Debt letters, but not my debt

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  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
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    Sounds to me as if you need sourcrates or someone equally knowledgeable to happen along. I have just had a google but the advice was mostly about credit cards and American so not a great deal of use. One thing I did glean is that you should close the account immediately and contact VM's fraud dept. After all, if the account is in your name, you can close it, presumably.

    If you know who has done this, from what I read you need to press charges against them if you want to avoid liability for their debt. I recommend you follow the advice already given and contact Action Fraud, probably the CAB and the police as well as VM. Good luck and please let us know how you get on and what you did as it may help someone else in the same situation. Good luck, ST.
  • MovingForwards
    MovingForwards Posts: 16,921 Forumite
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    Have you ever lived at the unknown address?
    Has anyone you have known ever lived at the address?
    How old is the debt?
    Do you recall where you were living at the time of the alleged debt?
    Can you prove you were living somewhere else at the time of the alleged debt?
    Mortgage started 2020, aiming to clear it in 2026.
  • ScarlettTiger
    ScarlettTiger Posts: 54 Forumite
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    It’s a member of my family, so it’s tricky. Hence them knowing my details. I’ve never lived at the address.
    MovingForwards wrote: »
    Have you ever lived at the unknown address?
    Has anyone you have known ever lived at the address?
    How old is the debt?
    Do you recall where you were living at the time of the alleged debt?
    Can you prove you were living somewhere else at the time of the alleged debt?
  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
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    No idea how practical this might be but is it worth your confronting this person? Could involving other members of your family perhaps assist in resolving this situation?

    At least, if you know who the culprit is, you can report them to the police (or tell them you will) and see if that bears fruit. I would definitely close the account and tell VM's fraud dept. as well as Action Fraud, in any case.
  • ScarlettTiger
    ScarlettTiger Posts: 54 Forumite
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    Thank you all, I have contacted virgin and will go from there.
    As you can appreciate it is a really hard situation, to just be able to contact the police on a family member, and the consequences of that. I don’t condone what they have done to me, but reporting them isn’t a decision I can make lightly.
  • Gaz83
    Gaz83 Posts: 4,047 Forumite
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    ScarlettTiger wrote: »
    Thank you all, I have contacted virgin and will go from there.
    As you can appreciate it is a really hard situation, to just be able to contact the police on a family member, and the consequences of that. I don’t condone what they have done to me, but reporting them isn’t a decision I can make lightly.
    This crops up quite often on this forum. You essentially have two options:

    1) Report the other person to the police / action fraud, and then the debt should be removed from your record.

    2) Don't report the other person to the police / action fraud, and accept liability for the debt.

    Quite a lot of folk seem to want the debt removed from their record without landing the relative in hot water. This can't happen.
    "Facism arrives as your friend. It will restore your honour, make you feel proud, protect your house, give you a job, clean up the neighbourhood, remind you of how great you once were, clear out the venal and the corrupt, remove anything you feel is unlike you... [it] doesn't walk in saying, "our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."
  • sourcrates
    sourcrates Posts: 28,878 Ambassador
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    ScarlettTiger wrote: »
    Thank you all, I have contacted virgin and will go from there.
    As you can appreciate it is a really hard situation, to just be able to contact the police on a family member, and the consequences of that. I don’t condone what they have done to me, but reporting them isn’t a decision I can make lightly.

    Hi,

    You should really just tell Virgin what you have told us on here.

    To be honest, although the advice was given with the best of intentions, contacting Action Fraud can be a complete waste of time, the only positive thing is they should give you a crime reference number, so that in the future, if any other "debt" crops up, you can refer the creditor to them and quote that number.


    Have a look on the ICO website for other things you can do to protect your information :


    https://ico.org.uk/
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter
  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
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    What Gaz83 said, with bells on. It is your decision and you now have the options in black and white. In my opinion, the way this individual has behaved deserves at least as severe a consequence as some random hacker who steals your identity. To do this to someone who cares about you adds insult to injury.

    What you choose to do about it is entirely up to you but, to put it rather more bluntly than Gaz83's post, I deem it time either to face up or pay up. Those really are your only options: How much respect can this family member have for you if they treat you like this and expect to get away with it? That's how much consideration they deserve, imho.
  • Willing2Learn
    Willing2Learn Posts: 6,294 Forumite
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    How much is owed on the VM account? Are you able to pay the bill and then charge your guilty family member as if it were a loan?
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
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    Willing2Learn wrote: »
    How much is owed on the VM account? Are you able to pay the bill and then charge your guilty family member as if it were a loan?

    If the member (and I use the word advisedly) were willing to pay their own VM bill, surely they would have taken out an account in their own name in the first place.
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