Multiple debt agencies chasing credit card debt that isn't mine

martyj27

Last week I received a letter from a debt collection agency saying that I had almost £10,000 of credit card debt with Tesco. I did some research and came upon this forum and the Prove-It letter so got that posted last week recorded delivery.

Today, I got a new letter, different debt collection agency, different credit card company, different debt. 

I will be sending them a prove it letter too but just wanted to sanity check why my name is in the mud, has my personal identify been stolen?

What is informative in the most recent letter is that they refer to an Agreement Date back in 2006 ie I suspect whether this was my debt or not (it isn't) that it is no longer legally enforceable.

Both companies provided a login to their website, I haven't logged in yet as I dare not do any action that might accept liability, unless this is ok to do without risk?

Thanks for reading and any help appreciated, starting to get very anxious!

Mark_d

When you do your regular monitoring of Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports - is the information accurate or are there entries you don't recognise?
I would not log on to a debt collection agency website if the debt is not yours.  These website are there to "help" you pay what you owe.  If the DCA can't demonstrate that the debt if yours then personally I would limit any engagement with them.

eskbanker

Check your credit files to see if there's anything unexpected on these:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

MyRealNameToo

martyj27 said:

Last week I received a letter from a debt collection agency saying that I had almost £10,000 of credit card debt with Tesco. I did some research and came upon this forum and the Prove-It letter so got that posted last week recorded delivery.

Today, I got a new letter, different debt collection agency, different credit card company, different debt. 

I will be sending them a prove it letter too but just wanted to sanity check why my name is in the mud, has my personal identify been stolen?

What is informative in the most recent letter is that they refer to an Agreement Date back in 2006 ie I suspect whether this was my debt or not (it isn't) that it is no longer legally enforceable.

Both companies provided a login to their website, I haven't logged in yet as I dare not do any action that might accept liability, unless this is ok to do without risk?

Thanks for reading and any help appreciated, starting to get very anxious!

So do you hold cards with these companies? Presumably you have checked balances etc if you do? 

Have you checked on the CRAs to see if these accounts are being reported? If you dont have any accounts with these lenders have you spoken to them about what appears to be identity fraud? 

If the "prove it" letter is what I am thinking it is, its not intended for this purpose but to weasel your way out of debts you know are yours but want to check the lender has followed the letter of the law because failing to do so can invalidate their right to collect. 

Brie

Do you have a relatively common name?  I mean if you are Martin Jones you are likely one of many in the country, even in your area.  Or it might be someone in your family with a similar name.  It's  possible that the agencies have mixed you up with someone.  Getting back info from the prove it letter might give you a clue as to how to sort this out. 

If the prove it letter response still points the finger at you you might want to ask for a copy of the credit agreement as well.  You'll find a template letter in the DebtFree Wannabee board.

martyj27

Sorry for late response, not getting notifications.

Don't see a reference to these on my credit report and to clarify, I don't hold cards with these companies, never have. I do have a very common name which is what got me thinking this Prove It letter(s) should sort it out fairly quickly, I've asked for the credit agreements in my letter. 

What is confusing is the proximity of the letters, ie gone from never receiving one before to 2 in a week from 2 different agencies which I would understand one putting the finger in the air and pointing towards me with a guess, but not two.

Current plan of action is to wait for the response to the Prove It letters. That should be very clear if this was 1) Identity Theft 2) a random mixup

MyRealNameToo

First of all, are they two agencies? Some firms operate under more than one brand but may share resources.

Even if they are they may use the same tracing agent or tracing software which may explain why both have gotten the same false positive hits at similar times. 

martyj27

From what I can tell, two agencies and unrelated, no shared parent etc. But you're right, if they share the same agent/software this could be another reason for the sudden bout of letters. Both return addresses were in Scotland if that increases the liklihood of that. I am in England for reference.