Coming back home with unsecure debt

I think you would be better off to declare bankruptcy in the UK.
You should look into moving your savings into a pension account, if you have one, or setting one up.

The UK Bankruptcy laws will not allow creditors to touch pension funds, particularly small ones which you will have.

Former Agriculture minister, Ivan Yates, declared himself bankrupt in the UK back in 2013. He was in receipt of a 75k per year pension from the Irish stat and his creditors couldn't touch it. They still can't touch it. So if it is good enough for people who owed the banks millions of euros it is good enough for you.

For the benefit of moderators this is not libelous, or defamation, though it is scandalous. Ivan has had his massive pension since he was 42, and gets it for the rest of his life. Most of which he spends on the airwaves complaining about people surviving on a fraction of his taxpayer funded bonanza.



This story is an absolute indictment of the Irish banking system. They forced this woman into selling her home, took every penny of the sale, then handed the rest of the loan on to a vulture fund. They should be forced, by law, to engage with her and to help her overcome this appalling situation. The most obvious thing they could do , is buy the loan back from Start and write it off.
 
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I think you would be better off to declare bankruptcy in the UK.
You should look into moving your savings into a pension account, if you have one, or setting one up.

The UK Bankruptcy laws will not allow creditors to touch pension funds, particularly small ones which you will have.
This is not always 100% correct. In the UK transfers into a pension scheme prior to bankruptcy, with the purpose of putting savings beyond the reach of creditors, can be reversed in some cases.
 
This is not always 100% correct. In the UK transfers into a pension scheme prior to bankruptcy, with the purpose of putting savings beyond the reach of creditors, can be reversed in some cases.

I think the phrase is " exceptional contributions" and it applies to large sums of money being transferred .

25k in the context of an average pension, that is peanuts and couldn't be, reasonably, considered as " exceptional. "
 
After 7 years living away, an opportunity now exists for me to return home. I have a small amount (25k) which I have managed to save these last few years to try and rebuild some sort of security. I have no intention of applying for a mortgage again, but I am trying to build up savings for retirement, since I have zero chance of owning property.

I understand that staying in the UK probably means it is unlikely for Start to pursue my debt further. I really want to move on from this after 11 years of fighting which resulted in losing my home, and I definitely am not willing to hand over the little I saved to a vulture fund. But on a personal level, I really want to go home.

I presume you need to find a home or apartment to rent. You will need few thousand for deposit and rent, you will probably need to do up the place, buy furniture, moving cost have to be factored in etc. There's nothing in the bank by way of interest so what ever you have left over , invest in good home safe and pop rest it in there. Good luck to you :)
 
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I think you would be better off to declare bankruptcy in the UK.
You should look into moving your savings into a pension account, if you have one, or setting one up.

Post BREXIT, I’m not sure that there is a requirement to recognize such declarations. And deliberately moving funds into a pension fund prior to declaring bankruptcy can be challenging as an attempt to defraud the creditors.
 
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Post BREXI, I’m not sure that there is a requirement to recognize such declarations. And deliberately moving funds into a pension fund prior to declaring bankruptcy can be challenging as an attempt to defraud the creditors.
It's not deliberately moving funds into a pension to defraud creditors. It's using some meagre savings to fund a meagre pension. The movement of such a small amount of savings into a pension fund is perfectly justifiable
The rules on "exceptional contributions " are designed to stop the millionaire bankrupt from stashing a few hundred thousand

No judge is going to declare such a small sum as an "exceptional contribution ".
 
The shortfall of the sale is approximately 70k, not including the arrears which could amount to about 180k.

The arrears figure of 180k might not be owing at all. I'm not sure in your case. Arrears is only a speedometer of the slowness of repayment.
 
It's not deliberately moving funds into a pension to defraud creditors. It's using some meagre savings to fund a meagre pension. The movement of such a small amount of savings into a pension fund is perfectly justifiable
The rules on "exceptional contributions " are designed to stop the millionaire bankrupt from stashing a few hundred thousand

No judge is going to declare such a small sum as an "exceptional contribution ".

There is not one law for the rich and another for the poor. And you have know idea how a judge would rule on such a claim.

The fact is that the OPs actions prior to bankruptcy will be reviewed and it will be flagged up.
 
Re: 25k to pension. You might as well just withdraw it from bank and have it under your mattress given the amount involved. Use Bertie-esque excuse when/if challenged.
 
There is not one law for the rich and another for the poor. And you have know idea how a judge would rule on such a claim.

The fact is that the OPs actions prior to bankruptcy will be reviewed and it will be flagged up.

No, but there is a law relating to " exceptional contributions". And this definition is geared towards stopping very wealthy people stashing large sums of money out of the way of creditors. The word itself is quite vague and so would be open to a legal interpretaion. I can make a pretty good guess that this small contribution to a pension would be considered reasonable. If she had 500k in a savings account and was moving the whole lot to a pension, then that would be different.
So, there is a difference and it is based on that word " exceptional".
The alternative is to leave the money in a deposit account, where it will, almost certainly, be grabbed by the vultures.
 
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No, but there is a law relating to " exceptional contributions". And this definition is geared towards stopping very wealthy people stashing large sums of money out of the way of creditors. The word itself is quite vague and so would be open to a legal interpretaion. I can make a pretty good guess that this small contribution to a pension would be considered reasonable. If she had 500k in a savings account and was moving the whole lot to a pension, then that would be different.
So, there is a difference and it is based on that word " exceptional".

Sorry the word is " excessive" , but the definition is still open to interpretation. There are some basic guidelines in the UK to help with the interpretation.

[broken link removed]


The alternative is to leave the money in a deposit account, where it will, almost certainly, be grabbed by the vultures.
 
This part seemed [broken link removed]in the UK guidelines

There is no definition in the Act as to what may be considered an “excessive” contribution. Whether contributions to a pension are excessive or not would depend on whether the contributions unfairly prejudiced the bankrupt’s creditors (see [broken link removed]), and this, in turn, would depend on the bankrupt’s circumstances at the time he/she made the contributions [[broken link removed]]. For example, contributions made at the expense of a bankrupt’s business capital or other household expenses may be considered to be excessive. Similarly, consideration should be given to the bankrupt’s income and lifestyle and historical pension contributions. Contributions made by one bankrupt who continues to make contributions during difficult times may not be considered to be excessive whereas payments started by another bankrupt in similar circumstances may be considered to be so.

HM Revenue and Customs set a limit (for tax relief purposes) on the amount that can be contributed to a pension – this being 15% of remuneration. This figure should give the official receiver a reference point when considering whether payments to a pension by a bankrupt are excessive.

OP should also consider that credit will be probably pretty restricted for a long time.

You wouldn't want to go through insolvency/bankruptcy and then realise you needed a new car or something else essential for your business.
 
This part seemed [broken link removed]in the UK guidelines



OP should also consider that credit will be probably pretty restricted for a long time.

You wouldn't want to go through insolvency/bankruptcy and then realise you needed a new car or something else essential for your business.

The 15% of remuneration is a guide and could be open to explanation. For example, if the 25k was saved over a 5 or 6 year period, it could be defined within that limit. I am only suggesting the pension option as a safeguard in any bankruptcy process.

Obviously, if the OP can avoid bankruptcy that would be preferable. However, safeguarding their life savings is also a calculation and the debt is much larger than those savings.

Once a person is a discharged bankrupt, they can start to build up a credit history again, should they chose to do so. Although they will, probably, have to pay a much higher interest rate, as only certain companies would be open to them.
 
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