Thread: Please help, mum being persued for debt that isn't hers!!!

My mum is at her wits end, about 18 months ago she got a letter in my sisters name from a debt collection agency called Intrum Jusititia for a debt she had with Capital One for over £400. My sister moved out of home when she was 15 to go and live in manchester and my mum and I have only ever had the brief phone call from her.

My mum sent the letter back saying that my sister didn't live there and hasn't since 1995, so wouldn't have ever been on the electoral roll either! Anyway that was the end of that until 2 weeks ago my mum got another letter, she hadn't opened it but I did as I wanted to ring Intrum and explain what was going on and also the fact that it was really upsetting my mum, not only regarding the breakdown of their relationship but the fact the letters are threatening bailiffs/collectors coming round.

I rang and spoke to someone in an Indian (i think) call centre who could barely understand what I was saying, I then got transferred to someone else who understood the situation and told us to seal the letter, send it bakc and that the address would be taken off their database straightaway.

Anyway my mum has just rang in floods of tears as she got another letter, she opened it in error and it is saying that bailiffs will be coming round and/or legal action is being taken, my mum is bipolar and suffers with dimensia so cannot grasp the fact that it is nothing to do with her and won't affect her but she is terrified that bailiffs will come and kick her door in.

They aren't open now until monday so I can't even ring them, she has sealed the letter again and I have told her to put a covering note in as I did last time to explain the situation. I just wish I had a flipping address for my stupid sister then they can persue her instead but we don't sadly.

Is there anyway we can put an end to this as it is affecting my mums health and also seems rather dodgy as we can't understand how they even have that address, she wasn't ever able to apply for credit at that address.

Would they try it on anyway and send bailiffs to my mums do you think? I have told her if they do then she should ring the police as I'm not sure what her reaction would be, one day she might be scared the next she might attack them.

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. Please feel free to move it, if it is. TIA.

Similar Threads:

• HELP! - Debt Collector STILL Harrasing me AFTER Robinson Way sent debt back to HBOS
• Sent first two letters and now have been told the debt has been sold on to debt compa
• Anyone persued in Scotland for Non-compliance DPA
• Debt consisting of entirely charges sold to debt collection agency...how to proceed

Has there been a court order? If not then no bailiffs can be send round.
get the letter and see what it actually says.
I think that speaking to the debt collection agency will do little good but try anyway. Make note of the conversation if you aren't able to record it including date and time. However, I would recommend everyone to record their convesations as a matter of routine
It is an offence to harrass and to cause fear - which is clearly what they are doing.

Also it own't do very much good to write - but do write so that you can start to get a record of the attempts which you have made to deal with it. Make sure that you let then know that they are commiting the offence of harrasment and that theyare causing fear. Say this in your telephone conversation too.

Get sight of the letter which you mother has received and come back here.

Have a look at http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section5/chapter_e.html
Google debt collection and harrassement generally

Cheddar, I don't know how Intrum Justicia have been with you on the phone, but everytime I have to speak to them I've found them to be the most non-understanding,unhelpful, nastiest people I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with. If possible I'd try and sort it out in writing.

Best of luck.

Hi I wrote this letter and sent it recorded delivery the other day, I didn't see the advice on here cos it took a day or so for this thread to show up for me, for some reason! I have also made a complaint to the OFT on advice from the CAB. The letter was a usual demand letter, nothing said about a Court Order or anything. This is the letter I wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam

I demand that this letter is forwarded to the most senior person in your company. This is an official complaint and I am writing this with guidance from the CAB and the Office of Fair Trading.

I am putting you on notice that I intend reporting you to the Office of Fair Trading, under Section 40 of The Administration of Justice Act 1970, for Harassment. Furthermore, from this point on you must NOT send any more communication to my mother at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

If she receives one more letter or visit from you, someone instructed by you or your organisation, I will see that you face criminal proceedings under Section 2 of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, you may be interested to know that your consumer credit license will not protect you from prosecution.

You are also in breach of the Office of Fair Trading Code of Guidance and your actions are bordering on breaching the Malicious Communications Act 1998.

My mother who is bipolar and suffers from dementia got a letter from you approx 18 months ago regarding my sister who lived with her until 1996 and left when she was 16 years of age. The debt is with Capital One and in the name of xxxxxxxxxxx

I rang you at the time to explain that my sister moved out of home at 16 and we have had limited contact with her due to her spending some time in correctional facilities and some time in hospital sectioned under the Mental Health Act. We didn't have a current address then but gave some previous addresses to see if that could help in any way, I was advised to send the letter back stating she no longer lived there. I was assured that my mother would NOT receive any further communication from you, this was especially important to me as just seeing my sisters name can set my other off into depression or panic attack.

Then approx 2 weeks ago you send yet another letter, I was amazed beyond belief to be honest, you know full well that she does NOT live there, she has never been on the electoral roll as living there and never even lived there as an adult. I rang you again to demand that the address be taken off your system as it was making my mother ill. I got an apology from the operator and was told under no circumstances would any more letters be sent. This letter was also sent back with a full covering letter, including the time/date of the phone call and the name of the person I spoke to.

On 1st April however a rather forceful and demanding letter saying that bailiffs will be sent to my mothers address and that legal action will commence arrived. My mother does not understand that it will not be against her and had a severe panic attack.

You are making my mother ill over something her estranged daughter did. I don't understand why you can't do a simple search on the electoral roll to see that xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx has NEVER been registered as living there. I am getting the feeling that you have no understanding or compassion for the victim involved here.

I want something in writing telling me that my mother will no longer receive any correspondence at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx from a senior member of staff, you can do this by either sending me an e-mail OR sending a letter to my mother FAO ‘The Occupier’ (this is the only instance you can contact her).

My mother is already in the process of contacting the press over this with the help of my dad and one of her carers so you may well see this case on Watchdog, I will let you know the date if you are interested.

Today 3rd April 2006 at 9.09am I spoke to a Mrs Fisher at your call centre (this call was recorded at my end and can be used as evidence that I was advised the address would be removed and no further correspondence sent). I explained the brief outline of this letter and she assured me at least twice that my mothers address would be removed. I also gave her the last known address for xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and she said that any further letters would be sent there and not to my mothers. Fortunately I have today managed to get a phone number for my sister and sent her a text message asking her to ring you quoting the reference number.

I then got a phone call from my sister saying she had cleared it up and made a plan to pay and straightened out the address problem but also said that the operator mentioned my mothers address, so I can see that the address has NOT been taken off but is still on file somewhere. Even if it is just as a previous address or something I demand it is removed at all costs as xxxxxxxxxxxx was only a child when she lived at that address.

You have 14 days to comply with this request otherwise the above action will commence and proceedings may be made towards you.

Yours sincerely

Do you think it will end at that???

If I could clap I would. That is a great letter and very official in its nature. I hope that you never hear from them again (except for the requested letter). Good luck.

Thank you Intersimi, I like writing my letters I do!

I contacted Local Trading Standards and they said they will see if she gets another letter, if she does then to contact them asap. They also gave me a form to fill in and send to the OFT which I have also done.

Besides my sister has given them her address and set up a payment plan (but obviously I don't know how long that is going to last for as she rarely stays in one place). I don't know why doing this won't help I have had to fend off 2 DCA's whilst living here, including doorstep collectors.

Ah right, sorry I think I came across as being a bit stroppy then! Am just a bit stressed as it's usually me that has to deal with my mum in these kind of situations! I have got TS on the case so hopefully it will stop! Thanks Seminole.

Oooooooooh! Good news!

Well yesterday I got a phone call from my mum who read me a long and detailed letter, addressed to 'The Occupier' as asked and it was to me rather than my mum from IJ's head office.

Talk about grovel grovel! LOL! IJ say they are extremely sorry, very apologetic, they will be dealing with their client as their client have eventually admitted that they shouldn't have provided the address (my mums) as it was never used as a correspondence address for my sister. It was error and was overlooked. They deny getting any other letters from us (probably because they weren't threatening enough).

They also say that under no circumstances will any correspondence be sent to my mums address and that her address have been permanently removed from their systems but it will remain on their clients system but not as a correspondence address. They also say they can't say why their client has the address but I can only presume my sister used it as a previous address when applying for credit.

So it shows that if you write the RIGHT things they will sometimes listen. Funnily enough about an hour later I got a phone call from Trading Standards saying they wanted to discuss the case, said they were too late as IJ had already applied but thanked them as they were very fast in repsonding. They said if IJ go back on their word to let them know. I said I would and that I would look into taking them to court if they did anyway!

I hope my letter and this thread can help other people if they or a family member have been in this situation.

That is a good response, I hope they stick to it, as I would probably think you would not want the further hassle.

Well done on getting a good outcome for your mum

Thanks, to be honest it rather surprised me, I'm going to my mums today so will have the full letter. Am very pleased!

Well it seems that all this has gone to pot.

9 Months later and my mum gets this letter, obviously in my sisters name from Capital One themselves.

We hereby give you notice of the assignment of the debt due to us from you in respect of the balance outstanding on your account.

On 19/01/07 your account was sold to Lowell Portfoilo I Ltd.

Any further communications and payments must therefore be addressed to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd:

And it gives their address etc

So what now? The same rigmarole? Get TS involved? Do C1 have anything to do with this debt anymore?

Thing is, my sister is now living at MY address. I know, I know not the smartest move but i am soft. Anyway all we want to do now is just get all this away from my mums address cos it may cause a lot more problems than we want. My sister doesn't mind about the debt coming here but I am not gonna be impressed about having collectors coming round if/when she decides not to pay.

Is it worth her doing one of those CCA request things? She seems to think that the debt is about 4 years old and must be mainly made up of charges...althought the whole thing of it going to an address she only lived at till she was 16 is disgusting anyway....

...any ideas?

TIA

Well i have decided to get TS involved again as there is an exsisting case, hopefully they can get all this sorted out. I've told my sister that she can sort this out once she is living somewhere else!

After a lengthy discussion my sister and I have decided in the meantime to try and get all correspondence sent here to my address to save my mum getting the bother and it will basically be easier to deal with.

How can we go about this? She doesn't want to acknowledge debt to the company yet until she knows whats going on...any ideas? Or is this something else we can request from TS?