Someone gave HMRC our address

vdlc1978

Hello. Thanks in advance for any help that can be given on this: a year ago we received a letter addressed to someone we don't even know who has given our address to HMRC. It was just a normal letter but we still reported that we do not know this individual, he does not live here and we want him removed from our address. We got a second letter and called in again, they said they would make a note (!!) and remove him from our address as far as HMRC is concerned. We just had another letter today, third one, saying he owes DWP over £4k, we have called it in but DWP lines are completely down, so we reported a fraud and were told by an automated message that they will look in on it.
This is obviously not giving us peace of mind at all and we would like for this individual to be completely removed from our address. It is a new build and it had no previous owners other than us, we moved in years ago and this only started happening last summer. 
I have been googling this type of scam but I am not sure how can we solve it or how much it could hurt our credit score, etc.
Thank you again in advance in case you made it this far, anything you can share would be really appreciated.

GrumpyDil

It can't hurt your credit scores and rather than calling HMRC I would just send the letters back marked as not known at this address.

Isthisforreal99

Stick them in post box marked not known at this address. Nothing addressed to a stranger .will affect your credit score

Aylesbury_Duck

People owe debts, addresses do not.

user1977

Might not even be a scam, people get postcodes wrong and a completely different address gets auto-completed.

Grumpy_chap

Just put the letters back in the post marked "unknown at this address".

It might not be fraud but an honest mistake.  If you live on a new estate then all the other houses must also be new and have new residents.  Someone might have genuinely incorrectly filled the address on a form somewhere.

sheramber

It is common for  a debtor to claim not to live at an address. It will take time for it to filter through the system  that they do not , in fact ,  at that address. 

Just keep returning all correspondence marked not know at this address. Eventually, they will stop.

DullGreyGuy

vdlc1978 said:

Hello. Thanks in advance for any help that can be given on this: a year ago we received a letter addressed to someone we don't even know who has given our address to HMRC. It was just a normal letter but we still reported that we do not know this individual, he does not live here and we want him removed from our address. We got a second letter and called in again, they said they would make a note (!!) and remove him from our address as far as HMRC is concerned. We just had another letter today, third one, saying he owes DWP over £4k, we have called it in but DWP lines are completely down, so we reported a fraud and were told by an automated message that they will look in on it.
This is obviously not giving us peace of mind at all and we would like for this individual to be completely removed from our address. It is a new build and it had no previous owners other than us, we moved in years ago and this only started happening last summer. 
I have been googling this type of scam but I am not sure how can we solve it or how much it could hurt our credit score, etc.
Thank you again in advance in case you made it this far, anything you can share would be really appreciated.

Without opening, cross out your address, write on the front, Return To Sender - Addressee Unknown and stick it in a letterbox the next time you are walking past one. No need to pay for extra postage etc. 

Unfortunately "dont know them" is a common ploy by people who owe money but generally after a few returned letters it will trigger a tracing process which hopefully finds the persons current/real address

Okell

Personally I would NOT just mark them "Not known at this address" and send them back.  I'd want to be far more proactive in trying to sort this out.

@vdlc1978 -  have you done this?   Complain about HMRC - GOV.UK

jaybeetoo

As others have said, send the letters back marked not known at this address.  A few years ago we had something similar but from a court.  We kept returning the letters and eventually they stopped.

sheramber

Okell said:

Personally I would NOT just mark them "Not known at this address" and send them back.  I'd want to be far more proactive in trying to sort this out.

@vdlc1978 -  have you done this?   Complain about HMRC - GOV.UK

It was DWP that sent the latest letter.