In need of advise - Historic Abuse and Financial Consequences

[Headorheart22]

Hi. Many thanks in advance of any thoughts or help with this.

Around 9 years ago I was in an emotionally abusive relationship which had serious financial ramifications and turned my life on its head. For context, as a result of the EA I lost my career, ended up homeless for a period and am utterly ashamed to say acquired a criminal conviction. Since this time I have worked to try to rebuild a life and deal with all consequences; many of which related to financial matters. I recently became aware of a matter which remained outstanding from this time, of which I had no prior knowledge. This has essentially over ridden all the work I have done to put right my credit history and move forward over the past 6 years. I do not want to give in to this. Does anyone know if there is anything which can be done to address 'debt'/ fines/ defaults etc which have been accrued as a consequence of abusive circumstances so that one is able to move forward with a 'normal' life?

[TyrionsNextWife]

Is this a debt that’s now come to light? If so, it may be statue barred if you haven’t acknowledged it for 6 years. The moneysavingexpert forums have great letter templates etc for this sort of thing.

[Headorheart22]

@TyrionsNextWife thank you for your reply. Yes this latest does relate to a debt/ fine, however it is from HMCS and subsequently is not eligible for being statue barred. This is the case for all of the financial matters (I have never borrowed monies or had a credit card etc however the situation I was in led predominantly to court/ fine related debts)

[TyrionsNextWife]

You’ll have to give more information about what is the debt is and how it came about before anyone can give anything other then very generic advice.

I take it the debt is now a ccj? If so, how old is the judgement, what was it for and how did it end up in your name (was it fraudulently obtained credit etc).

[TyrionsNextWife]

Also, does it appear on your credit report?

[Headorheart22]

@TyrionsNextWife thanks again. There are multiple court debts related to this period, a number of which were consolidated into one large fine. That which has just come to light relates to a public transport fine (travel with no ticket) which was obtained during a period of homelessness trying to get to a safer location. These incidents were all during 2012. I am unable to ascertain exactly what marks are on my credit file as I do not have access to it. Due to events of this period I am unable to get a bank account. Details of an account seem to be needed to check my credit file online. The credit companies also have note of me living at a very old address (pre 2012). Sorry it is a mess of vast proportions I am afraid.

[Headorheart22]

In addition to the fines (all of which incurred CCJ initially as I was not aware of them) there are a number of other debts for the same period, including a mobile phone contract which defaulted when my funds ran out (phone acquired for and used by ex partner in my name). There were also bank accounts which must have gone into unauthorised overdraft when everything culminated in me becoming homeless. Subsequently my MH suffered and until I got a bit more of a grip in 2015 I stupidly did not deal with things in the most intelligent manner. Since 2015 I have been paying all debts as scheduled. I must add that prior to these events I did not have a bad mark on my credit file.

[Headorheart22]

I have just come back to write this down as it is too embarrassing to share with anyone in real life. How dreadfully flawed is the British justice system that it is possible to prosecute/ impose a £1400 fine on an individual who stupidly used public transport 8 years ago without a £2.80 ticket during a period of homelessness/ abuse/ financial hardship when it is not possible to prosecute an individual for abuse more than 6 months after its occurrence. I am sure that this is just one example of many.

[RedHelenB]

You am should be able to get a basic bank account Maybe this could be moved to the money page?