Debt in UK

[Wanna be kiwi]

Hi All, first of all I know there is other threads on this but some are pretty old. Also, I respect all moral standpoints and I have good morals so please don't judge me, I just want advice/thoughts and opinions of others.

I got made redundant in the UK, and with my wife on low income, and with young children, our debt has become unmanageable.

I have got a job in NZ and have been on my own for 4 months while I wait for my wife and children to join me.
My job will cover our living costs but not the debt in the UK.

Has anyone got experience of agreeing with debtors low payments until my wife gets work here and we could feasibly pay more.

I believe we may have some bargaining power as debt is difficult to enforce in New Zealand from England.

Please don't judge us...actual helpful advice would be great. Thanks.

[che26]

Interesting question. I have not got actual experience of this situation but I do think it is worthwhile opening discussions with the lender. They will likely be open to discussing options where they get money back eventually rather than not at all. Look forward to hearing other people's views or experiences.

[Sun777]

Moral values aside (practical reasons sometimes are beyond control and the moralities which people may say its wrong till they get into similar situation).

We moved to NZ with a £10K outstanding on credit cards. This was primarily due to some of our earlier financial commitments, making the move to NZ and other expenses which accumulated over a period of time. We managed to pay minimum payments for a period of 3-4 months after moving here and then took a personal loan here in NZ and offset the UK loan. The reason, it was easy to accumulate all the outstanding debt under one roof, manage it locally, avoid fluctuating foreign exchange rates and transfer charges. I hope this helps as a start. I'm sure there could be better ways to handle this but what I shared is from a financial novice point of view.

Just to add, HSBC UK was quite accommodating when I explained them that I was looking to settle their loan as I had moved countries.

[Fern49]

Interesting question. I have not got actual experience of this situation but I do think it is worthwhile opening discussions with the lender. They will likely be open to discussing options where they get money back eventually rather than not at all. Look forward to hearing other people's views or experiences.

I agree