Bailiffs chasing me for bill that is not in my name

Spitinyari

Just one more thing, if the DCA company do not already have my current address, is this a good idea? I will need to include a return address in the letter, but I don't particularly want to give them my current address if there's another way to solve this...

bookworm1363

Well, there isn't.... They won't stop hounding you until you show them who's boss.

Either that or you pay for a PO Box address for a bit.

Fire_Fox

Do not speak to debt collectors or bailiffs in person, they will say anything to get you to pay. Another good website is https://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk run by Herbie21 from this site.

Herbie21

Having recently received a copy of a Contract between a large London Borough and their relevant bailiff company under the Freedom of Information Act, it is frightening to once again see in black and white that the KEY to the success of the Contract is the "data cleansing" of the information.

In the case of the Contract in question, this deals with the enforcement of parking charge notices (PCN) and what happens is that AFTER the local authority have issued the ticket and posted a Notice to Owner, they will then pass the cases to the bailiff company who will then use their bank of data obtained from various sources including the electoral roll and this will enable them to "cleanse" the information by the following.

Adding, completing or correcting a post code
Adding or correcting the name against the address.
Correcting the street name or house number.

UPDATING A NEW ADDRESS.

What this means is that the bailiff company then are able to UPDATE the relevant case and send demand letters to the "new address".

Sounds good.......

However, what it does mean is that the debtor DID NOT RECEIVE THE ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE......and has lost the right to appeal !!!!!


Bailiff Advice Online.

JoeBloggs80

Spitinyari wrote: »

Hi,

This is my first post, I have read the forums for various things many times in the past and found them very useful, so I hope someone can help me out on this problem.

I am being chased by some bailiffs for an unpaid gas bill on an address I used to live at 4 or 5 years ago. The problem is my name was never on any of the bills and as far as I know I do not owe any money. I do not know whose name was on the bill and have no contact details for anyone I lived with at the time.

I have never received any written correspondence from these bailiffs but am harrassed constantly by phone calls from 0161 425 7485. I have stopped answering them now.

I couldn't find another forum on this so I thought I'd start a new one, any help would be greatly appreciated...

Spitinyari

I'm in a very similar situation. Bills for an old house I used to live in coming to my address in someone elses name.

I've been sending them back saying 'no longer at this address' and the other day they sent a letter to 'the occupier' asking me to call them up. Presumably they want my details so they can try and get me to pay. I'm right in not contacting them aren't I?

Also - can I really be held accountable for bills in someone elses name in a house I used to co-rent with them?

Spitinyari

I have not had a call from these the DCA chasing me for nearly a month now and when I checked my credit report on Experian there was no black mark next to my name, so I have given up actively trying to resolve this.

I wouldn't take this as advice, I probably just got lucky and they may very well call back at some point....

yorksrabbit

shoppaholic_returns wrote: »

I'm having a similar problem, with british gas and wescot? they are threatening me with court and are saying I owe £845 to them, I have changed supplier and rung BG who assure me there is no debt to pay on my a/c, however wescot still sending threatening letters of court summons etc.Any ideas on what I can do,many thanks!What are these letters you are talking about in previous threads???

We had an issue with moronic British Gas and Westcot duly arrived on the scene (not sure if they were chasing on BG's behalf or if they'd bought a batch of bad debts at a discount -- it's the way these operators make their money.)

We told Westcot they were not party to the dispute, so clear off.

They didn't.

We then contacted the Office of Fair Trading, and copied Westcot in our request that the OFT decide if Westcot was a fit and proper holder of a consumer credit licence, seeing as how it was harassing us for no legitimate reason.

We never heard from Westcot again.

Moral: treat all these outfits the way they treat you. Hard.

They profit from a grubby trade in bad debt, and though the onus is on them to discover whether or not each debt they buy is genuine, they clearly find such research too much trouble / too costly and so rely instead upon steam-rollering their target victims.

Hailz86

I've been sending them back saying 'no longer at this address' and the other day they sent a letter to 'the occupier' asking me to call them up. Presumably they want my details so they can try and get me to pay. I'm right in not contacting them aren't I?I've been sending them back saying 'no longer at this address' and the other day they sent a letter to 'the occupier' asking me to call them up. Presumably they want my details so they can try and get me to pay. I'm right in not contacting them aren't I?


We have a problem like this, keep sending letters back, and we keep getting more, am I allowed to open them to get the number to call these people? xx

bookworm1363

Never speak to them on the phone!

Just don't bother sending the letters back, it's only encouraging them, they're on a fishing expedition.

2sasha

Hi, some months ago I opened a letter which had arrived with other mail, but this one was addressed to someone I had never heard of. It was from court about an unpaid fine by someone who apparently had'nt bought a train ticket! As I'd opened the letter I thought I may as well ring the court and explain that this person had given my address. The lady I spoke to seemed very understanding and told me to just return any more letters I might receive, which I did with the next 3. about a month ago another letter came again with this persons name on, but this letter had no return address so was just left here. today when i returned home there was a hand delivered letter, again addressed to this person, this time it had written urgent! I'm really getting scared now. I'm assuming they must be bailiffs. Has anyone any advice on what else I can do?