Strange letters from finance company.

hm2be

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. I hope someone here can help....

Basically my boyfriend keeps getting letters from a finance company suggesting that he has signed up to an credit agreement with a no win no fee solicitors for a car crash he was in.

My boyfriend has never heard of these people. He also was never in an accident. They somehow have all his details. He phoned them to tell them this and they reffered him to the solicitors who say they have not heard of him. He phoned again to tell them this and thought it was sorted. He now has recieved more statements saying he owes them money. What is the best way to deal with these people??

Older_but_not_wiser_2

I'd suggest asking the firm for all the paperwork they hold on the "case", then take it from there.
Make sure he does not admit or imply that he accepts any liability for this.

Sounds dodgy to me though.

mandi

I would suggest completely ignoring them , and even returning their mail with a letter telling them if they dont stop harassing him he will take action... Try this link..http://www.dma.org.uk/content/Prf-Introduction.asp to stop the mail



Mandi

Jake'sGran

Ignore them. These are very unscrupulous companies. If they persist tell them you have written to the Insurance Ombudsman - in fact you can do just that. This usually scares people off, especially if they are dodgy as this lot sounds to be.

You may think it is worrying to ignore them but be assured that it is the right thing to do if he has never heard of them before.

Astaroth

Unfortunately the insurance ombudsman doesnt exist any more and as this is a loan company rather than an insurer they wouldnt have been interested even if it did exist

You can however threaten to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service which replaced the previous seperate ombudsmans and covers both companies providing insurance and banks/ creditors etc.

Of cause the other option is just to put the letters straight in the bin (or shred/ recycle them - which ever your preference)

hm2be

Thanks for your help. Really worried about ignoring it incase they come knocking on my door in a couple of years time wanting the money plus interest. My boyfriend started receiving these letters last year and the interest that has accrued is massive. Im worried someone has used his details although Im not sure why they would. Or even maybe one of those people in the street working on commission has taken his details and made a claim on his behalf for the comission.

The accident was supposed to have happened in 2000 when he wasnt even driving. He was supposed to have made a claim in 2001. But the first he knew of it was the letter last year. I dont know how these things work but surely you have to have a service to pay for it -ie if they claim he does owe them money he hasnt even spoken to any solicitors so what service is he paying for? (Sorry rambling abit).

Want to deal with it so may threaten with financial ombudsman. Do you think its worth getting legal advice?

Astaroth

If you have access to free legal advice then there is never harm in getting it but on the other hand it isnt worth paying a solicitor £150/ hr to have a look at it (in my opinion)

Of cause your b/friend can write to them with a £10 fee under the dataprotection act and request that they provide a copy of all the records they hold on him... if they fail to do so you can complain to the Information Commissioner

LewisC_2

hm2be wrote:

Thanks for your help. Really worried about ignoring it incase they come knocking on my door in a couple of years time wanting the money plus interest. My boyfriend started receiving these letters last year and the interest that has accrued is massive. Im worried someone has used his details although Im not sure why they would. Or even maybe one of those people in the street working on commission has taken his details and made a claim on his behalf for the comission.

The accident was supposed to have happened in 2000 when he wasnt even driving. He was supposed to have made a claim in 2001. But the first he knew of it was the letter last year. I dont know how these things work but surely you have to have a service to pay for it -ie if they claim he does owe them money he hasnt even spoken to any solicitors so what service is he paying for? (Sorry rambling abit).

Want to deal with it so may threaten with financial ombudsman. Do you think its worth getting legal advice?

If it's gone to an insurance company, it's gone through the police too. You can't claim on insurance without a crime reference number. Call the police (not 999 obviously!) and try to get more details from them. It's a long shot, but it could be down to number plate theft - if someone has cloned your boyfriend's number plates and got into an accident, it'd be tracked back to him.

Jake'sGran

Astaroth wrote:

If you have access to free legal advice then there is never harm in getting it but on the other hand it isnt worth paying a solicitor £150/ hr to have a look at it (in my opinion)

Of cause your b/friend can write to them with a £10 fee under the dataprotection act and request that they provide a copy of all the records they hold on him... if they fail to do so you can complain to the Information Commissioner

I was thinking the same yesterday i.e. about the cost of seeing a solicitor.
To Astaroth - I saw a solicitor the other week for half an hour free of charge. As far as I know most solicitors will give this amount of time for free but not sure it would apply in this case. The original poster could always ring some local ones and ask. NB Had not realised that Insurance Ombudsman now under heading of Financial Services.