Receiving debt recovery letter (CCJ) for sibling - edited

Enigma80

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right category I'm posting in but would like some advice please.

We just received a letter to our home address but addressed to my brother in law.  We haven't seen him years and don't know where he is or what he's doing.  My wife opened it because it had 'important documents' written on the envelope.  It's a CCJ for payment from a recovery agency without any details of what it's for.  She called up to explain he's not living here and where they got our address from and to find out what it's all about.  They won't provide any information as we're not the named person as that's their policy, but they'd have to send someone around to the house to verify he doesn't live here, then they abruptly terminated the call.

We don't want a stranger walking around our house, especially when we don't even know what it's all about.

Can anyone shed any light on this? How do we stop them coming and how do we get them to remove our address from their records?


Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

user1977

Who said there'd be somebody "walking around your house"? You don't need to let them in, but you can't stop them knocking on your door. You can't remove your address from their records, if they think it's a likely contact address for a debtor who doesn't in fact live there, that doesn't affect your credit records etc.

Enigma80

Thanks for the quick response.  They said on the phone they'll send someone around to verify that he doesn't live here. The letter also states that someone will visit the property if the owed amount isn't paid within 14 days. My wife and I live in this house with our two young children.  

[Deleted User]

As above, if they want to knock on your door, that's up to them, but I can't see why you would invite them to look around, unless you're desperate for company.

Ergates

Enigma80 said:

They won't provide any information as we're not the named person as that's their policy, 

Not just their policy, but the law.

If someone turns up at the your house just tell them that the person in question doesn't live there and they should leave.  They can't enter your property without your permission and you have no obligation to let them in.

diystarter7

Walking around your house a stranger?

Clearly, he's not lived there for years so on the council tax returns he is not on it.

Clearly, he has not got his letters, or other letters at this address to open and you have returned them to sender as "not living at this address."

You have nothing to fear as he left years ago and not set foot in there to pick up letters or you pass them on to him.

You can give them his parents/family details if you wish I'm pretty sure they'll have a better idea than you.

diystarter7

Btw, if I was in your shoes, from what I have seen on the tv, they are not all that bad and if you are polite and cooperative and want this to finsih, let them in they are not stupid as they can easily find out if he lives there and checks with banks etc where his letters have been going etc - best bet give his familys details as one of them may know if not you.

pogofish

Which company is it?

Many are all fuss and bluster and despite the threats won't be sending anyone anywhere!

diystarter7

pogofish said:

Which company is it?

Many are all fuss and bluster and despite the threats won't be sending anyone anywhere!

True but it wont go away and most likley they will sell the debt to another co

We had balffis knocking on our door very, very hard. I used to do night shifts about 30 years ago. I got up worried thinking its the cops something happened to wife/family etc.  First thing I said was, "don't bang on my new door like that" as I was very angry as I could not work out for a mo who they were.

They came back with a feeble excuse "you was not opening the door" I said I was asleep night worker they apologise. Turned out 

that someone that we had never met, know and possibly a made up name had given our address for a cC. I had rang the blafiifs a few months ago and told them no one of that name had ever lived at the address and the date we bought the house and our surnames etc were all differnt and they told me not to worry.

Thankfully afte that visit they stopped I think.

If you have nothing to hide, IMHO you have nothing to fear, so do not worry.

Enigma80

diystarter7 said:

Walking around your house a stranger?

Clearly, he's not lived there for years so on the council tax returns he is not on it.

Clearly, he has not got his letters, or other letters at this address to open and you have returned them to sender as "not living at this address."

You have nothing to fear as he left years ago and not set foot in there to pick up letters or you pass them on to him.

You can give them his parents/family details if you wish I'm pretty sure they'll have a better idea than you.

He's never lived here.  He's my wife's younger brother and has visited a few times in past, long weekends and stuff like that, but nothing since 2018 I think.  They don't get on at all and hasn't been in touch with him for since around 2019 perhaps. 

I'm a bit annoyed to put it politely, that we've been put in this position.  My wife is trying to find a way to get a hold of him, but that would only be through one of his other siblings which my wife doesn't get in with either.  

pogofish

diystarter7 said:

pogofish said:

Which company is it?

Many are all fuss and bluster and despite the threats won't be sending anyone anywhere!

True but it wont go away and most likley they will sell the debt to another co

We had balffis knocking on our door very, very hard. I used to do night shifts about 30 years ago. I got up worried thinking its the cops something happened to wife/family etc.  First thing I said was, "don't bang on my new door like that" as I was very angry as I could not work out for a mo who they were.

They came back with a feeble excuse "you was not opening the door" I said I was asleep night worker they apologise. Turned out 

that someone that we had never met, know and possibly a made up name had given our address for a cC. I had rang the blafiifs a few months ago and told them no one of that name had ever lived at the address and the date we bought the house and our surnames etc were all differnt and they told me not to worry.

Thankfully afte that visit they stopped I think.

If you have nothing to hide, IMHO you have nothing to fear, so do not worry.

I've had the same also a long time ago and another stint more recently with a couple of firms looking for someone who owed money from Manchester with my name! Took some time and effort to stop them - probably moreso most recently because of the more remote nature of their operations.

These days, most resort to interminable letters and if they track down your number, harassing phone calls.  Unless it is a proper court-appointed bailiff with a judgement, which is a very different beast, most will be unlikely to send someone out.

The main thing to remember is that debt collectors have to be able to prove that you owe the debt - and many/most at bottom of the food chain can not - and you have absolutely no obligation to do anything to make their lives easier and frankly, most don't care anyway.  They just want someone/anyone to take responsibility for the debt and scare payment out of them.

The OP will get a lot of the most up to date advice on the Debt board compared to posting here.

Any further envelopes for the OP's brother.  Don't open them - just chuck them back in the post with "Not at this address" written clearly on them.  Then leave it to the vultures to sort it out!

The OP might also want to look-up the Bailiffadviceonline website, which has/had a lot of helpful info in its faqs/guides, without having to sign-up.  Its owner also posts here and is very helpful but her username escapes me FTM.