Lowell, can they track me?

NotNormallyNaughty

As my user name suggests, I'm not normally naughty, but now I need advice.
Five years ago, I was living abroad and took out a mail order account using a PO Box address in the other country. Due to horrendous personal circumstances (I had to leave very suddenly) I defaulted and moved back to the UK nearly three years ago.
I cut off all connections with my foreign life and left no forwarding address.
All the while I was abroad, I rented my UK home and remained on the electoral roll there etc. I have since moved from there to another UK address. Thank goodness I had somewhere to go when I first got back.
Today I received a letter from Lowells, citing my foreign PO Box address stating "we are attempting to contact the above named person (who previously lived at the above address) in relation to a personal matter. Based on information supplied by Experian, we consider that your address may be a possible address for our customer".
It can only be for the defaulted account.
I checked my Experian details today and there is no reference to the foreign address on my files, nor the account I used there. I have a 'good' rating with them.
There doesn't seem to be any record of any recent searches by the likes of Lowells.
I've never, ever defaulted before, but I'm afraid that if I 'fess up to being the person they are pursuing, it will screw up my rating.
I'm aware that this is an immoral suggestion, but can I just deny being the person they want to contact?
Do they have other ways of linking me? All payments prior to the default were made through a foreign bank account which is now closed.
How did they find me at this address? I have a relatively unusual name, was this just a lucky fishing expedition.
I'm not comfortable with doing this but I really don't want to dig up all the horrors of a few years ago for the sake of a couple of hundred quid, and pay the price with a black mark on my credit file.

Lensman_2

This is a standard phishing letter. And it looks like a hit.

But the standard advice still applies. Ignore it.

They don't have enough to go on to provide you with a demand letter for a sum of money with associated account details. Or they would have done that.

Whatever you do, don't do their job for them and reply.

The next stage (if there is a next stage) will be a demand for money. You would normally challenge this with a prove-it letter. However your comments lead me to suggest that you should get saving so that you can pay it off if you do get a demand. That would be the quickest way to make it go away.

Personally, I would not lie. That could be considered fraud if it gets messy (although that is very unlikely). And they are probably very used to that response.

Nope - keep your head down for now.

NotNormallyNaughty

Thank you.
I've been reading about the six-year statute. Does this commence from the date of the default, or from when the loan was first agreed?

[Deleted User]

write on the envelope 'addressee not recognised, return to sender'. They soon get fed up trying. Just remember never to speak to them on the phone.

ML420cdi

NotNormallyNaughty wrote: »

....
I checked my Experian details today....
How did they find me at this address? ....

To check your details you gave Experian your name and DOB....Experian then makes this information available to any debt collection agency that has signed up to its Tallyman service. Thats how they found you.


6 years starts from the last date you made payment or acknowledged to them the debt.

happy_bunny_2

NotNormallyNaughty wrote: »

Thank you.
I've been reading about the six-year statute. Does this commence from the date of the default, or from when the loan was first agreed?

Neither. Its from the date of the last payment you made or the last time you acknowledged the debt in writing. Whichever is the latter.

NotNormallyNaughty

ML420cdi wrote: »

To check your details you gave Experian your name and DOB....Experian then makes this information available to any debt collection agency that has signed up to its Tallyman service. Thats how they found you.

So can they definitely link me with the other address? Or do they still need my confirmation?

ML420cdi

NotNormallyNaughty wrote: »

So can they definitely link me with the other address? Or do they still need my confirmation?

No they can't definitely link you. Any DCA that signs up to Experians Tallyman (Equifax has its own version) will ask for a flag to be placed against anyone called EG Andrew Smith who has a DOB of 01/01/1970 or who has lived at a certain address etc....then a report is sent to that DCA as and when a corresponding flag is raised. They then send out a fishing letter to all those people hoping one of them will throw their hands up and come clean.

Its nothing more than a simple metadata search carried out by computers.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Agree this is just a skip locating phishing letter. Ignore it for now.

Puddylove

It sounds like you had a bad time in your life, OP, and I'm glad that's past.
I do think that people have a moral obligation to pay their debts if they can afford to, though.
Is there no way it could be paid off without affecting your credit rating?
(I apologise if this offends, and of course I understand that people very often struggle through no fault of their own).

NotNormallyNaughty

They have now emailed me, citing a specific account and amount owed.
Think this is the same email address registered on my Experian record.
On the plus side, the amount isn't as big as I thought.
What do I do now?