visit from a debt collector??

pebblespop

my dh is in debt and has not been paying things as he should due to various problems with cashflow. this is being sorted over the next few months.

he owns a house which is rented out and lives with me but still has all his post sent to the other house and redirected via royal mail (due to laziness!!)

the tenant contacted me today to say a man approached him at 9.20pm last night and asked if he was dh. he said no and the man asked for id. tenant showed him id and the man left.

could this be a debt collector? we haven't have any letters saying someone would come round but a few DCA's have sent chasing letters.

not sure if it seems a bit late for a debt collector to be hanging around outside the house.

who else could it be??

DGJsaver

The police ?

DGJsaver

Sorry , it`s the asking for ID bit that made me post that........i

pebblespop

the only other thing we can think of is he could possibly be being sued by a company his business had a dispute with before christmas. could it be someone issuing court papers or something?

how would we find out...

savingmummy

It sounds to me like it may have been someone with a bit of authority to have asked for ID.
IF this is the case you should recieve a letter stating someone has tried contacting you but been unable to see you.
If your DH has not had letters i very much doubt it is debt collection!

If it was the police they would of questioned the tenant re your dh`s whereabouts i would of thought, they dopn`t normally just leave without pushing for more info.

If could be what you suspect re your DH`s buisness, has he been in contact prior to this regarding this matter?

DarkConvict

If a DCA turns up and asks for person x, and the tenant says he is not that person, they will ask for ID to confirm before asking about the debts because due to data protection they only only speak account holder. To have told the tenant DH was in debt would breach DPA and be illegal.
Tenant actually has the right to refuse to give ID, but so few people know their rights.

The above could apply to a bailiff as well. But really to anyone looking to speak to DH.

You can right to them and remove their common right to visit your property and also remove the phone number so they have to write - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11571485&postcount=4

pebblespop

i am more inclined to think it was this company serving court papers as the debt collection agencys have been contacted and payment plans are in place.
it hasn't got as far as court/bailiffs with the creditors yet.

will have to wait and see what happens. it is very worrying though.

savingmummy

Still may be worth doing as DarkConvict says justy incase.
Can your husband not contact the company his having issues with?

pebblespop

savingmummy wrote: »

Still may be worth doing as DarkConvict says justy incase.
Can your husband not contact the company his having issues with?

no because he is suing them so the solicitors are dealing with it.

i am sure we will find out in due course but it's worrying as we don't know at the moment.

i am going to have a drive around later to see if anyone is waiting outside again.

DGJsaver

savingmummy wrote: »

It sounds to me like it may have been someone with a bit of authority to have asked for ID.
IF this is the case you should recieve a letter stating someone has tried contacting you but been unable to see you.
If your DH has not had letters i very much doubt it is debt collection!

If it was the police they would of questioned the tenant re your dh`s whereabouts i would of thought, they dopn`t normally just leave without pushing for more info.

If could be what you suspect re your DH`s buisness, has he been in contact prior to this regarding this matter?

So who else , other than the Police , have `a bit of authority`

?

pebblespop

DGJsaver wrote: »

So who else , other than the Police , have `a bit of authority`

?

surely the police would have asked a few more questions from the tenant. also it would have been one plain clothes officer in an unmarked car - does that sound like the police coming for no apparent reason? i think they come in two's in uniform. my dh hasn't done anything illegal anyway(that he knows of!).

my dh is on the electoral role at my address so it won't be that hard to find him if it is the police - which i doubt it is.

We will wait and see what happens. I am now thinking it's this company counter suing my DH and they are trying to serve court papers to him.