Flint Bishop N1 claim form received for debt I've never heard of...

Southpaw18

Hi all. Looking for some help if you can please assist?

We received two letters from flint bishop, regarding a debt of around £2500 from a tool firm, it came to my address in my name but it's absolutely nothing to do with me. Never heard of the firm or the debt.

The third letter was a claim form N1sdt and indicates going through money claim website to dispute it, but they clearly have the wrong person yet when contacting them they, as ever, became aggressive and pushed for payment, only thing they confirmed was that the debt was from my time in Hamilton England (a place I've never been) I rang them today and they as always were unhelpful. Money claim indicate going through them to dispute it but why am I disputing something that's nothing to do with me?

Is this claim form fake and they are just con men like the parking firms? Doesn't indicate this is the case online but I'm stuck as to how to get rid of this quickly.

Any information would be appreciated. 

Ergates

The claim is probably not fake, but it will be for someone else with the same name as you - so not yours to pay.

Go to the Debt-Free Wanabee board here:
Debt-Free Wannabe Sticky - Provit & Statute Barred Letters, Defaults, Help and Guidance, All Here... — MoneySavingExpert Forum

There are templates and advice for a "prove it" letter on there - where you ask the agency for proof that you owe the money.  Fill in the templates as instructed, and follow the other advice on that thread.  It'll help make them go away.

Okell

You might be better posting on the Debt board here:  Debt-free wannabe — MoneySavingExpert Forum

They're more likely to recognise fake claims.

I'll suggest to the forum team it be moved

Southpaw18

Thanks both, if you could request move that would be great. I believe it's mistaken identity as the name Williams so very common. Have requested invoices to confirm what exactly it's for and will come back with any info 

RAS

You need to defend this or you will get a CCJ against your name. Have you acknowledged the claim?

You need to send the Prove it letter to them to which Ergates has linked as well, as a belt and braces approach.

Stop ringing them, as that has no legal status and you cannot evidence your attempts to defend yourself and stop "requesting" evidence, demand it.

sourcrates

As above, its likely to be a real claim pack, if its got the court stamp on it its genuine, you can acknowledge service online, giving you 28 days to respond, and you should then put in your defence to the claim, which is you are not the debtor, they have the wrong person and the debt is nothing to do with you.

Failure to respond to the claim will result in a CCJ by default, so it is imperative you go through the motions here however annoying it may be, to avoid this happening.

Southpaw18

Thanks All. Will do as you say and report back. Appreciate the replies and urgency 

Southpaw18

Hi All. 

Apologies for the time taken but just a quick update. 

After a few letters and emails following your advice, flint confirmed the person they contacted was not the right person and ceased all chasing. 

So thanks very much as always for the great advice. This forum is an absolute gem. Appreciate all of your help 

stewartwilliams

Is there no comeback on something like this rather than getting an "oops, sorry" response?

The OP could have had a CCJ issued, and a credit record trashed for a length of time because a company just picked someone with the same name.
Surely you should in return be able to take action against these firms if they've not shown any due diligence?

sourcrates

stewartwilliams said:

Is there no comeback on something like this rather than getting an "oops, sorry" response?

The OP could have had a CCJ issued, and a credit record trashed for a length of time because a company just picked someone with the same name.
Surely you should in return be able to take action against these firms if they've not shown any due diligence?

Its known as a "mis-trace", not supposed to happen, but does.

Collectors rely on the information provided by lenders and sometimes by running a trace, neither of which give information that is 100% reliable all of the time, some less than scrupulous companies are quite happy to allow this though, as a mis-trace can usually lead to a CCJ by default, so they get potential for payment either way.

Obviously they would plead it was all a most unfortunate error, and not what should be expected of their normally rigorously high standards, accompanied by profuse apologies, so good luck pinning anything on one of them.