Being chased for a debt that is not mine

MattRob

I started receiving letters from a debt collection company shortly after registering myself as a company director. The letters are addressed to me but the debt is not mine. At the time I was in the process of applying for some business related memberships and was concerned that in the process of chasing the debt the collection agency could ruin my good credit rating. After some internet research thought it appropriate to contact the collection agency in writing to advise that I had no knowledge of the debt.

I found a template online which stated ”I would like to point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to [the creditor]”, quoted some rules from the Consumer Credit sourcebook of the FCA and also that they should not contact me again until they carry out an investigation. I assumed that the investigation would confirm that I am not the correct person they are looking for and that would be the end of it.

This wasn’t the case. I received a letter back from them to advise that they had carried out the investigation and are not able to uphold my complaint.

“I understand you have advised the above account in dispute with [the creditor] and you have also requested validation of the debt”. They also stated “Please accept this letter as final response to my concerns” and enclosed a 6 page statement of the account. Indeed it is the same name as mine, but I am not the right person. We have quite a common first name and surname.

Their statement is incorrect. I never mentioned that I am in dispute with the creditor nor did I request validation of the debt, but that’s besides the point.

My initial concern is that they are sending out another persons confidential information to me. However the printout isn’t on any kind of official paper though. Its just a 6 page series of numbers from 2006-2008 printed on plain white paper with my name at the top and ‘highly confidential’ at the bottom. I agree that it is highly confidential and I should not have been privy to another persons confidential information simply because we share the same name.

This morning I received another letter from them outlining that they have not received an offer of payment. “Until we reach an agreement to clear this balance we will continue to contact you by telephone or letter so would advise you contact us to resolve this matter”. I’m hesitant to call them since some of the things I’ve read online do not recommend entering into any form of communication in this manner and prefer to keep things in writing and sent by registered mail.

I don’t know how to make this stop. I’m not who they think I am and the debt is quite substantial (just over 4k) so I don’t expect they will cease from harassing me by whatever means they see fit. My main concern is that my credit score could be ruined and I might have people turning up on the doorstep. This is all very worrying for me so I want to get this dealt with promptly.

Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.

sourcrates

Hi,

Ok, don't call them, you need to write to the DCA stating categorically that you are not the person they are looking for, you share a common name, and that is your only connection to this debt.
Advise them you are submitting a complaint to the financial ombudsman service about there conduct in this matter.

At the same time, complain to the FOS about them, as you have there final response, you can do this straight away, make sure you make them fully aware that you are not the person the debt relates to, best to follow up the complaint with a phone call once the FOS has acknowledged your complaint.

FOS details below, follow the instructions on "how to make a complaint" :

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

You need to check your credit file as well to make sure they have not registered a default against you, if they have, raise a complaint with the credit reference agencies.

It would not hurt to raise a dispute with the information commissioner as well, with regard to the data protection act breech, advice here :

https://ico.org.uk/

fermi

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=57703407&postcount=3

Making it clear that this not your debt despite what they have sent.

MattRob

I will draft a letter as suggested.

I've read that the DCA will often send a statement of account as proof in a dispute over liability so I'm not entirely confident that any data protection breech has been made. However, I don't know enough about these matters to have an accurate opinion.

I'll do some further research over the course of the day and try to establish a way to make these guys understand that i am not the person they are looking for.

I've read a couple of articles about requesting a copy of the credit agreement but I'm not sure what good this will be. It appears to be a debt avoidance tactic rather than an honest appeal in confirming that I'm not the correct person.

I'll carry on reading but would appreciate any further advice.

fatbelly

MattRob wrote: »

I
I've read a couple of articles about requesting a copy of the credit agreement but I'm not sure what good this will be. It appears to be a debt avoidance tactic rather than an honest appeal in confirming that I'm not the correct person.

I'll carry on reading but would appreciate any further advice.

You mustn't do a cca request. Fermi's link is post 3 in the prove-it thread.

Post 2 explains

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/57703407#Comment_57703407

fermi

You've said it yourself, sending you details on someone who coincidentally has the same name is no proof at all. In fact the opposite, it demonstrates clearly that they are chasing the wrong persons, but are just too dumb to realise or care.

Complain again laying that out and making it clear that you will be taking them to the FOS and claiming compensation from them if they don't recognise that they have the wrong person.

Contact the FOS now and ask them to write from their end setting out the complaint as well. A letter from the FOS tends to make them take notice more.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

If you’d like us to contact them for you, just get in touch.

As said, check your credit files. If they have trashed those with false defaults etc then you can also complain on grounds of breach of the Data protection Act for recording inaccurate/false information on your file, and in theory even defamation.

fermi

fatbelly wrote: »

You mustn't do a cca request. Fermi's link is post 3 in the prove-it thread.

Post 2 explains

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/57703407#Comment_57703407

Yes, especially in a case like this, if you change tack and resort to that, they will instantly think they are justified in disbelieving your claims that it's not your account. They will think you accept it's yours and are just trying another a different avoidance tactic.

MattRob

Thank you very much for all your advice. It's very much appreciated and I will be sure to follow your guidance...especially about not requesting a cca.

MattRob

Hi Guys.

I took all your advise and sent the letter to the DCA explaining that I not the person they are looking for, you share a common name, and that is your only connection to this debt.

This morning I received another letter to suggest I am indeed the correct person as we have the same name and date of birth.

The letter also confirmed that I've had a default on my credit file as a result. It all seems very strange as I've recently opened a business account with the same creditor and everything was fine. I've also has other recent credit checks in the process of opening my business and everything was fine there too.

They suggest it's up to me to confirm to prove to them that I'm not liable for this debt and have put the account on hold for 10 weeks.

I've listed a few paragraphs from the letter...

I understand that you advised that you have no knowledge of any debt owing to BANK NAME. You are also unhappy that it was stated in your previous letter, that the account was in dispute and that you requested verification of the debt. You advise that you made no such statement. You are also unhappy that a default has been registered and you have requested that this be removed.

The account was placed on hold and the matter was investigated with the original creditor. Statements were provided to us to evidence the outstanding balance. We have also taken our own internal checks using information provided to us by the original creditor and we have taken further investigation using Credit Reference Agencies in addition to other reliable databases.

Please note, the original default entry would have been registered by BANK NAME at the time the account defaulted. We purchased the debt from BANK NAME at which point they would have amended their entry ti reflect as satisfies to allow us to upload their data as the new legal owners of the account.

If you are stating that you have never had an account with HSBC and that this is not your account, then it will be necessary for you to report this immediately to BANK NAME’s Fraud Department at the following address…

We request that you provide us with an update once received from BANK NAME. If we do not hear receive an update by 12th August 2015, we will resume our attempts to contact you to discuss this account.

---

I need to get these guys off my back and the default removed. Can anyone help? What's my next move? What will the FOS do to confirm I'm not this person if we truly share the same name and dob, as these people suggest?

Marktheshark

Fill the Ombudsman form in citing debt tracing complaint, add you have complained and the response was to demand payment and default your credit file.
Then inform the Debt agency that the matter is under investigation with the FOS and you are unable to comment until the investigation is complete and any sanction the FOS decide to take against the debt collector has been finalised.

fermi

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

If you’d like us to contact them for you, just get in touch.