Trying to help a friend

fastwaffle

Hi all

Hoping someone can give some advice. I have a friend who has some old debt that's never been paid and has moved a lot of times and (at present) the debtors haven't managed to track them down due to moving a lot (not to say they won't eventually)

They would like to take some steps to face up to the debt, which is a really positive sign, however they are currently living with me (can't rent on their own due to credit). We have no legal/financial ties with each other and the property is solely in my name and the contents are probably 95% mine, but I'm sure that won't stop debt collectors knocking at the door if they got the address and that's something I can do without (having to prove my contents are actually mine isn't a fun exercise)

My friend wants to do an Equifax/Experian check to get a handle on the status of their debt. It's been a long time of burying their head in the sand and they've really no idea if they have CCJs etc and figured a report would help understand it better

I'm happy to order an Equifax/Experian report on my debit card for them but my concern is over a) whether me doing that would in any way link us financially and b) if they put my address in as their current address, will their creditors somehow find that? (seeing as they get their information from companies like Equifax anyway and they would then surely link their old addresses with mine as a new one they didn't know about)

It's a bit of a predicament because I don't want and my friend doesn't want, my address dragged into it, but they need to start somewhere and thought getting a report would be a step forward.

Any advice appreciated!

miggy

I'm not the one to answer this so I'll just bump it for you and hopefully someone who knows about credit will come up with an answer!

anniecave

using your debit card wouldn't link anything - it's just a method of payment

however doing the experian check would probably mean old addresses and new address for your friend would be linked

other option would be for your friend to do it the harder way, look back through old bank statements/card statements etc and work out who he might owe money to and contact each lender to find out. Not sure how your friend would be able to do that without giving their current address.

In my experience most providers don't actually resort to sending bailiffs anywhere so I wouldn't worry about that too much. And they always send letters out first. Actually doing bailiff calls is a last resort (they often threaten to do so several times but never actually do) as it's costly and if it turns out the debtor isn't actually there then it just adds to the debt!

Peekay32

I use equifax in my line of work, and YES, creditors will get the address you enter as the current address.