Can't Pay We'll Take It Away!
Leo
01-04-2022, 07:27 PM
I never gave much thought how bad debts are handled in other countries and I have to say in the US, at least in my own personal experience, we got it easy, or so it seems anyway.
Came across this UK reality TV show called "Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away" where agents will show up for cash or goods to collect on unpaid debts.
Now a couple of things. There are many instances where someone in the US can have property taken away, such as with cars, houses, boats and other personal property whether it be due to non-payment or in a bankruptcy. However, the idea of some people just showing up, seemingly out of the blue, to collect payment or collect goods and come in your home without consent seems quite crazy to me. No one is coming to your house go through your belongings to look for valuables to repay debts. Although, if it's a car loan you've defaulted on, a tow truck might show up to come get it. Same with boats, ATV's and other "luxury" items, don't pay for those then they'll likely disappear overnight. Generally speaking, you're going to know that you're in hot water. In a bankruptcy things can get complicated such as what is called a Chapter 13 bankruptcy where you end up on a payment plan for 5 years but even in those you can kept most if not all property. In a Chapter 7, if you qualify, you might have forfeit property so that creditors can liquidate it, but you know that's happening, so it's not a surprise.
I'm not sympathizing to those who don't pay debts necessarily, I do with guarantors (usually here in the US you hear the term co-signer) since they may not have any clue that someone isn't paying on debts. Also why I would not co-sign a loan or loan money to family and friends (it's one thing if it's a small amount of money, but when it's thousands of dollars it often becomes a problem).
That all being said, I'm curious what has to happen in the UK or other countries when someone falls behind on payments on a debt. It's also very likely that there's caveats in how things go in the US as well, so curious to hear about that as well.
Came across this UK reality TV show called "Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away" where agents will show up for cash or goods to collect on unpaid debts.
Now a couple of things. There are many instances where someone in the US can have property taken away, such as with cars, houses, boats and other personal property whether it be due to non-payment or in a bankruptcy. However, the idea of some people just showing up, seemingly out of the blue, to collect payment or collect goods and come in your home without consent seems quite crazy to me. No one is coming to your house go through your belongings to look for valuables to repay debts. Although, if it's a car loan you've defaulted on, a tow truck might show up to come get it. Same with boats, ATV's and other "luxury" items, don't pay for those then they'll likely disappear overnight. Generally speaking, you're going to know that you're in hot water. In a bankruptcy things can get complicated such as what is called a Chapter 13 bankruptcy where you end up on a payment plan for 5 years but even in those you can kept most if not all property. In a Chapter 7, if you qualify, you might have forfeit property so that creditors can liquidate it, but you know that's happening, so it's not a surprise.
I'm not sympathizing to those who don't pay debts necessarily, I do with guarantors (usually here in the US you hear the term co-signer) since they may not have any clue that someone isn't paying on debts. Also why I would not co-sign a loan or loan money to family and friends (it's one thing if it's a small amount of money, but when it's thousands of dollars it often becomes a problem).
That all being said, I'm curious what has to happen in the UK or other countries when someone falls behind on payments on a debt. It's also very likely that there's caveats in how things go in the US as well, so curious to hear about that as well.
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