Phoenix Collections, Luton borough Council & Me

[chazz.w]

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?

[Seminole]

At this stage I think I would focus on getting them off your back. Write to Phoenix (cc the Council) setting out the position. An address history for yourself would help together with a copy of evidence that you were living elsewhere at the time when the debt arose. I'm sure that you wouldn't do this anyway but do not make any assumptions that you have sorted this out over the phone. Always put it in writing.

 

Once they've confirmed that the debt isn't yours or if they decide to pursue it further you can go to town on them. So far the fault here seems to lie with the Council. Is the alleged debt in the same name as yours and do you have a fairly common name? Do you have any connection with Luton. You can ask the Council how they decided to pass your details on to Phoenix. If you don't get a satisfactory answer you could make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

[chazz.w]

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

[Seminole]

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

 

A council tax bill for the property you were in, a utility bill or a copy of a tenancy agreement.

[chazz.w]

A council tax bill for the property you were in, a utility bill or a copy of a tenancy agreement.

 

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

[PGH7447]

these are civil servants, and you expect them to know:rolleyes:

[chazz.w]

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.