Credit card, is this allowed?

leabee_2

Due to personal circumstances involving sickness, maternity leave, redundancy and having a baby, I have ended up racking up a credit card bill of £1080. I changed my address with the bank to where I currently live, however have received no bills / letters from them for several months. It is my own fault for not taking responsibility over this sooner however I have now being receiving phone calls from collections in relation to the credit card as it has gone unpaid for several months due to me & my partner having no money to pay. On several occasions I have answered the call and when asked to confirm my address (the address I most recently informed them of) they then go on to say this is incorrect. 2 days ago my sister brought home a letter from her partners house (where she used to live), addressed to myself which she opened as we have the same initial and surname, from the credit card company in relation to the debt. I have never provided this address to the credit card company, is it legal for them to change my address that they hold for me without my knowledge? Is this not a breach of DPA for them to be sending out personal details to an address I have never given, information shown on the letter was the account number, amount owing etc. I am so so embarassed that now not only does my sister know my personal financial situation but she is likely to go on to tell other members of my family also. I just want to know where I stand in terms of making a complaint and if what the company has done is correct procedure?

nicp60

Hi there,
It's a fishing letter - DCAs send them out to people with the same initial and surname when they can't establish contact with the person that they're looking for. They'll then move onto variations of the surname, different spellings, initials and so on and so forth until they get a bite.
If you changed your address with the bank, are you sure it's been changed with the credit card? I know for instance that barclays and barclaycard operate as 2 separate institutions for all intents and purposes.
From their point of view, you've moved home and they haven't been able to establish contact with you, so they're making attempts to track you down.
In fact if they were to try to obtain a CCJ at any point in the future, they would need to prove that they've at least made reasonable attempts to find you and establish contact.

If I were you I'd double check who you changed your address with - they're obviously not received this information, and ultimately it's you who will be disadvantaged by it.

leabee_2

Hi, thank you for your reply and the information. It has definitely being changed also with the bank not just the credit card as I hold a savings and current account with them also, I called seperately to speak to them in regards to my current account on the same day and when I enquired about my address they confirmed that the address that should be registered as current is listed as my previous address. Surely they can't just go ahead and change my address for all my accounts without my consent?

LeeSouthEast

The OfT Debt Collection Guidance can be found here:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consultations/OFT664Rev_Debt_collection_g1.pdf

Have a read and see if you think they've done anything wrong.

happy_bunny_2

Which company sent the letter?

With RBS for example, changing your address for the current account requires a separate letter to the credit card. Different address. Crazy, but true.

leabee_2

It's Santander, both the credit card and current account were both up to date with the correct address, I was receiving bills for the credit card and current account statements both to the correct address and then they stopped, I presumed this was due to me choosing the option for paperless banking but it would appear that my address has being changed on both the bank account, savings account and the credit card to the incorrect address, I have never ever had the address even registered with Santander, I just can't understand where they have got the address from and why they would be issuing out letters containing personal information regarding the credit card to an address I have never provided.

LeeSouthEast

Was it Santander who sent the letter? Or a DCA?

leabee_2

No it was santander who sent the letter

leabee_2

I've also just called their customer service line regarding bank accounts and the guy there confirmed my address was changed on the 23rd August 2013, how can this even happen without my consent? Surely I am the only person who can inform them to change the address that is held on the account?

Cycrow

nicp60 wrote: »

I know for instance that barclays and barclaycard operate as 2 separate institutions for all intents and purposes.

interestingly with Barclays, i contacted barclays to change my address, it was changed by Barclaycard, but barclays didn't. Its like the passed it onto barclaycard without processing it themselves

adindas

Cycrow wrote: »

interestingly with Barclays, i contacted barclays to change my address, it was changed by Barclaycard, but barclays didn't. Its like the passed it onto barclaycard without processing it themselves

Barclays and Barclayscar are operating as seperate entity. That is also the reason whyyo need to logon two difference websites. So changing your address at Barclays, you will still need to do it with Barclay card to change your credit card address.