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Debt collectors

Does anyone else get a constant stream of angry debt collection agency letters coming through their door? Over the past couple of months we've had dozens, for people of different names and from various different companies (Homebuy and Littlewoods being the last two). I am getting pretty cheesed off having to call up these people and tell them that no one of that name lives here or has lived here in the past decade, is there anything I can do or should I just start binning them?

I find it pretty stressful getting angry letters about other people's finances... my own are bad enough :razz:

How can these people have given our address? It's all very weird, and irritating. It crossed my mind that it could be a scam because of the random nature and the fact that when I do bother to call them up they usually back off very quickly, and that it's a PO Box address (does that have any signifigance though?) - but surely no one seriously thinks that we would pay off someone else's debt just because we got a letter.

GRR :mad:
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If there not in your name, i'd bin them.
    Although i'd check your equifax report to make sure none of the defaulted accounts are in anyway linked to you.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    deceelpool wrote: »
    If there not in your name, i'd bin them.
    Although i'd check your equifax report to make sure none of the defaulted accounts are in anyway linked to you.

    By that i meant, that somebody elses defaulted accounts had been mistakenly linked to you due to the address, NOT that they actually might be yours.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whoever had the flat before you probably did a runner from his debt- its not that uncommon in rented accomodation. We get threatening letters every so often for the people who sold this house five years ago now- we've tried about a thousand times to send it back in the Dead Letter service but they don't listen so we just throw them away now.

    All DCA staff are morons, though, and that's the God honest truth. I'm still proud of making one jumped-up little twat cry though- he thought he'd be smart and harrass me at work, and you could hear him shit himself when I answered the phone with the firm's name. I should frame the apology letter I got from nPower.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You should technically just return the mail to sender if it isn't addressed to you.

    I'm pretty sure it's against the law to open mail that isn't addressed to you. :confused:

    Of course, returning to sender often does absolutely NOTHING at all, and writing "still not at this address" starts to grate after a while doesn't it? :(

    Where I work if we get mail returned 'not at this address' we stop paying the customer's benefit until they call to update their records. Mean, but it works!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    When I was working with a mail order company, I had to update the database with loads of 'not at this address' things. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I had a letter the other week from a debt collection agency on behalf of BT. It was addressed to my dad but at MY new address.

    Apparently it was linked to my old address where we had moved from (my parents now live in France) and they linked my new BT account to that and someone must have assumed that he lived here too. I was NOT happy. Especially when my dad told me that he'd settled all bills before they left the country anyway.

    Are they allowed to just automatically assume that he lived at the same address as me and sent a threatening letter?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Rich-E wrote: »
    Are they allowed to just automatically assume that he lived at the same address as me and sent a threatening letter?


    Probably not supposed to, but if you believed someone owed you money then I'm sure you would try to track them down and not care who you upset in the process.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    Probably not supposed to, but if you believed someone owed you money then I'm sure you would try to track them down and not care who you upset in the process.
    True. I guess I was just miffed that I got the letter in the first place, when it's only me registered at the address.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They can write to whoever they want at whichever address they want. They are perfectly entitled to write at known addresses (the SLC rang my mother-in-law up because I hadn't given them my new address).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Was that because they traced it through next of kin or something?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    ...another load of shite...

    Briggi, I work for a DCA (only for the next 3 weeks though!) - best thing to do is just stick them back in the post as 'return to sender'. Or just completely ignore them! The last thing you need to do is worry - they won't affect the credit rating at your address. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    You should technically just return the mail to sender if it isn't addressed to you.

    I'm pretty sure it's against the law to open mail that isn't addressed to you. :confused:

    :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah I know you're not supposed to open mail addressed to anyone other than yourself but they're not supposed to send big red letters threatening legal action and bad credit to people who have never racked up £800 bills with Littlewoods ;)

    Booby - I have sent a lot back "return to sender", I guess that's what I'll continue to do in the future... or bin 'em. Ta, love.

    Kermit I would love to make one of them cry. The people I've spoken to have obviously dealt with harsher people than myself though (maybe you :razz:) so I am yet to crack one with my ranting!

    Cheers you lot, I usually wouldn't be arsed about this kind of thing but there are definite niggles in the back of my mind about angry bailiffs turning up or bad credit (despite knowing that the whole "bad credit tied to your home" thing is pretty much a myth).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm on Sky, and I get sent my bill, as well as someone elses to the same address. I tried explaining that whomever it was does't live here. I asked them "do you have a phone number for this person?" "yes".. "then why don't you ring them?" "can't data protection".

    People who work in call centres for big companies are moronic, they really are, especially when they try to hide behind legislation that often doesn't apply in that situation.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    briggi wrote: »
    Cheers you lot, I usually wouldn't be arsed about this kind of thing but there are definite niggles in the back of my mind about angry bailiffs turning up or bad credit (despite knowing that the whole "bad credit tied to your home" thing is pretty much a myth).

    I wouldn't worry about bailifs either, since they only come out if there's a CCJ against the person with the debt, and as that isn't you they couldn't do anything even if they DID come to your door.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Miffy wrote: »
    I wouldn't worry about bailifs either, since they only come out if there's a CCJ against the person with the debt, and as that isn't you they couldn't do anything even if they DID come to your door.

    Yeah, but DCAs tend to be very good at ignoring the law. The amount of people I've heard of who have been told by charming DCA staff that they are "going to prison" for not paying debt is shocking. One person I heard of even went and handed himself in at the police station- needless to say the DCA got a very nasty letter from the police reminding them of the laws against harrassment.

    DCAs are not very nice.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    I'm on Sky, and I get sent my bill, as well as someone elses to the same address. I tried explaining that whomever it was does't live here. I asked them "do you have a phone number for this person?" "yes".. "then why don't you ring them?" "can't data protection".

    People who work in call centres for big companies are moronic, they really are, especially when they try to hide behind legislation that often doesn't apply in that situation.

    They shouldn't even be telling you they hold a phone number for the person because of data protection. They shouldn't be accessing the records of another person to see they have their phone number because they aren't required to in the course of their duties.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    briggi wrote: »
    Booby - I have sent a lot back "return to sender", I guess that's what I'll continue to do in the future... or bin 'em. Ta, love.

    I'd just bin them, mate. Don't bother phoning them - it's alright if you get someone like me who's generally quite nice, but some of the people I work with are wankers.

    Saying that, 80% of the people that phone us are complete wankers!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I had some debt collectors letters sent to my address for someone else. Sent them back saying they don't live here. The my next door neighbour got a letter asking her to confirm who was living in my house! Cheeky fecks :mad:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's weird but we got some mail yesterday addressed to the bloke who lived here before the people who lived here before us and my other half opening it by mistake (I don't know how, his name isn't anything like Colin Charlton! :yeees: ) and it was from a DCA saying he owes them £150. Naughty naughty Colin! We just binned it as the envelope couldn't be resealed.
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