Being chased for someone else's debt

beautyscientist

Out of the blue I got a letter from a company I have never heard of asking me to settle a debt of a few hundred pounds. It was addressed to me at my current address with a covering letter also addressed to me.

It also contained a photocopy of what looked like a county court judgment against someone with the same name as me but with an address in a nearby town. I have never come across this other person and I have no connection with the address in the judgment. My name is a common enough one- I expect there are a few people with the same name as me in most reasonable sized towns and cities.

My assumption is that the guy they have the judgment against has disappeared and that they have got my details out of the phone book.

Should I take any action, or should I ignore it? I don't want to come home from work and find the bailifs have been in and pinched my telly.

iquit

Take action and contact the court ASAP so that this can be clarified.

skylight

They cannot just turn up at your home.

But I would write to them (DO NOT SIGN THE LETTER) stating that you are not this person, not connected with them and do not expect to hear from them again. But expect to hear from them again.

You should not sign the letter as you may have to go to a "prove the debt" letter, and it has been suspected that some dodgy DCAs have forged signatures onto CCAs as "proof".

nickc25

The CCJ is NOT you so you do not have anything to worry about. Just contact the company and tell them they have the wrong person. How long have you been living there? If it is for example before the CCJ you could send them proof to shut them up very quickly.

cabbage

The debt collectors are on a fishing expedition and by sending out loads of letters to various people with the same name they hope that someone will pay up because they feel intimidated. This was covered on The One Show recently and it recorded that a pensioner committed suicide over a debt they didn't owe. Others paid up just to get a bit of peace but didn't owe anyone anything.

As the CCJ is not yours you could just ignore the letter.

If you feel that you want to respond in some way to put your mind at rest, then send the nationaldebtline template letter http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/temp/4700_52391.pdf

fermi

I'll move this over to the main DFW board, since this is not related to bankruptcy.

Should get more help there.

beautyscientist

Thanks to everyone for the response. I am not particularly easily rattled but this was annoying. I hadn't heard the story about the pensioner committing suicide but I can see how it could happen.

Interestingly, I did send them an e-mail pointing out their error and asking for an apology and got no response. They don't answer their phone either.

I'll send the standard letter cabbage has suggested as well.

mapcr77

You can write to the money sections in newspapers. The one in the Sunday Times is pretty good as they deal with reader's money issues (and companies of course do not want the bad publicity).

Lensman_2

This was posted earlier in the week. You And Yours on Radio 4 (the first 10 minutes).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/youandyours_thu

Andrew MacKinley MP is askng for such stories for a parliamentary question on 22nd April. He can be reached here:
http://www.andrewmackinlay.co.uk/contacts.htm

I would copy and paste your posts in to one message and send it to him. The same goes for anyone else with similar (or worse) experiences. Get in touch with him - this is a chance to make a difference.

worried_jim

Don't worry about the letter- as already stated they are just fishing, they will send the same letter to everyone in the UK with the same name and dob that they can trace thru the electoral register etc. When you get in contact just point out that it is not you- if they do threaten you with any further action- just laugh, its there time and money they are wasting and put any further correspondence in the bin with a smile on your face.