Mail order fraud...help! JD Williams & Lowell

briegirl

Hello,

Writing to see if anyone has dealt with a similar situation...

My husband is in the military and due to his frequent location change, he has registered his permanent location as his mothers address. Well, we just got married and tried to finance a car, in which he got denied (I am from the US, so do not have credit history yet, had to be in his name). Anyways, he thought it was due to lack of credit, given he has never put himself in debt... but I got a little curious and tried checking his credit. Experian would not allow access to his report until he verified his identity through post, which was being sent to his mother's address... so he ended up paying for a year and a half of the service... without actually getting access, because he was told the mail was never received!

Long story short... I finally was able to obtain a credit report, through a different service... only to find that he had two defaulted accounts that were five years old. I managed to get one removed... which just leaves him with one... a £185 debt with Lowell, with the original account being a mail order account from JD WIlliams. After months and months of very frustrating research... its become obvious it was his mom (he was deployed the time the account was opened). Lowell has been investigating, but just found out they have rejected the dispute.

I have already filed a fraudulent dispute with the fraud action dept months ago and after looking into it further realized it was his mom. Because of the address history, he has never been notified and we just found out after gaining access to his credit report. She claims she doesn't remember anything (shes ill and has had numerous strokes etc), but has agreed to take blame.

It is the only thing ruining his credit, but we are nervous to have his mom come forward on the chance that she will be arrested or something to that extent and cannot handle those fees nor her being sent to jail with her condition. We are willing to pay the outstanding balance, but need it wiped from his record and put on hers. Does anyone know the implications she will get? She also has a record of doing similar things in the past, hence her inability to open anything in her name. Any advice/help would be appreciated!

vlad

Trust me she WON'T be going to jail.

sourcrates

Hi,
Nothing will happen to her, if she's ill, that is a good enough reason.

How you go about convincing the creditor of this though, is another matter.

fatbelly

One settled default is not going to do major damage to his credit record. His frequent address changes and (presumably) not being on the electoral roll will also be having an effect.

You should be able to refer the Lowell dispute to the FOS if Lowell have given their final response.

The default drops off at the six-year point anyway

peteuk

I smell a fish! - Sorry but something doesn't add up!

Firstly just because your Husband is military, doesn't mean he has to have everything registered at his Mums address. Yes constantly moving doesn't help your credit score, but there are service credit agencies he may be able to find credit with. When you move just register with the local council and it should help.

Secondly why has he paid a years subscription to a service he hasn't had access to. I would have cancelled that straight away - also if Mum is ill why continue to use her as a reliable conduit for mail. Post office will for a small price put a redirect on the post for you.

Thirdly would one small default put such a dent in his credit profile....what about other credit mobile phones, bank accounts what address are they in?

I usually try to be positive but like I say something doesn't add up.

absolutereturn

briegirl wrote: »

Hello,

Writing to see if anyone has dealt with a similar situation...

My husband is in the military and due to his frequent location change, he has registered his permanent location as his mothers address. Well, we just got married and tried to finance a car, in which he got denied (I am from the US, so do not have credit history yet, had to be in his name). Anyways, he thought it was due to lack of credit, given he has never put himself in debt... but I got a little curious and tried checking his credit. Experian would not allow access to his report until he verified his identity through post, which was being sent to his mother's address... so he ended up paying for a year and a half of the service... without actually getting access, because he was told the mail was never received!

Long story short... I finally was able to obtain a credit report, through a different service... only to find that he had two defaulted accounts that were five years old. I managed to get one removed... which just leaves him with one... a £185 debt with Lowell, with the original account being a mail order account from JD WIlliams. After months and months of very frustrating research... its become obvious it was his mom (he was deployed the time the account was opened). Lowell has been investigating, but just found out they have rejected the dispute.

I have already filed a fraudulent dispute with the fraud action dept months ago and after looking into it further realized it was his mom. Because of the address history, he has never been notified and we just found out after gaining access to his credit report. She claims she doesn't remember anything (shes ill and has had numerous strokes etc), but has agreed to take blame.

It is the only thing ruining his credit, but we are nervous to have his mom come forward on the chance that she will be arrested or something to that extent and cannot handle those fees nor her being sent to jail with her condition.

We are willing to pay the outstanding balance, but need it wiped from his record and put on hers. Does anyone know the implications she will get? She also has a record of doing similar things in the past, hence her inability to open anything in her name. Any advice/help would be appreciated!

I doubt it would be possible to transfer liability for a debt from one debtor to another. She may have been the one who ordered the goods but they were ordered using his account so the argument is between them and not the creditor. He could submit a formal complaint of fraudulent use of his account but should he do that against his ill mum? She wouldn't go to prison for that but it's still a criminal offence and, given the state of her health, she may not be fully responsible for her actions.

Normally defaults are not removed even when the outstanding amount is paid in full because they are intended to reflect the debtor's conduct with the account, however, under the circumstances it may be possible to offer to repay the debt and negotiate the removal of the default on the grounds that the old lady who purchased the goods lacks capacity and son was away and not aware of the debt.

absolutereturn

peteuk wrote: »

I smell a fish! - Sorry but something doesn't add up!

Firstly just because your Husband is military, doesn't mean he has to have everything registered at his Mums address. Yes constantly moving doesn't help your credit score, but there are service credit agencies he may be able to find credit with. When you move just register with the local council and it should help.

He may just have found it easier to use mum's address and not thought it would cause him problems. Most people would trust their mum more than anyone else.

peteuk wrote: »

Secondly why has he paid a years subscription to a service he hasn't had access to. I would have cancelled that straight away

That's up to him and not really the main issue here.

peteuk wrote: »

- also if Mum is ill why continue to use her as a reliable conduit for mail. Post office will for a small price put a redirect on the post for you.

As above. In any case, it's a bit late for that, what's done's done.

peteuk wrote: »

Thirdly would one small default put such a dent in his credit profile....what about other credit mobile phones, bank accounts what address are they in?

You'd be surprised how much damage a small default can cause. It's not the amount that matters, it's the fact that you didn't pay it back. It may be your defaults are small because that's all the credit you've had available. Even when satisfied, small defaults can be as harmful as big ones.

peteuk wrote: »

I usually try to be positive but like I say something doesn't add up.

Just because you wouldn't do the same as the OP's OH it doesn't mean there's something fishy about it, why would someone bother making it all up, on two separate sites?

weebit

If the account was opened in your husband's name and without your husband's knowledge. that certainly is fraud.

I can see 2 solutions here:
1. If you're willing to pay the debt off, I'd firstly write to Lowell to say you believe this is fraudulent and you believe that your husband's mum is responsible for it and request for the default to be removed from your husbands file for this reason. Then, get your her to pay it off (e.g. give her the money and get her to call to the make the payment).

or

2. If it's 5 years old already, do nothing. After 6 years, the default drops off and your files is cleared of all bad debts. However, you'll still owe the debt so you should probably pay it off anyway.

patman99

After 6 years Lowell won't be able to chase the debt anyway as it will be statute barred.

I would suggest getting a credit card each and making sure to use it for a few small spends each month, paying off the full balance when the bill drops through the letterbox.

At least you will both then start to build a credit history for the future. If all your credit history shows is defaults, then you will be less lkely to obtain credit. But if your credit history also shows a lot of payments made on time, then you are more likely to be accepted for a loan or car finance.

sourcrates

briegirl wrote: »

We are willing to pay the outstanding balance, but need it wiped from his record and put on hers. Does anyone know the implications she will get? She also has a record of doing similar things in the past, hence her inability to open anything in her name. Any advice/help would be appreciated!

You will not be able to get the default put on anyone else's credit report, and it may be difficult to have it expunged from his.

Yes the mother opened the account in his name, but legally, it's his account, so will appear on his file (suspected fraud or not) pursuing that angle could result in a lot of stress and agrevation for the lady.

Your best bet is to just pay it off, the further back in time negative info is, the less impact it will have on him, I suspect the erratic address history won't help much either, it won't just be the default affecting the credit score.
As patman sayes, you need to show at least 6 months recent, good credit history, in order for lenders to concider you.

peteuk

absolutereturn wrote: »

Just because you wouldn't do the same as the OP's OH it doesn't mean there's something fishy about it, why would someone bother making it all up, on two separate sites?

Ok I still think there is something fishy, OP joined, wrote one thread and hasn't logged in since! However in the event of this being legit then I will try and be helpful.

Firstly now you're married then you are entitled to a married quarter, if you haven't been already. So therefore all your affairs can be sent to the quater address.

Secondly, there are three Credit Unions that your husband can join, these are specially set up for forces personnel, this was because there are often gaps in credit scores due to postings.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/banking/2015/10/new-credit-union-service-launched-for-the-armed-forces

Thirdly, who was the loan with? Have you tried his bank, which may have its own internal credit scoring.