Owe money, can I open a new bank account?

rubberfactory

First of all I know I'm an idiot. But I do want to fix it and I'm scared of the repercussions.

I'll be direct about this question...
I had a student account with Ulster Bank. They gave me a credit card. By the end of it I owed around €800. I couldn't pay it but I stopped getting letters for some reason, they have my mobile number but never called me. I got a letter from a debt collection agency, cannot remember the name of the company, but they informed me that my debt had been transferred over to them. I can't quite remember what the letter said but I just never paid it, stupid I know but I was about 18 at the time and I was panicking and scared. This was about 3 years ago, and I haven't received any phone calls or letters since then. The longer I left it the more worried I got about what was going to happen when I finally did make contact so I just kinda put it off...

Now I want to fix this, I haven't been in contact with Ulster Bank or this Collection agency in years. I am about to start a new job, a job that requires me to have a bank account to have my wages paid into. I want to save the money to pay back the debt in full, or work out a payment plan or something. I just want to pay it back.

Can I open a new bank account elsewhere? Or will this debt prevent me from doing so?
If I open a new account elsewhere will Ulster Bank and the Collection Agency find out and track me down?
What is the worst case scenario? I am worried that I'll be arrested or something and have a criminal record for the rest of my life. I really shouldn't have put this off for so long and I even forgot about it for over a year as I never used my bank account as my previous job was paid cash in hand, (on the books though).

What can I do?

Edit: Also I don't want to open this account to avoid paying the debt, I want it so I can get paid wages to pay off the debt.

stephendevlin

open a credit union account if ya want and have it paid into that, otherwise man up and go to the bank or another bank. I dont think they wont give you a bank account on that basis but if you ever needed a mortgage or loan it wont look very favourable

rubberfactory

see what i'm worried about is opening a new account with another bank and the debt collecters tracking me down. I have no idea what they'll do. Will they just demand the money back in one go? or will they take me to court? I just want to avoid getting into more trouble.

stephendevlin

seems you've already crossed that bridge.. did you change address since? I dont think they will run a credit check on you or anything just to open an account. if they wanted to take you to court im sure they would have done it by now

rubberfactory

yeah i have changed address, but they had my parents home number and my mobile number. but just never rang me, ever. I assume they must have passed that information on to the recollection agency.

unclebill98

Order an ICB report and check your credit history. That will decides your next steps.

misslt

Even if they do contact you, the debt collector will most likely be happy to work out a payment plan with you and not demand it all one go.

If you get the account open easily enough I'd bite the bullet and contact the bank. You will be making the effort to pay it back so it won't be all bad.