Debt collection letter to our address but for unknown addressee - help!

FTB83

Hi - I just wasn't sure where to post this so hoping someone might be able to help on here...

We bought our house in May of last year and were told by the previous owners to forward any post addressed to them on to their new address. There was also post for someone else arriving (one or two items per week) and they just said to return to sender as "addressee unknown" (that the guy had lived there for a very short time and they now didn't know where he was).

Anyway, we've been receiving post for this guy more and more frequently and one piece I opened accidentally - it was notice of the newregistration of a website domain. I enveloped the letter straight back up and returned to sender as addressee unknown with a letter explaining I'd opened it in error. We have even had things arriving from the DVLA (one of them I know was for road tax as the look of it matched exactly what I received on the same day - my tax is due the same time) and yesterday we received something that had no return address. I opened it and thank goodness I did - it's a notice from a debt collection agency that, due to lack of payment, the agency is about to either instruct their solicitors to contact the addressee (at our address!) or instruct local collection agents to visit our address. I've called them this morning and explained that the addressee is not know at our address and it seems to be all sorted...but this has worried me in that is he using our address fraudulently? I think things like this can black-list an address rather than a person?

What should we do? Or should we just wait and see what more happens?

Thanks,

FTB83

prutter

My understanding is that 'blacklisting' of properties/addresses no longer exists. It's all on the individual (and linked persons, spouses etc).

I'm sure someone else will be along to confirm this?

Doozergirl

I'm sure it's the person, not the house too.

rosysparkle

It's the person.

Just write "not known at this address, return to sender" on the envelope and put the mail back in the post unopened. No need for a stamp.

If he is using the address fraudulently, that will alert companies that he isn't there. If it's just that he hasn't told them he's moved, they'll soon get the message.

Edit - don't open the post!

FTB83

Thanks for your replies. That's such a relief about addresses not being black-listed now! :j

I normally do just write "not known at this address, return to sender" (we get a good three or four pieces of mail for him per week), but the one I mention in my original post had no return address on it at all so there was nothing else I could do to alert the company that he's not at our address other than open it and contact them via details in the letter.

Just hoping his mail stops soon, it's getting to be a royal pain in the a*se

tripled

You don't have to open it... the Royal Mail will deal with it. I've often sent back things with no return address, I don't know where they go and I don't really care!

Paul_Herring

FTB83 wrote:

but the one I mention in my original post had no return address on it at all so there was nothing else I could do to alert the company that he's not at our address other than open it and contact them via details in the letter.

There is something else you could do. Put "not known at this address, return to sender" and let someone at the post office open it to find the senders address.

JennyW_2

this happened to us at our last address. Someone else's name on our address - very odd especially as we'd been there 5.5 years Anyway I contacted the company who were chasing the debt and informed them. Never heard anything further and we've not been blacklisted.

Bun

We had this problem with the last owner. I spent over a year cursing her for bailiff's letters etc until I found out recently it was a British Gas !!!!-up - upstairs bills were in her name and they had us down as one building. The post I believe goes to Belfast where they are permitted to open it. One word of warning, the one I opened by accident was a bailiff letter - I called and because I had an alternative address I was told I would be their contact. I said no way and Transco said they'd confirm it wasn't me.

debjam

We keep receiving letter like this for someone who apparently lived at our address. I just put them back in the post, this has been going on for 2 years now and I still get the same post even now. We regularly get vodafone and 3 bills and we have had DVLA letters. I know some of them are from debt collection agencies (I opened one by mistake) threatening the person with bailiffs I called the bailiff to explain that this person did not live here and all they kept asking was was I going to settle the debt, in the end I said just send the bailiff round but I haven't seen anyone yet.

Paul_Herring

debjam wrote: »

We keep receiving letter like this for someone who apparently lived at our address. I just put them back in the post, this has been going on for 2 years now and I still get the same post even now.

Have you tried writing "Return to sender" on it? :rotfl: