Direct Auto Financial Services - Scam?

Mickey666

Have received a letter from this company concerning its liquidation and that of some associated companies.  Apparently stopped trading in 2009 but have 'remained operational' to deal with PPI issues 'in line with regulatory requirements'.   The letter says they are looking for any 'potential creditors' they may have and their records indicate I was a customer of one or more of their companies.

Thing is, the letter is addressed correctly to my first name but to a surname one letter different to mine, albeit at my address.  I also cannot recall ever doing business with any of the named companies, in fact I've never heard of them before.   They state that if I wish to make a claim then complete the attached forms (including loads of personal info) and send proof of identity etc.  They also state that some customers may have a 'Charging Order registered over your property'.

Now, I have no intention of claiming anything so was ready to bin the letter until I read that last sentence.

The company is registered at Companies House with up to date accounts and it does have a website ( https://www.directautofinance.net/ ) and their FAQ page states that after liquidation any company relating to a charging order will no longer exist, the implication being that the charging order could not then be removed!   So, even though I'm 99.999% sure I've never heard of this company and they've got my name slightly wrong, it looks like I should contact land registry to check for any charges on my property, so that will cost £3 or so.  Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but certainly annoying.  How many people regularly check their property for bogus charges being filed?  Not many, I'd bet!

Has anyone else received a similar letter?  Is it genuine or could it be a scam?  I must admit I can't think of how it could be a scam, though the misspelling of my name is suspicious.

Sandtree

This is in relation to buying a car with generally sub prime finance and nothing to do with insurance.

The domain is from 1999 and so either someone has been planning a scam for 21 years or its relatively genuine (though remember some accusing Yes Car to being a scam but more for their APRs and selling overpriced lemon cars).

At the end of the day if you dont want to claim for PPI, which is probably barred now anyway, then broadly you can ignore the letter.  I am sure you would remember being taken to court for them to get a charge order against your property especially if you do not recall even getting a car from them let alone falling behind on the payments.

Mickey666

Yes, my feeling is that it's basically genuine, initially because of the Companies House details (what scammer would go to the trouble of faking a company and filing all the relevant legal returns?), and your domain date further supports that, so thanks for that.

The letter actually mentions the PPI deadline of 29 August 2019 but further states that it's still possible to bring a PPI complaint in 'exceptional circumstances', with a reference to the FCA's website for more info.

You're right, of course, about not forgetting a charge order, missed payment letters or buying a car from them.  In fact, I've not bought a car on finance for many decades and have certainly received no such letters chasing a debt.  My suspicion is that this is just a 'scatter-gun' approach to tracking down the named person on the letter which is one letter different to my surname, because I know for a fact that no one of that name has lived at my address for the past 50 years or so!

About 15 years ago at a previous address I received debt collection letters for the same misspelt name for debts that were nothing to do with me.  Again, out of the blue with no previous letters about missed payments, so a similar 'scatter-gun' approach.  Seems like this is commonplace practice, though I find it hard to believe it's an effective approach because all I did was confirm it was not my debt and that was that.  Never heard from them again.  Would a genuine debtor really be able to fob these debt collectors with a simple lie?  All very strange. 

Sandtree

The problem is that we don't have universal ID numbers and people can play about with their names... using diminutive forms (Bob rather than Robert or Bobby), using middle names as first names, move house, can be remiss at updating things etc. You then get governmental records like death certificates that only contain name, age at death in whole years, location of death and occupation.

I've professionally only used tracing services in relation to wanting to find out if a) a person is alive or deceased and/or b) if they have a living spouse. The third party data service we used basically give you a probability and its down to commercial decisions at what probability you decide to take actions on.  It can be difficult as you see a death certificate for Bob Smith, 64 who died in Kent and have to try and workout if its any of you customers but you've a years worth of DoBs to consider, Bob/Bobby/Robert/B/R Smith, possibly even someone with a middle name/initial of Bob/Bobby/Robert/B/R etc. We had a powerful call to action, we could stop paying their pension and that often makes people resurface and confirm they are alive but if you are chasing a debtor etc then you may have to go further down the percentages to try and find your money.

On unrelated topic I randomly received a cheque 18 months ago or so from the Student Loans company due to some error in the format of their letters but I've moved home a dozen times since last I contacted them so clearly tracing services in action. I imagine others with less clear histories may have received a letter before the cheque.

Mickey666

Fair point about people using derivations of their forenames, though I'd have thought it would be rarely the case with surnames as in this case - except wilfully perhaps, which suppose would be a headache when chasing genuine debts.

Maybe one day when every new born has a barcode tattooed on the back of their neck . . . . .

Sandtree

Mickey666 said:

Fair point about people using derivations of their forenames, though I'd have thought it would be rarely the case with surnames as in this case - except wilfully perhaps, which suppose would be a headache when chasing genuine debts.

Maybe one day when every new born has a barcode tattooed on the back of their neck . . . . .

My surname is a more unusual spelling... official docs are normally correct, or at least corrected when I find an "e" stuck at the end but plenty of things fall through the net. A recent story on the Motor section here was a declined claim because the poster had said the car was his but on checking the V5 one letter was wrong so showed the keeper as Knok whereas he is Knox (cant remember the exact names) plus as you say, some are hiding and a minor spelling change is easier to implement than a whole new name.