What happens when you don't pay credit card payments?

Question

At my previous address I had a credit card which I maxed out. Times were quite hard (I was living alone as a student) and I was only 18.

I moved house over two years ago now and have never heard anymore about it ever again. Not that I'm daft enough to think that's the end of that. Although I admit I was daft enough to bury my head in the sand over all this.

However, I now wish to sort this out and I want to pay back what I am due. However, I am on a low income so would need to pay back small amounts at a time. I'm worried that if I inform the credit card company of my current address that they'll send the bailiffs straight round (and this is my parents' home), I really can't let my parents be dragged into this.

Ideally, I'd be able to set up some sort of repayment plan.

However, if bailiffs WILL be sent, would I be best to "stick it out" and just hope they'll write off the debt? I'd much prefer not to do this, but may have no choice? Don't wish to be dishonest

Answer 1

Without knowing the company or dollar amount, I will answer this question generally:

First, don't expect the credit card company to come after you legally unless the original debt was tens of thousands of dollars. Assuming you got the card at 18, I don't think that will be a problem. It will cost them about $2,000 to retain an attorney to file an action against you, and if they haven't gotten your few hundred bucks, they aren't going to expect to get attorney's fees out of you! By baliff, I assume you mean service of a lawsuit on you, as not paying your credit is not a criminal offense and you can not go to jail for failing to pay your bill.

This likely appears on your credit report right now, and may or may not still be reporting as a currently late credit account. In any event, it will still be on there with your amount owing.

My recommendation is to come up with funds of about 20% of the balance of the account the last time you knew it. It will likely be higher now after late charges, but these will not be important to the credit card company.

At this point, they have written your account off as not going to be paid. They don't expect any money from it because it has been so long since they've heard from you. However, because of your desire to clean your credit up (good idea), you'll need to contact them to get it resolved. As they don't expect any money from you, offer to "settle" the account for 10-20% of the balance, in cash. As they don't expect any money from you, they might go for a good deal like this. DO NOT SETTLE FOR THE FULL AMOUNT. It is not necessary and will only cost you more than necessary.

When you settle with the company, I recommend having them mail out a letter with the specific terms of settlement outlined (the dollar amount). If the account is with a collection agency instead of the credit card company ABSOLUTELY, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES pay them over the phone ANY dollar amount until you have the terms in writing (email, fax, or letter).

In the scheme of things, this really isn't a big deal. If the original debt was a few hundred bucks, this is so unimportant in their daily operations you'll likely get easy settlement terms. The key here is to negotiate. If the person you are talking to won't negotiate, hang up the phone and call back. The collection people are paid in part on commission, so you'll find someone willing to deal to hit their numbers.

They'll want your phone number and address, so be prepared for an answer.

Answer 2

you need to go to the citizens advice bureau, they will be able to set you uo with a debt councillor for free. The debt councillor then contacts the company/s that you owe money to and negoitates and fee/payment plan for you tha you can afford etc. They also handle all contact so you do not have them coming round or phoning you up etc. This is the best way to tackle this problem as if you just contact them they will want the full amount in full straight away or they will threaten court/bailiff action. I went through this process myself after living on my own and just disregarded what i owe, not a good move at all - every time you miss a payment you get a black mark next to your name, these add up to county court judgments and financial problems in the future if you do not get them sorted. You will also not be able to apply for or get credit/mortgage for 6 years, if you are paying back what you owe and do not miss payments you will get your credit rating back in 6 years.
Good luck and dont leave it any longer xx

Answer 3

If you parents aren't on the account then they are not legally respoinsible for any of your debt that you accured as an adult.

Pull you credit report (you can do it for FREE once a year). The credit card companies contact information will be located on the bottom or last page of your report. Tell them you situation and then get them to agree on a repayment plan.

While it is on your credit report it is pulling down your score the faster you pay if off the faster your score will improve. And it doesn't go away.

Good luck

Answer 4

YOU WILL RUIN YOUR CREDIT for a long time if you dont pick up and make these payments. I regret ignoring my creditors when I did. It has caused me years of hardship because when I needed a car I couldnt get one, when I needed a business loan-I couldnt get one and even when I wanted a nice Apartment to RENT YES RENT! iwas turned down cause of my credit

When I went to have my utilities turned on, I had to pay a $1,000.00 deposit cause I had bad credit!

Even my insurance premiums on my car were higher becasuse
of my credit situation.

I was dumb and ignorant to let my debts slide. My credit is slowly improving. But for 8 years I couldnt get anything

DO NOT LET YOUR CREDIT GO- PAY IT NO MATTER WHAT
EVEN IF ITS A CHARGE OFF

Believe it or not if an item has been charged off and you pay it, you can go back and disput it on your credit and most of the time it can get removed simply because your credit file has been put away and the creditors wont waste the time at digging your file back out on a paid account!

I just had 5 charge offs deleted within 3 months after paying them .Usually if a charge off is on your account and is unpaid, it will stay there for 7 (SEVEN) years. Thats a long TIME TO HAVE THAT NEGATIVE CLOUD HANGING ON YOU!



Some card companies will issue judgements, which this happened with a Capitol One Card I had. I paid it off and then disputed it a year later on my report. Through a miracle it got removed.
Dont worry though, if a judgement gets filed, some dork will just drop papers off at your door. No biggie! I have never had a sheriff do this but it can happen. Usually bigger towns or cities don't use sheriffs for that. The small hick towns might use a sheriff cause they usually have nothing better to do.

Dont let this slip. Do what ever you have to do to pay this debt off even if you have to live on Macoroni and Cheese
You'll thank yourself later when you want that new car, or a nice rental apt. or maybe even a new home

About your address situation
: Go to a local UPS Store and open a mailbox
you can update your address with that.The UPS store will give you an address and it wont use PO BOX like the post office does.
I have a UPS store mailbox and I have all my mail go there, even my drivers license is registered to it. The address the UPS store gives is like having a home address.

A PO Box from the post office is usually rejected by creditors-

You can find a UPS store in your area by going to this link
http://go.mappoint.net/ups/PrxInput.aspx

Good Luck

PS- Praying to God for tenacity in paying your debt works wonders-



You can also try to do debt settlement plan with your creditors. There are agencies on the web that will do this for a fee, but I recommend doing it yourself. You simply write a letter to your creditors about your situation and your willingness to make a payment plan that you can afford untill you get on your feet again. These creditors will respond. The key here is communication with these creditors, dont look at them as enemies, make them your friends-

Anyone who may be advising you on this board to let this debt go, are dumb and foolish. I was in my early 20's when I screwed my credit, I am know 32 and I finally can get a car loan! Credit is a great privledge not to be abused!

Answer 5

write to them with an apology and give them some idea of what you can afford. they have to accept some sort of repayment although they will try and force you to increase the figure. they wont send bailiffs until they've written and told you they're sending them. that will only happen if you default. pay it off as quickly as you can. from the moment it's paid you'll feel better and then you'll have a 6 year wait til your credit record is clear. your parents would probably understand if you explained the situation. mine did and although i had to work like a madman they helped me all they could. the longer you leave it the worse it gets.

Answer 6

i don't think they will send bailiffs to your parent but you can maybe ask a company that charge lower interest to buy of your debt and then you pay that company back. the other thing you can do is to declare yourself as bankrupt, you will not need to pay your debt but then you will not be able to have any credit card or a debit card for few years. you will end up with a cash card. why don't you ask your parent if they can help you with it and pay them back.

But remember one thing, NOBODY escape from debt soon or later they will find you and things will be worst. you need to face it as quick as possible.

And a good advice, don't buy if you don't have the money for it!
Credit card are Evil!

Answer 7

Typically the credit card company will turn the debt over to a collection agency. It's in no one's best interest to jail you, so it would be doubtful the gendarmes would come calling, other than to serve you with papers. If you call the company, they would likely be more than happy to take whatever you can give them.

Answer 8

be prepared to pay mega interest charges when they trace you intrest keeps going up when you don't pay anything to your credit card and continues on on on till it is far more than your original amount borrowed you should have payed something towards your debt rather than letting it go out of control.

Answer 9

i wouldnt say anything if i were you!!
your interest on top of it would be sky high..they are not very understanding people and after this amount of time may demand the full amount!!keep quiet about it!!x