Living or moving abroad with UK debts?

More and more people are now moving overseas to start a new life. With rising unemployment, anti-social problems and other issues affecting our Country, destinations such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Asia are surging in popularity as people move to start a new life abroad in better living conditions.

A large percentage of the people that move abroad will have debts-in some cases both secured and unsecured.

Secured Debts

Secured debts will fall into the following categories. A mortgage is the most common secured debt that people have. Other secured debts will be loans (secured against your property) and hire purchase (normally on vehicles).

Many people will leave a property in the UK. This could be for a number of reasons. It may be rented out and left as an asset, also giving people an “escape route” to return back to the UK if their new life overseas does not work out as planned.

In other cases people may have a property for sale hoping to realise some equity and will leave an empty property on which they are still paying a mortgage on. Many problems occur in these cases as the UK property market is still slow and property values are low compared to a few years ago. A combination of new living costs abroad and also paying a mortgage on an empty property in the UK can soon drain people’s resources and when the funds run out what then?

In other situations a Visa application may be approved before the ambition of selling the property is realised. In these circumstances a person may be forced to make their move overseas due to time limits and restrictions-if not they could lose their Visa application and also their chance to start a new life overseas.

Unsecured Debts

The majority of people in the UK have unsecured debts. The most common are credit cards and unsecured loans but other debts could include tax arrears, outstanding finance and overdrafts.

In our experience most people move overseas with the intention of paying these debts off-either gradually or perhaps once their main asset (perhaps a property in the UK) has been sold. But what happens if the property does not sell?

In addition to this maybe the moving and living costs overseas are higher than expected and in many cases we have dealt with, one person may have moved with a job and the other partner is looking for employment. We are also hearing of many people struggling to find employment and this combination of factors can soon lead to heavy use of the UK credit cards that people still hold. In a matter of months this situation can spiral out of control and once the credit limits on the cards are reached the real problems can start.

What options do you have to deal with these situations?

Our company has provided assistance to many people living overseas. There are various solutions for these situations but due to the differences in people’s circumstances we recommend an initial consultation to talk through your situation and options.

You can also contact our company by completing our short enquiry form. We offer a free and confidential initial consultation-there is no obligation to use our company and as we are licensed under the data protection act we never sell or pass on your details to any marketing company or agency.

For friendly advice contact us now!