Letter from Lowell with my name

worried_jim

I have just received a letter from Lowell with my name on it stating that they are attempting to contact this name (my name) but at a different address.

If it is me please contact them etc etc,

If it isn't me still contact them so they can update their records and not contact me again etc.

Normally I wouldn't be so worried about these things but they say that they have linked me to this address through information supplied by a credit reference agency and that they think that my address may be a possible address for their customer.

What has concerned me the most is that this other address is less than nine miles away. I have called Lowell and they were very pleasant and understanding and I was happy to help them, I have given my d.o.b hoping that they could see I was a different person with the same name but I suspect it is the same dob as mine!

If it was the other end of the country I wouldn't be bothered but I have a fairly unique name and as far as I can gather form t'internet there is only one other in the UK 200 miles away.

What else should I do?

fermi

Assuming this isn't something you have forgotten about, then I would say the most important thing to do is keep a close eye on your credit files. There lies the greatest danger of Lowell doing something that could adversely affect you.

If they place adverse info on those about an account that was never yours, then you would need to make a formal complaint saying unless they remove it you will be reporting them to the ICO and taking them to the FOS (if that applies).

GingerBob_3

worried_jim wrote: »

I have just received a letter from Lowell with my name on it stating that they are attempting to contact this name (my name) but at a different address.

If it is me please contact them etc etc,

If it isn't me still contact them so they can update their records and not contact me again etc.

Normally I wouldn't be so worried about these things but they say that they have linked me to this address through information supplied by a credit reference agency and that they think that my address may be a possible address for their customer.

What has concerned me the most is that this other address is less than nine miles away. I have called Lowell and they were very pleasant and understanding and I was happy to help them, I have given my d.o.b hoping that they could see I was a different person with the same name but I suspect it is the same dob as mine!

If it was the other end of the country I wouldn't be bothered but I have a fairly unique name and as far as I can gather form t'internet there is only one other in the UK 200 miles away.

What else should I do?

You should not have done that. The standard advice is never to contact debt collection agencies via phone, and never give them personal information. If they are mistakenly chasing you, tell them to desist and not to ever contact you again. Do this in writing. And yes, check the CRA's files about you to ensure these scum have not blacklisted you.

worried_jim

I have just checked my Noodle report and there is nothing untoward there. I have been at my address for 13 years and I am not linked to this other address on Noddle, I have no connection what so ever with this other address. This debt is nothing to do with me.

I will keep the letter just in case, but I have never received any other bills for third parties.

worried_jim

I've just paid the £2 to Equifax as well to see if there is anything different on there and there isn't.

Feel a lot happier now, even though its cost me £2.

National_Debtline

Glad to hear there’s nothing untoward on your credit files. It’s worth checking them regularly to make sure nothing appears on there that shouldn’t.

James
@natdebtline

UserTom

I found this thread when searching for any related information when I got a letter at the end of Sept. and then another a week-ish ago from Lowell under similar circumstances. They claimed to have traced me to my current address via credit data and were demanding £700 off me for unpaid bills relating to an Orange mobile phone account. Having never had anything to do with Orange I was obviously worried about large blokes in black jackets knocking at the door wanting to take my TV away, so wanted to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, as it turns out a few weeks ago Lowell's (Experian) ID tracing product went a bit wrong and started producing rafts of false positives, mis-identifying a lot of innocent, unconnected people as linked individuals Lowell were after. I was identified as a linked ID from an address in Sunderland I have never been anywhere near in my entire life. So, as suggested by a helpful chap I spoke to at Experian, no such link exists anywhere in my credit file and I am far from the only one Lowell has contacted in error over the last 3 or 4 weeks, likely a similar thing has happened to the OP given the time-frame too, so thought I'd put this information on this thread in case it comes in useful or re-assuring to anyone else.

Candyapple

UserTom wrote: »

I found this thread when searching for any related information when I got a letter at the end of Sept. and then another a week-ish ago from Lowell under similar circumstances. They claimed to have traced me to my current address via credit data and were demanding £700 off me for unpaid bills relating to an Orange mobile phone account. Having never had anything to do with Orange I was obviously worried about large blokes in black jackets knocking at the door wanting to take my TV away, so wanted to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, as it turns out a few weeks ago Lowell's (Experian) ID tracing product went a bit wrong and started producing rafts of false positives, mis-identifying a lot of innocent, unconnected people as linked individuals Lowell were after. I was identified as a linked ID from an address in Sunderland I have never been anywhere near in my entire life. So, as suggested by a helpful chap I spoke to at Experian, no such link exists anywhere in my credit file and I am far from the only one Lowell has contacted in error over the last 3 or 4 weeks, likely a similar thing has happened to the OP given the time-frame too, so thought I'd put this information on this thread in case it comes in useful or re-assuring to anyone else.

Surely that's a breach of the DPA and would involve hefty fines / compensation?

If that's true for you and the OP, you should definitely look to pursue it further and not let them get away with it.