Settling with debt that's not mine...?

CiderDrinker87 · 17 July 2014 at 6:52PM

Please help!

I am currently living with my partner in a house that he owns with his ex girlfriend; she moved out of the property just over 2 years ago. He has received letters for her but has had no contact with her and therefore has no idea where she is, and so he has destroyed all of the mail, without opening any of it. I opened a letter addressed to her today in complete error - it is a bill from a debt collection company to the value of £192.25, and states that if this is not paid (or if contact with the company is not made within 10 days), her information will be passed on to the pre-litigation department.

I am unsure and worried about what to do next; if I contact the company, explain my mistake and say that she hasn't lived here for a considerable amount of time, I fear that my partner will then become liable in some way because he hasn't contacted them or returned the post to state that she has moved, meaning that the company has not received their money when perhaps they might have done if they had had that information. If I do not contact the company, the house will be seen as an asset and they will then be able to use that against the amount of money owed (currently £192 but my research suggests that additional charges will be incurred for one reason or another). The situation is not helped by the fact that she has never paid towards any of the deposit, mortgage or the bills, whilst she was living here or since she has moved out; this has been paid for entirely by my partner, apart from for the last 6 months when we have shared the costs.

I am prepared to accept my mistake in opening the letter and paying the £192.25 as I see it as a small price to pay in comparison to the potential consequences that I've mentioned above. I guess I'm hoping for some reassurance/guidance that this is the best thing that I can do for myself and my partner...! And obviously to be more careful when opening post!!!

Thanks!

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Karen777 · 17 July 2014 at 7:00PM

Is it an unsecured debt solely in her name? If so, then they can't take the house or compel anyone else to pay the debt. I would return the letter saying not known at this address.

I can't for one earthly reason see why you would pay the debt!

~Beanie~ · 17 July 2014 at 7:13PM

As above, why on earth would you want to pay someone else's debt? Just seal the envelope back up and put it in the nearest post box marked 'Return to Sender- No Longer at This Address'.

Even if there are additional fees and charges added on to the original sum, it is still not your debt so it is not up to you to pay it.

CiderDrinker87 · 17 July 2014 at 7:17PM

It was originally from Ikano Financial Services, who I think manage various store card accounts, so I assume it's perhaps one of those. It is only her name that appears throughout the letter, so I guess it is just her debt; I'm not sure about 'unsecured' or how I would find this out?

Believe me it is far far far from ideal, but I've found that that it is illegal to intercept or throw away someone else's post and don't want to get my partner in trouble for having done so, as he only did this because he had no idea where she was and no interest in finding out; pure naïvety/ignorance on his part. Because this letter has come from a debt collectors, I'm worried that someone will come to the door, I will have to prove I'm not her, and then there will be negative consequences for my boyfriend (either personally or with the house/possessions) as a result.

My other concern (and I'm afraid this is where things get a bit Jeremy Kyle-esque!) is that we are planning to consider either moving or remortgaging this house together at some point next year; we will HAVE to find her and make contact in order to sort out all the legal bits. If we make things difficult for her now (she's nearly 8 months pregnant) by sending debt collectors to her door, she could potentially make things very difficult for us. She had previously told my partner (in an email dated about 3 years ago!) that she wouldn't want any money from the sale/remortgaging of the house, but as this is obviously not legally-binding I'm concerned that she may then retaliate to this situation by asking for her half of the house when we approach her.

Grrrr! I don't like being a grown up

ALIBOBSY · 17 July 2014 at 7:18PM

Don't panic that's what these companies rely on. They lie, threaten and cheat and if you call them will try to blag you into paying even though this isn't your debt.

Unless this was a joint account with your partner then her debt has NOTHING to do with either of you-DO NOT PAY.

Did your partner ever have any financial link to his ex? E.G joint credit card, joint loan, joint mortgage, joint bank account? If there was he may need to contact the credit reference agencies to ensure their accounts are separated. Also make sure non of her post is coming to your address.

Rule number one is debt collectors lie, pre litigation means nothing. If I wrote to you and said "Mr blog who lived at your address previously owes me £50 so if you don't cough up I MAY refer this to my litigation department in the spare room" you would laugh. Their threat-o-grams are just as silly.

All the debt charities and advice services as well as all debt advice forums and sites state NEVER phone them. Once they have your number they will try to hassle you, even when they know legally you don't owe them a penny.

It is extremely rare for any debt collection company to take a debtor to court, but they use it as a constant threat. TBH the cost of taking this to court would be higher than the actual amount you quoted so simply not worth it. Even if they did you could ring the court and tell them that court documents have been sent to an address where the debtor no longer lives.

Personally I would return any and all post as return to sender no longer at this address, ensure that the credit files are up to date so no financial link is showing between them and check that the electoral register is correctly showing the ex as no longer at the address.

Then forget about it.

If you really must do something write-don't let them get hold of your phone number and return the letter confirming that the above person no longer lives at this address and hasn't lived here since xx/xx/20xx.

The trouble might come if down the line the ex had alot of debt and goes bankrupt, then they can come after her share of the house if her name is still on it. The partner needs to get the house situation sorted and get her name off the mortgage and deeds if she is still on them.

From debt collectors POV if her name is on the deeds they will pursue that address.

Ali x

CiderDrinker87 · 17 July 2014 at 7:19PM

~Beanie~ wrote: »

As above, why on earth would you want to pay someone else's debt? Just seal the envelope back up and put it in the nearest post box marked 'Return to Sender- No Longer at This Address'.

Even if there are additional fees and charges added on to the original sum, it is still not your debt so it is not up to you to pay it.

Can I still do that, having opened it??

I would much prefer to do this!!! But again am concerned that because my partner has lived at this address consistently he might then be liable for something (legal, financial) because he has thrown away her post and not notified the company that she no longer lives here.

CiderDrinker87 · 17 July 2014 at 7:25PM

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

Don't panic that's what these companies rely on. They lie, threaten and cheat and if you call them will try to blag you into paying even though this isn't your debt.

Unless this was a joint account with your partner then her debt has NOTHING to do with either of you-DO NOT PAY.

Did your partner ever have any financial link to his ex? E.G joint credit card, joint loan, joint mortgage, joint bank account? If there was he may need to contact the credit reference agencies to ensure their accounts are separated. Also make sure non of her post is coming to your address.

Rule number one is debt collectors lie, pre litigation means nothing. If I wrote to you and said "Mr blog who lived at your address previously owes me £50 so if you don't cough up I MAY refer this to my litigation department in the spare room" you would laugh. Their threat-o-grams are just as silly.

All the debt charities and advice services as well as all debt advice forums and sites state NEVER phone them. Once they have your number they will try to hassle you, even when they know legally you don't owe them a penny.

It is extremely rare for any debt collection company to take a debtor to court, but they use it as a constant threat. TBH the cost of taking this to court would be higher than the actual amount you quoted so simply not worth it. Even if they did you could ring the court and tell them that court documents have been sent to an address where the debtor no longer lives.

Personally I would return any and all post as return to sender no longer at this address, ensure that the credit files are up to date so no financial link is showing between them and check that the electoral register is correctly showing the ex as no longer at the address.

Then forget about it.

If you really must do something write-don't let them get hold of your phone number and return the letter confirming that the above person no longer lives at this address and hasn't lived here since xx/xx/20xx.

The trouble might come if down the line the ex had alot of debt and goes bankrupt, then they can come after her share of the house if her name is still on it. The partner needs to get the house situation sorted and get her name off the mortgage and deeds if she is still on them.

From debt collectors POV if her name is on the deeds they will pursue that address.

Ali x

They had a joint loan which he's just finished paying off (again, she has never contributed to this) and still have a joint mortgage and her name is still on the deeds. He hasn't been able to afford to remortgage on his own, and we don't think we will be in a position to do this together until next year. As far as I'm aware her details on the electoral roll have changed.

Thanks! X

FireWyrm · 17 July 2014 at 7:25PM

CiderDrinker87 wrote: »

, but I've found that that it is illegal to intercept or throw away someone else's post

You've been watching too much American TV. It isnt illegal to open post addressed to someone else, neither is it illegal to throw it away, light a fire with it or sent it back to sender marked 'not known'. The illegality comes if you act upon information contained within said letters. So, if you take out a credit card using a prefilled credit card application sent to someone else, then yes, that would be illegal. Simply opening someone elses mail isnt and if it comes through your door, doubly so. I open all mail that comes through my letter box.

Stop worrying.

The debt isnt yours, you are not liable and neither is your boyfriend unless he was a co-signatory to the debt. In any case, these are civil debts and as such as unsecured, which means, any property isnt at risk here.

ALIBOBSY · 17 July 2014 at 7:30PM

I wouldn't tell the debt collectors where she lives, even if you know. Just say she isn't at that address.

It isn't illegal to open miss sent mail as long as it isn't done with a view to "fraud" or theft. TBH how would anyone know he didn't send all these letters back RTS.
TBH the police have got much bigger things to deal with.

Regarding the secured/unsecured thing, you would know. Basically mortgages and some types of loans are secured against the house and he would have counter signed anything like this. The secured loans are usually in thousands not hundreds.

However if they have a mortgage together her non payment will have effected your partners credit file already, she will have defaulted already.

You need to try to get the remortgage done ASAP before more debts start popping up out of the woodwork and see if you can get a notice of dissociation ut on his credit file-though not sure if you can do this before the mortgage is settled and they are no longer joint owners.

Still wouldn't pay as this may be the first demand of many, how much of her debt are you prepared to settle.

Concentrate your efforts on getting their names unlinked and her off the house.

Good Luck
Ali x

ALIBOBSY · 17 July 2014 at 7:33PM

BTW making someone bankrupt is pretty costly, at least around 1k so companies won't do that unless the amount owed is a high amount.

TBH even court action wouldn't be worth it for this sort of amount. Just reseal and RTS, same with any other letters that come.

Ali x

ViolaLass · 17 July 2014 at 7:36PM

I really think you're making a mountain out of a molehill here. When we moved into this house, we got post chasing debts from (I assume) previous tenants. I always opened the post and called the company to let them know that the person did not live here any more and I had no idea where they were. There were never any issues with this and the post quickly dried up.

Had I known where the people were, I would have told the companies. I don't see why they should get to avoid their debts. As it was, this option was not open to me.

They're not going to make you liable just because you threw some post away. That's not how debts work.

Settling with debt that's not mine...?

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