Neil Robertson

Will You Be Prosecuted For Debt Fraud?

If you have debt problems you may be worried about being prosecuted.  Fortunately this is very unlikely.

Debt collection agencies will often threaten people that owe money with prosecution for fraud. Unfortunately it is just one of the tactics that they use to frighten people into paying money that they can't afford.

Debt Fraud Prosecution - How Likely Is It?

In the UK, prosecution for debt fraud is only likely in the most extreme of cases (e.g. applying under someone else's name or saying that you earned 100,000pa when you actually earned 5,000). Even some quite extreme cases don't come to court. Therefore if a debt collection agency is threatening you with a fraud prosecution they are almost certainly lying.

One other possible route for prosecution in the UK is the bankruptcy process, if you decide to go down this route. The insolvency service will investigate the circumstances leading up to your bankruptcy to see if you were guilty of reckless behavior. It is possible (although extremely unlikely) that they will decide that your conduct before bankruptcy deserves prosecution. This is even less likely now that gambling has been removed as a specific reason for prosecution.

Ignore the threats and concentrate on working towards a solution to your debt problem. Just remember that a debt collector will say almost anything to get you to pay them some money. They have no more knowledge than you of whether or not you could be prosecuted for fraud and the creditor that they represent will certainly not consider it worthwhile to try and get you prosecuted - all they are interested in is your money.

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