Someone used my address to register a car - Now under siege for his traffic offences

[brownie2024]

Hello There everybody I hope you are well .

I am on here because I am pretty much at my wits end and I am very unsure of what to do next.

Since mid June we have been receiving mail for a  john smith at our address, we were returning to sender at first - the letters have been averaging about 15 a week for the last few months.

about 6 weeks ago one envelope had been pretty much decimated by the rain and was open - It was a recovery letter from a high court.

I got in touch with the dvla and they conducted an investigation and they wrote back a few weeks later saying that this person had given my address when registering their car and my details have now been removed from their files.

some of these letters have actually been addressed to the householder/occupier and to my horror whoever this person  is seems to be conducting a one man crime spree the length and breadth of the country and is wracking up motoring offences wherever he or she goes,

Cutting a very long story short

some of the firms have been very good to be fair and have listened to what i have to say and some of the letters have stopped but others are just unreachable and i simply do not have the time to spend on the phone all day trying to speak to a fellow member of the human race.

Things Escalated this weekend with the involvement of the infamous Marstons and they were far from helpful and they want me to go online and open a case with this mystery guys client number - Not a chance - that is pretty much admitting the offence is mine . 

Needless to say I am worried sick and i just want all this to stop. 

Many thanks guys any help or advice greatly appreciated.

 

[jk2054]

Hi,

can you list up which companies are still sending letters?

This one is quite hard - There isnt a one fits all solution, you’ll have to contact each one individually

[dx100uk]

its quite simple.

ignore them all and stop returning letters.

any law enforcement, council, DCA, Bailiff need to check voters register.

no matter what these are be they motoring offences or private parking tickets, even if these got to court, NONE give the power of forced entry to your property.

sadly you've probably elongated this suffering by sending letters back and ringing people.

4 hours ago, brownie2024 said:

I got in touch with the dvla and they conducted an investigation and they wrote back a few weeks later saying that this person had given my address when registering their car and my details have now been removed from their files.

you've got your name off the vehicles V5C now , just run off a few copies ready to hand out or mail to anyone that gets silly.

and stay off the phone. total waste of time

thread title updated

dx

 

[unclebulgaria67]

If this issue continues to cause you problems, keep hold of a number of the communications and think about contacting Police to see what help they can offer.

If the communications contain registration number and the Police believe the vehicle could be being used to commit crimes, then they might be willing to flag up the registration on national database for a stop to be made to check drivers details.

The Police of course may not be willing to do this, unless you have enough communications to show that this is not just someone having made an admin error with address.

[Ethel Street]

The DVLA letter is the key evidence so have copies available if any DCA/bailiff comes to the door. Give it to them once  and instruct them not to come back or contact you again. 

Just to confirm, 'john smith' has only used your address and hasn't cloned the registration number of your own car?

[brownie2024]

Good morning folks thank you very much for your advice so far 

i have several copies of the letter from the dvla ready to roll if required. Thank you will do.

yes as far as i am aware they have just used my Address -i do not own a car currently 

The firms that are being a bit naughty are 

Marstons

UKPC This a county court one and they uncontactable 

greater london central zone 

Drakes bailiffs have just backed off at the weekend they have suspended their file on it ,

These are the only ones i have engaged with all the other letters keep getting sent back return to sender not at this address. 

It is  the marstons one that concerns me the most really, the person i spoke with was quite unpleasant -borderline hostile i thought, not helpful at all. Contacting the police was a great suggestion, i have just got off the phone with them - they were not too interested sadly.

Do you think my best course of action is just sitting it out and waiting for whoever to show up ?

legally i do not have to let them in do i ?

 

[dx100uk]

7 hours ago, dx100uk said:

no matter what these are be they motoring offences or private parking tickets, even if these got to court, NONE give the power of forced entry to your property.

cant say it any clearer.

just ignore EVERYONE now

dx

 

[FTMDave]

dx is spot on.

Out of interest - how much is the UKPC one?

[Ethel Street]

@brownie2024 If you have not previously experienced DCA or bailiffs vsiting I suggest you do a bit of research online into what baliffs can and can't do.

It's easy to say what a DCA (debt collector) has the power to do - absolutely nothing, as advised several times upthread. A DCA acts for the company who claims you owe them money. Just tell them to foxtrot oscar and if they won't leave your property tell them you will call police 101 and report them for illegal harrassment. You are entitled to film and record them with your phone as a record.

Bailiffs are different and do have some powers but not FORCED entry into your home for civil debts. Bailiffs are acting on behalf of the courts so can only be involved if the case has gone to court and a court judgement has been issued against "John Smith" at your address.

Bailiffs can visit your house but cannot force an entry. That means, for example, they cannot break down doors, use a locksmith, climb through windows. But if they find a door that is open or unlocked they can come in through it. So keep them locked.  That's why we recommend that you have your letter ready to hand to any baliff that turns up and you give it to them through the letterbox or through a window and don't open the door to them in case they barge past you then claim you voluntarily let them in. Once in legally they do have some powers. Look it up.

[Homer67]

Question for the experts: would it be worth the OP doing a stat dec/swear to hand out?

[Man in the middle]

57 minutes ago, Homer67 said:

Question for the experts: would it be worth the OP doing a stat dec/swear to hand out?

What would he declare? That he is not John Smith? It should be fairly easy to prove that to anybody who asked, surely.

[Ethel Street]

A question for the bailiff experts, if a bailiff comes to the door they will start by asking for John Smith, to which @brownie2024 will reply doesn't live here/don't know him.

To which the bailiff will presumably reply "can you prove to me that you aren't John Smith". 

Do we advise that brownie2024 should show the bailiff photo ID - passport, driving licence - to prove they aren't John Smith, as the quickest way to get rid of the bailiff? 

Hold the ID up from inside the window so bailiff can see it, don't hand it to them.

[dx100uk]

not his problem he doesn't have to ID himself or interact with bailiffs at all they really have no powers to demand people ID themselves, same as the Police in public or at your home, if you've not been charged with anything you are under ZERO liability under Law to ID yourself.

 

dx

[Homer67]

22 hours ago, Man in the middle said:

What would he declare? That he is not John Smith? It should be fairly easy to prove that to anybody who asked, surely.

That's why I asked the question, I thought a swear handed to a doorstepper might help, that's all.

[dx100uk]

any news?