So I thought id update you quickly, I called the ICO and they informed me that Luton Borough Council need to prove I owe them the money, not the other way around... with that they advised I send them a letter so this is being posted first thing Monday morning. ________________________________________________________________ Dear Sir, I received a letter from Phoenix Commercial Collections on Wednesday 2nd Dec stating that they are acting on Luton Borough Council’s behalf & are requesting the sum of £573.47 for Council Tax, a copy is attached. When I called your office I was told by a lady that this was linked to an address in Luton called Barons Court, an address I have never lived, bought or visited. This debt is not mine. Please find attached a screen print from my Experian credit report showing you the dates & places I lived at between 2005 to present. I understand that mistakes happen as in this case, but what I do not understand is why my personal data was accessed and passed onto a debt collection agency. I believe this to be a breach of my Data Protection rights. When I called your office again I spoke to a lady called Rose (who I have no problem with and was polite and very helpful) & after some discussion found out that you didn’t know my date of birth, middle initials, bank details… in fact all you had was my current address. A simple search on my credit report would have shown you what my linked address’s are? Date of birth etc?. I have spoken to the Information Commissioners Office & have been advised that I try to resolve the issue with yourselves before making a formal complaint. In light of that advice I would like you to tell me the following: · How is my data being used by your department? · Why was none of they key information checked like date of birth, middle initials, credit report etc? · Why was my data passed to a Debt Collection Agency when I am not the person whom the debt belongs to and adequate checks were not carried out? · Why is it up to ME to prove I do not owe you this money when YOU can check your own records? By that I mean the fact that I was paying council tax for other properties in the borough at that time with my Girlfriend. I look forward to your response. Mr C ________________________________________________________________ Lets see what response I get.

Thats the bit that makes me laugh... surly the council will know I paid tax for the other properties I lived at in Luton?

Thanks for the reply, silly question but what evedence could I use?

Hi All, Hope you can help with my situation. I received a letter from Phoenix Commercial Collections on Tuesday stating that owed about £600 for Council Tax to Luton Council. This is a debt on a property that I have never owned or stayed at and is not mine. I called Luton council and they said that I had to prove that I was not living there in this time. Now the thing is… I know these things happen…but when I spoke to the recovery department at Luton Council they could not confirm any of my details… date of birth etc… I even managed to get the Sort code of the bank account the last payment was made from.. starting with 07?? I bank with abbey and its not the same. I called Phoenix today and was amazed at how polite the woman was on the phone, she explained there is nothing to worry about and these things happen. When I asked he how they got my details I was told it WAS supplied by Luton Borough Council. My question is this… are they in breach of my Data Protection by not checking this properly? And who should I complain to?

HI, Ive chopped this long story down to make for easier reading..... I have just bought a car from Enans Halshaw Ford in bedford and part exchanged my old car for it. Ford new the settlement quote would expire on the 29th of April and said this would not be a problem. I found out today that Honday recieved the cheque on the 8th May and as such re calculated the figure. This means I made a payment on the 5th to Honda that I shouldnt have but Honda re did the settlement and effecticly charged me interest for this month... who do i claim the payment back from? Honda are saying ford... I cant get hold of the business manager at Ford yet... Do I even stand a chance of getting it back??