Bailiff/enforcement letter sent to my new address — tracing que

MissNora

Hi everyone — I’ve just received a letter from Bristow & Sutor (enforcement company) addressed to me at my current address a couple of weeks ago, about a penalty charge notice for a council I don’t live in.

Quick background:

I have lived at this property for about 15 months and it’s mortgaged in my name.

I updated my address with HMRC around 2 months ago.

I have not updated my DVLA and I’m not on the electoral roll at this address (I’m still listed at my mum’s).

The PCN is for a different council (not the borough I live in).

My car is on finance and I don’t intend to pay this enforcement agency.

Questions:

1. How likely is it they obtained my new address via HMRC (or did HMRC just trigger other databases to update)?

2. What can I do to stop other parking/enforcement agencies getting my address in future? (I don’t want tracing)

3. Any other advice regarding council issued PCN that has been handed to enforcement agencies.

I am mainly trying to avoid further tracing from enforcement agencies. 

Thank you in advance

user1977

You can't really stay under the radar if you own the property. That's on a public register, and I expect at the very least your mortgage means you're on credit records.

Brie

Any address you have had over the last decade or more is listed on your credit reports so it's not that hard for people to find you.  Nothing to do with HMRC.  More likely the credit report has been updated by any banks you deal with (my guess)

You can be fined for not telling the DVLA you have moved.  The fine can be £1,000.  Meanwhile you don't know if there are other fines or PCNs that are going to drop any day.  

MissNora

Brie said:

Any address you have had over the last decade or more is listed on your credit reports so it's not that hard for people to find you.  Nothing to do with HMRC.  More likely the credit report has been updated by any banks you deal with (my guess)

You can be fined for not telling the DVLA you have moved.  The fine can be £1,000.  Meanwhile you don't know if there are other fines or PCNs that are going to drop any day.  

Thank you for your response. I’m still at my mum’s place quite often, even though I purchased a property about 15 months ago. That’s why I haven’t updated my DVLA yet — I go back and forth between both addresses. I prefer to keep my mum’s as the main mailing address where possible, as I’m still in the process of doing up the new property and don’t stay there full-time yet.

The reason I was surprised is because other PCNs over the past year have all been directed to my mum’s address, so this is the first time one has arrived here. 

MissNora

user1977 said:

You can't really stay under the radar if you own the property. That's on a public register, and I expect at the very least your mortgage means you're on credit records.

That actually makes sense — I didn’t realise bailiffs could use tracing beyond the DVLA record once it’s escalated. I always thought they were restricted to whatever address was on the logbook, so this explains a lot.

Nellymoser

The PCN is for a different council (not the borough I live in).

You can get a PCN in any council area not just the one you reside in.

A Google search 'how do enforcement agencies trace a person's address' it will help you understand why you can't avoid address tracing. 

ChirpyChicken

Nellymoser said:

The PCN is for a different council (not the borough I live in).

You can get a PCN in any council area not just the one you reside in.

A Google search 'how do enforcement agencies trace a person's address' it will help you understand why you can't avoid address tracing. 

Well thats not true at all but thats another thread discussion all together 😅