief, can be arrested and tried under criminal law and receive a criminal record. A person who walks away from thousands of pounds of debt is just a bankrupt or perhaps an investment banker!! This is not criminal at all according to the idiots who set up the legal system in the UK!

As the Americans say - 'go figure'.

The OP is just a sign of the way the World is going I am afraid - hey its so normal we can even discuss it on TV. If we were discussing an unacceptable topic it would have been pulled by now!

To the OP I say, file for bankrupcy. You can prove you have tried to pay it off and can not. You should be OK as long as you can show you have no UK assets nor assets abroad. No doubt you will first restructure your company by then so you don't have a paper trail to these assets in Thailand.

Nothing illegel here that I can see, and no worse morally than those investment bankers with the millions in bonuses over the last years who have been responsible for f****g up the financial system Worldwide.

I am one of the people who has his life savings in a 'bailed out' bank in the UK. So I know what its like to pay my way and still get screwed by the 'system'. I think the banking system is more 'corrupt' than anything the OP is trying to do!

Quite simply, If the bankers can get so much money for creating such a mess, why should the OP feel bad about walking away from his small debt.

Edited November 25, 2008 by dsfbrit

[chiang mai]

My apologies to the OP in that I missed the post that said he had found an alternate solution to his problems that does not involve running away from the problem, very commendable and well done.