How do creditors find you?

Shaunp_2

Not sure if this is the right section to post this.

I've recently moved house and I'm renting a room off the owner who is a live in landlord and good friend.

He had yet to contact the water company after a couple of months of living here when we got a water bill but in my name! Where have they got my information from? I've obviously changed my bank account address etc and have been working but how did they suddenly decide it was me they should send the bill to.

deepintrouble

Anyone with an answer to this?

Seems a bit scary to me

geordie_joe

Who did you tell that you had moved?

geordie_joe

Been racking my brains for this. 12 years ago there was a system in place called the Gone Away Information Network.

Basically it was a database where creditors could enter information about people who owed them money and had moved house. If you had any financial dealings with a company and moved house, and told them, they would then update your record to show where you had moved too. This meant if you "forgot" to inform a company that you had moved they could easily find you.

12 years ago I moved to Dorset, from the North East on the spur of the moment. Decided to move on the Thursday night, spent the Friday and Saturday packing and moved on the Sunday.

The next day, Monday, I went to the local HSBC branch to tell them I had just moved to the area and need to change my address on my account. They were the only people who knew where I was at that time, apart from my son and DiL as I had moved in with them.

The following day I got a letter from one of my creditors asking me to confirm my new address. I was stunned that they had found I moved so quickly, not that I was running away from them, I was running away from a woman!

If that system is still running, or one like it, then if you told your bank you had moved they may have updated your details. The water company could then have used the database to find out who was living at that address and come up with your name.

Sol00

Yeah I think GAIN is still in use. I noticed it when I used Credit Expert.