Advice for car finance taken out frauduently

Frank9393

Please can someone give advice. My partner has recently received a solicitor letter advising a debt of £50,000 for some leased vehicles is now due and full payment needs to be made within 30 days. The letter states my partner is the guarantor and his dissolved company from several years ago was the person/company taking out the finance. My partner is completely unaware of this and never received any vehicles or signed any documents as a guarantor. The solicitor has included a guarantor and indemnity form that shows the wrong address, wrong DOB and two (not matching) wrong signatures. There are no dates on the forms nor bank details. However, both the solicitor and finance company state they have a copy of my partners driving licence. Although, if this was the case surely all the above info would be correct? We have spoken to ActionFraud, Citizens Advice and FCA. My partner explained to the solicitor that he has never heard of this or possessed any of the vehicles in question, also that several bits of info are wrong. They requested this is writing so an email has been sent. We have also requested to see a copy of the driving licence from them as not included in the letter and we have no idea how they could possibly have this. This is causing a huge amount of stress within our family during an already difficult time. How can these people do this? We're in a constant state of anxiety wondering what will happen next.

EdGasketTheSecond

What did ActionFraud, Citizens Advice and FCA say about it? I don't suppose anyone on here can give you a better answer.

Frank9393

Thank you for your reply. ActionFraud gave a crime reference number to include in our reply to the solicitor. My partner has a face to face appointment with Citizens Advice in a few weeks. FCA confirmed the finance company is registrated but asked is to keep them informed with what happens. I guess I just wanted to see if anyone had been through something similar, I so worried about what else is going to happen now.

Car_54

This seems far too serious to be seeking advice from random idiots on the internet. You partner needs professional advice, not the CAB.

AdrianC

"See you in court, then" - and, if ever it gets that far, watch the fraudulent paperwork fall apart...

There's a myriad of ways that a photocopy of his driving licence could have ended up in the wrong hands.

Shaun_of_the_Dead

AdrianC wrote: »

"See you in court, then" - and, if ever it gets that far, watch the fraudulent paperwork fall apart...

There's a myriad of ways that a photocopy of his driving licence could have ended up in the wrong hands.

You would hope there's only one. It was copied when produced for identification when signing the paperwork.

AdrianC

Shaun_of_the_Dead wrote: »

You would hope there's only one. It was copied when produced for identification when signing the paperwork.

Produced to whom?

Over the nearly 7 years since my current photocard was issued, it's been handed to multiple companies and people as proof of ID, and many of them have kept copies. I've emailed copies to quite a few other companies, too. I keep a scan in a dropbox folder.

Shaun_of_the_Dead

AdrianC wrote: »

Produced to whom?

Over the nearly 7 years since my current photocard was issued, it's been handed to multiple companies and people as proof of ID, and many of them have kept copies. I've emailed copies to quite a few other companies, too. I keep a scan in a dropbox folder.

Really?

Whoever used it to fraudulently sign as guarantor.

AdrianC

Shaun_of_the_Dead wrote: »

Really?

Whoever used it to fraudulently sign as guarantor.

And that was who...?

Are you absolutely sure nobody could have passed it on between it being legitimately provided and it ending up in the hands of the fraudsters?

Any miffed creditors, perhaps, of the dissolved business that might have had a copy for ID purposes...?

Clive_Woody

Frank9393 wrote: »

Please can someone give advice. My partner has recently received a solicitor letter advising a debt of £50,000 for some leased vehicles is now due and full payment needs to be made within 30 days. The letter states my partner is the guarantor and his dissolved company from several years ago was the person/company taking out the finance. My partner is completely unaware of this and never received any vehicles or signed any documents as a guarantor. The solicitor has included a guarantor and indemnity form that shows the wrong address, wrong DOB and two (not matching) wrong signatures. There are no dates on the forms nor bank details. However, both the solicitor and finance company state they have a copy of my partners driving licence. Although, if this was the case surely all the above info would be correct? We have spoken to ActionFraud, Citizens Advice and FCA. My partner explained to the solicitor that he has never heard of this or possessed any of the vehicles in question, also that several bits of info are wrong. They requested this is writing so an email has been sent. We have also requested to see a copy of the driving licence from them as not included in the letter and we have no idea how they could possibly have this. This is causing a huge amount of stress within our family during an already difficult time. How can these people do this? We're in a constant state of anxiety wondering what will happen next.

Who does your husband suspect from his company signed this agreement on his behalf? Presumably he was in charge and knew who was acting on behalf of the company.

I'm sure you realise how the car lease company might find his lack of knowledge/recollection of this debt suspicious, he will need to work hard to convince them he had no knowledge of the debt associated with his company.

Mercdriver

AdrianC wrote: »

And that was who...?

Are you absolutely sure nobody could have passed it on between it being legitimately provided and it ending up in the hands of the fraudsters?

Any miffed creditors, perhaps, of the dissolved business that might have had a copy for ID purposes...?

There are other reasons for dissolving a business. Insolvency is but one, so assumption is not necessarily helpful.