# Debt issues while abroad



## Lennie76 (19 Dec 2010)

I have created a mess for myself debt wise and I am worried sick about it. I am seeking some advice on how to temporarily fix the problem.
I saved for the last year to take a career break and go travelling with my partner. The plan was to save most of it, borrow a little from the CU, and leave enough in my account to cover repayments to the CU (210 euro a month, had 6k saved and took out 10k in total), my car loan (about 700 Euro outstanding) and my GE money loan (approx 3k outstanding).
However, in the end I did not leave enough money in my current account to cover repayments. Was banking on my father selling my car while I was away to help, was expecting some final pay from work, and also spent more than I planned to before I left. I figured I needed about 2k in that account. Given the current conditions however my father was not able to sell the car. My pay from work was a lot less than expected.
So now am abroad and not due back til end March. Am hoping my old job will take me back, all the indications were good before I left. My contract was up but they were hoping they'd be able to take me back in April.
However my loans have not been paid since I left at the end of August. I've been informed that a registered letter has arrived for me at home. I am not considering going home early as this would not be fair on my partner who has been looking forward to this for years. I don't have enough money to transfer money home to cover outstanding payments. I am still advertising the car.
Does anyone have an opinion - would it be of any use to contact the institutions involved, and explain that I am out of work, went abroad and am not back til end March, at which point I should be back in work and able to commence a payment plan? Should I write or phone? what should I say? i am on a completely different time zone so phoning is difficutl. Or should I just keep my head in the sand until I get back? 
Its a stupid situation I know, and if I had any sense I'd fess up to the other half, head home asap, and set things straight - however I don't want to do this and am looking for advice on what I can actually do as an alternative.
All advice welcome!


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## Mucker Man (20 Dec 2010)

Would you be due any tax back, since you left mid year you should have tax credits to claim. Fill out a P50 form and send it to your local tax office. You can include your bank details and they will refund you any money due directly into your account.


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## Lennie76 (20 Dec 2010)

That's a great suggestion, thank you. However I don't have my p45 with me, and I just checked revenue.ie, it says you must send it with the p50. Wonder would a scanned copy work if I obtain it from my ex employer via email?


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## horusd (20 Dec 2010)

Firstly you clearly  aren't going to have a good time abroad with this worry hanging over you, so you need to deal with this and not bury your head in the sand . Silence in this case is not golden! You need to find out what the position is regarding your financial situation and face up to it. ( I know that's hard- been there done that!).  Firstly find out exactly what the state of play is regarding your debts ( how much involved etc).  You need to know this FIRST in order to know what you CAN do.  Then you need to come up with a rough plan before you make proposals to  your creditors. Work out what you can pay taking into account all you living expenses etc.  There maybe additional penalty charges/interest etc for missing payments and the creditors will be more concerned by NOT hearing anything from you so you urgently need to contact them and assure them you are not ignoring them and to try and avoid these additional penalty charges. Personally I would phone them and let them know the state of play and then I would follow this up in writing; and remember you don't have to give any initial commitments no matter how much pressure is brought to bear. Your first call should be to get all the relevant information and assure them you intend to deal with it. ( Gets names and addresses of who you are speaking to, keep a note of dates). Give them a contact email address so they can communicate with them and ask them to outline the exact current debts etc,  personally I would avoid giving them a contact phone number because it's likely you will be hassled with calls.  I know this is hard, but the only way you can deal with the anxiety is to face up to itand do it sooner rather than later. Clearly you aren't the type of person who walks away from debt and the fact that it is worrying you means you need to deal with it and reduce the anxiety. You know your other half better than anyone so its your call whether to fess up or not, personally I would as a problem shared is really a problem halved and if they know you well they will pick up that you are worrying about something!  Best of luck with this, and believe me you can and will get out of this if you take your power and act, the sooner you deal with it the quicker it will be resolved. And finally remember the devil will be in the detail, so you need to see exactly what all debts are and what you can afford to pay and when, the creditors will not be assured by a vague commitment, you need to work this out as precisely as you can, if you dont mind me saying, you didn't plan your finances  very well and that's what caused the problem-"failing to plan is planning to fail" as the truism says. Now you need to take control and plan your way out of it and treat this whole experience as a good lesson, that's what I did, I got out of debt and I stayed out of it.


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## Lennie76 (20 Dec 2010)

Horusd, I don't mind you saying, you are completely right. I will phone them, good advice, thanks a million.


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## Bob_tg (20 Dec 2010)

Lennie - please answer the following:
- break out each loan separately and identify (1) the total amount outstanding and (2) the monthly repayments  
- also, what is the make/model/year and mileage of the car and how much is the car currently advertised for?
- what is the balance in your credit union account v yourcredit union  loan (i.e. what is your net debt with the credit untion)?

Thanks,
Bob


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## Kev (21 Dec 2010)

Personally I would not phone them put it in writing and keep copies and send it recorded delivery.  If you phone them you got no record of that phone call and they will deny any phone call from you.   

Write and keep copies of letter or email them if you got an email address this is a record of your communication with them.


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## JoeB (21 Dec 2010)

Kev said:


> Personally I would not phone them put it in writing and keep copies and send it recorded delivery.  If you phone them you got no record of that phone call and they will deny any phone call from you.
> 
> Write and keep copies of letter or email them if you got an email address this is a record of your communication with them.



Would you agree that recording the phone calls yourself, without asking for consent is both legal and would cover you in terms of them denying it later? A few companies deny this although I think it's true....


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## paperclip (1 Jan 2011)

Well, one idea, drop the price of the car you're trying to sell... it's not selling for what you're asking for.


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## aaa1 (2 Jan 2011)

You can record phone calls. The only thing you shouldn't do is say that you aren't recording if they ask - if you then try to rely on those recorded calls when an issue arises in the future, you're instantly painted as a liar. 

In terms of tax back, you need to ask Revenue for a "tax balancing statment". You can ask for it going back four years so you should ask for it from 2006 onwards to see if you're entitled to any refund from previous years. I also travelled and I sought it when I got back and got a tidy little sum. You will definitely be entitled to a refund if you left in August and if you're on the higher tax band you should get several thousand. You don't need any documentation, just write a letter stating your address, PPS number, and ask for the statement. You can get your parents to send the letter on your behalf, just get them to sign it as you. They will obviously reply to you at whatever address you had previously used for correspondence from Revenue. Also, remember that you will be paying slightly less tax when you return. Instead of your tax being calculated across 12 months, it will be calculated across eight if you restart work in April. That will leave you with a little more cash than before you left. 

And a word of warning re engaging with the banks via email. I had issues with the  bank losing documents while I was away. I emailed them to reissue the instructions which were on the lost documents but they said they cannot take instruction via email. I had to get the documents posted over, and sign them. The alternative is to get your bank to email you documents that will make one of your parents a co-signatory on your bank account. You can sign it, post it home for your parent to sign, and they can bring it to the bank. That way your parents can speak to them/make transactions on your behalf. Each bank probably has different policies though. 

You're right not to ignore the debt. But also remember that you will only have stopped paying for about nine months - and you don't owe a huge amount so it's perfectly manageable. The bank is probably just getting angsty because it hasn't heard from you in a few months and they're under pressure from above. Try and enjoy your trip and don't let it spoil what should be a great experience.


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