MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Would you give debt collectors someone's address?

kalimai

Never, we have had loads of bills/chasing letters for the previous owners, even up to 4 years later. All are just returned to sender. If baliffs came round they have no right to enter without the police and a quick check of the electoral register would easily prove that those people no longer live here.

Having been in debt and had baliffs knock on the door, I would never let anyone else experience that.

farang_2

Yes, absolutely.
Why should people use services and buy goods and then not have to pay for them.
If you can not afford it don't buy it.
In the end it is those that pay their bills that end up paying for those that don't.

Dave101t

i would, its got nothing to do with 'would you like it if someone else did that to you' as i would accept the consequences of my actions. they are cheating, and probably cheating at public funds to boot.

MORPH3US

scotsbob wrote: »

Do unto others etc. ...... <snip> shopping them to the police.

Surely you can see the huge dose of irony in that comment....

Anyway back to the OP, this has happened to me in the past but I didn't know the persons address so I did as most others have said and "returned to sender" which incidentally they completely ignore....

However if that wasn't an option then yes I would pass on the persons address... they ran up the debt so they should deal with the consequences whatever they may be.

RuthnJasper

No, I wouldn't. It's absolutely none of my business. I would write "moved away" on letters and return them to sender. Any bailiffs that turned up would be politely sent on their way again and they can take up the matter with the police/landlord/whoever.

I wouldn't wish to get caught up in anyone else's mess.

Cloudane

Probably not. I'm not bothered about the bayliffs - I'm innocent and have ID, so why should I be. But more importantly I don't know this person and what they did to get into that kind of trouble. Sure it's probably just consumer debt, but what if they're involved with something of a more criminal nature. Either it makes it more certain that you should tell them, or more certain that you should leave the heck alone. I'm in the latter camp - it's not worth getting involved and possibly ending up on someone's hit-list for siding with the wrong people.

As for moralising about consumer debt (if that's the issue) I'm sure many people on debt reduction areas of this forum would argue (rightly, IMO) that it's not necessarily their fault, or if it is it was through plain old foolishness rather than done purposefully. It doesn't make it right, but I don't think I could pass the address on. I don't really believe in casting judgement upon people from some high horse position - it's not my place, and there are all sorts of fitting clich!s about the unlikelihood of any human being being "without sin" that make the idea a little uncomfortable.

creased-leach

Yes, I would.

A friend of ours rents out a couple of properties. One lot of his tenants fell behind by months in the rent, and when they eventually moved on under threat of eviction they left behind a string of debts...and trashed the house.

They owed the water board a fair sum- but convinced them that the water rates were the landlords responsibility. They weren't. However, our friend had a CCJ against him for the water rates- it affected his credit rating, caused him all sorts of hassle, and cost him time & money to sort out.

Astoundingly, the same people are now living just four doors away from his other rental place in the same town...

gerryh_2

I always pass the details on. Unpaid debt gets passed on to honest bill payers by way of higher bills.

FATBALLZ

scotsbob wrote: »

Do unto others etc.

I wouldn't want anyone passing on my details, I certainly wouldn't do it to anyone else. Shopping someone to a debt collector is on a par with shopping them to the police.

Too right, if I knew a serial rapist it would be morally unacceptable to shop them to the police, who am I to infringe his rights by passing on his details? Crimewatch on BBC is a disgusting programme. Shopping some dodgy sponger who doesn't bother to pay back money they borrowed is just as dispicable.

Alexander56

Most definitely. Somebody used my address as a forwarding address for all utilities when he moved from a property. I went through 18 months of letters and calls from solicitors then threats that debt collectors would call to my home. No matter how many times I wrote back and said I had never heard of this person, never met him and didn't know anything about him, the letters kept coming. I eventually threatened that I would sue for harassment and they gave up. But I would certainly love to meet up with the person who used my address.