The Student Room Group

Debt Collection Agency - What can they do?

Hi,

I was a student studying in the UK not long ago. At first, I was just chugging along my course without much thought, but I realized after awhile that it wasn't what I wanted to do. So I stopped attending my lectures and started doing things that I was actually passionate about. Eventually, I left the UK and went back to my home country.

However, I did not pay a small portion of my fees, as I was no longer there - but the contract was for a full year. By any standards, I've overpaid, but because of their regulations, they're now chasing me for that small portion. They sent me a letter saying that they would pass along the debt to a debt collection agency.

So my question is:
What can the debt collection agency do to you?

(I've done a little searching, and some sources say that they might continously contact you, or add interest to the debt. But at what point exactly can they force you to pay?)
Original post by AllenW
Hi,

I was a student studying in the UK not long ago. At first, I was just chugging along my course without much thought, but I realized after awhile that it wasn't what I wanted to do. So I stopped attending my lectures and started doing things that I was actually passionate about. Eventually, I left the UK and went back to my home country.

However, I did not pay a small portion of my fees, as I was no longer there - but the contract was for a full year. By any standards, I've overpaid, but because of their regulations, they're now chasing me for that small portion. They sent me a letter saying that they would pass along the debt to a debt collection agency.

So my question is:
What can the debt collection agency do to you?

(I've done a little searching, and some sources say that they might continously contact you, or add interest to the debt. But at what point exactly can they force you to pay?)

If it's only a small portion, just pay it. They could sue you.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by Platopus
If it's only a small portion, just pay it. They could sue you.


Ok, so there's that possibility. Could you elaborate, as to what sort of steps they would take? And what sort of steps I could take?

To put it into perspective, I've paid over £5,000 for services that I never used. I tried to reclaim it / funnel it to paying the debt, but they simply refused and pointed to the contract.
It's a small portion of the whole year's fees, so it still sums up to quite alot. My creditor is reluctant to pay it, and so am I.
they can take you to court, and if you loose, which you will, a court order can be made.

if you ignore a CCJ then bailiffs can be employed, who add costs and interest. they will visit and attempt tp get you to pay, and your credit rating will be seriously affected.

if they chose to escalate, and go to the high court, enforcement officers can remove goods to sell at auction with you paying all the costs
Original post by AllenW
Ok, so there's that possibility. Could you elaborate, as to what sort of steps they would take? And what sort of steps I could take?

To put it into perspective, I've paid over £5,000 for services that I never used. I tried to reclaim it / funnel it to paying the debt, but they simply refused and pointed to the contract.
It's a small portion of the whole year's fees, so it still sums up to quite alot. My creditor is reluctant to pay it, and so am I.


The below response should provide sufficient elaboration on my point:

Original post by domonict
they can take you to court, and if you loose, which you will, a court order can be made.

if you ignore a CCJ then bailiffs can be employed, who add costs and interest. they will visit and attempt tp get you to pay, and your credit rating will be seriously affected.

if they chose to escalate, and go to the high court, enforcement officers can remove goods to sell at auction with you paying all the costs
Reply 5
domonict has nailed it for UK residents but things are a bit different as you are overseas now. Any legal action against you will depend on things like whether you're in the EU (for the moment at least...), whether the UK has any kind of reciprocal legal arrangements for this situation with your country of residence etc.*

The situation described by domonict above will mean that you risk being the subject of legal action to recover the debt if you try and enter the UK again. If you try to come in from outside the UK/EU, you would most likely have your application for a visa rejected in the first place for having an outstanding CCJ against you.
Reply 6
Thank you Klix, you have most appropriately answered my question

Thank you domonict and Platopus for responding as well
Reply 7
Domonict forgets that you are NOT a UK citizen and it really depends if you enter the UK again... Your visa will almost automatically be rejected because of the outstanding fees but they will and can do nothing to you where you live. Trust me. They cant do sh*t because youre not a UK citizen
Reply 8
Original post by Shisui
. They cant do sh*t because youre not a UK citizen


You can't possibly pretend to know that, it depends entirely on where they are located.
Reply 9
Well, we left the EU. A friend of mine from Pakistan came to England on a student visa, he had exceptional circumstances and was quite gifted. After a few incidents, he decided to leave for America... He paid some of his loans but after he left, they just stopped. Sure, they threatened him with emails and said that he would also have to pay for the cost of any people that the agency hired to go find him- but because he wasn't a Uk citizen, there was pretty much nothing they could do.

If hes a Uk citizen, then its a completely different story.
Reply 10
Original post by Shisui
Well, we left the EU.

No we didn't. We're still as much a part of the EU as we were this time last year, and likely to remain so until at least 2020.

We voted in favour of leaving the EU. It hasn't actually happened yet and won't for years.

because he wasn't a Uk citizen, there was pretty much nothing they could do.

He'll be fine as long as he never tries to come back to the UK. It's a big planet.
Original post by AllenW
Hi,

I was a student studying in the UK not long ago. At first, I was just chugging along my course without much thought, but I realized after awhile that it wasn't what I wanted to do. So I stopped attending my lectures and started doing things that I was actually passionate about. Eventually, I left the UK and went back to my home country.

However, I did not pay a small portion of my fees, as I was no longer there - but the contract was for a full year. By any standards, I've overpaid, but because of their regulations, they're now chasing me for that small portion. They sent me a letter saying that they would pass along the debt to a debt collection agency.

So my question is:
What can the debt collection agency do to you?

(I've done a little searching, and some sources say that they might continously contact you, or add interest to the debt. But at what point exactly can they force you to pay?)


How have you overpaid? You can't just pick and choose the length of the contract based on whether or not you bothered to attend your classes. It sounds like you are bsing on an epic scale and not taking responsibility for your actions.
Reply 12
Hey, so what are the guarantee that it is true? Because there is only a link and only the words of promises. However, when I first got in university, I did some mistakes with my budget, since I talked to the loan office which helped me to sponsor my whole university line, which I am really not happy about. Anyway, since then I didn't have money to return, so that's why came some guys from the website about debt collection agency that said to my to return the money, where I was pretty upset since I take another loan to pay current.
(edited 4 years ago)

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