his dad's debt!

Don't ignore the letter, but you are under no obligation whatsoever to pass on any of your boyfriend's fathers details to whoever wrote the letter.
Did the letter come from BARCLAYCARD or one of their DCA's such as MERCERS.
In any case niether Barclaycard or their agent should discuss someone's debt with a third party, without the express permission of the debtor himself.
Simply write to them stating that you are NOT the person they are trying to get hold of, and instruct them to stop sending correspondence to you.
If you know of the whereabouts of your boyfriend's father you could, although again you have no obligation so to do, inform HIM that Barclaycard, or their agent, is looking for him.

dogwoof wrote:

trouble with that is, they could hassle me still to get in touch with him, get his details from me

They have no legal entitlement to do this - it would break Data Protection rules, as the debt has nothing to do with you. It is up to them to locate the Father - you are not in any trouble, nor are you obliged to give away Dad's details.

Hi dogwoof

I would repeat Rog's advice

Simply write to them stating that you are NOT the person they are trying to get hold of, and instruct them to stop sending correspondence to you. You might want to add that haressing someone other than the debtor for payment contravenes the Office of Fair Trading Guidelines.

You do not need a template letter (you use this if there is a possibility that you owe it).

If you know of the whereabouts of your boyfriend's father you could, although again you have no obligation so to do, inform HIM that Barclaycard, or their agent, is looking for him.

Y

Hi dogwoof - there is no standard template letter, but I would suggest something along the following lines:

"Dear sirs,

Your ref:

I acknowledge no debt to your Company.

I refer to your letter of xxxxxx in which you claim that I have an outstanding debt, to Barclaycard, of £5,000.00.

I would like to inform you that I have never had an account with Barclaycard, nor do I have, or have ever had, any debt to Barclaycard.

You will be aware that, under Section 2.8 a the Office of Fair Trading 'Guidelines for Debt Collection, the Office of Fair Trading considers it to be 'Deceptive and Unfair' to 'Send a demand for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the debtor may be made.'

I would, therefore, ask you to cease, forthwith, any further contact with me and I instruct you to remove my name, address and any other of my personal details that you hold, from your records.

I would like written confirmation, within the next 7 days, that you have done this.

Any further contact, whether by letter, telephone or personal visit, in connection with the aforementioned 'alleged debt', from your company, will be considered as 'harrassment' contrary to Section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act, 1970, and will be reported to the relevent authorities.

Yours Sincerely"


If you need to check the full guidelines for debt collection, check on the following link: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

I hope this helps.