Will Our Flooded Home in New Zealand Prevent Us From Buying a Home in the UK? – Debbie

“Dear Jon,

Moved to NZ in 2006, allowed to take out large mortgage, which we can no longer honour. Unfortunately had a flood 3 months ago, lower part of property got soaked and wrecked, still waiting for insurance to sort this out!!!! Had someone to rent house, would have just covered mortgage, we were going to live on friends land for free in our van, pay off arrears. Bank now saying they can’t wait any longer, want to repossess house.

Can we stop this? We really want to sort this out, the flood or the delay from insurers is hardly our fault.

Also, since we plan on returning to UK to live later this year, with families help, if we do get repossessed will it effect our chances of becoming a homeowner in UK again?

Debbie”

Dear Debbie,

Have you advised the insurance company of the mortgage company’s desire to repossess the property?

Will the insurance proceeds cover the remaining balance on the mortgage?

By discussing this with the insurance company they may be able to escalate or at least get an understanding of the urgency in the matter.

If you have a repossession or even poor credit in another country, it can have an impact on you here in the UK. On many mortgage applications it can ask about any previous repossessions, bankruptcies, or delinquencies you may have and these questions may not be limited to just the UK. So while I cannot say for sure, as I am not a mortgage lender, there could be an issue with obtaining a mortgage here in the UK if you have a repossession or credit issues from NZ.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Jon Emge is an experienced UK debt advisor who has helped thousands and thousands of people in the UK to deal with problem debt. Jon specialises in finding good solutions for problem debt using a variety of UK specific techniques.

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