[Finance] Advice: Someone else’s debt being chased at our address

[Poojah]

Long story short, we have received a couple of letters to our address chasing a debt of nearly 5 grand owed to Southern Water. The person named on the letter has my wife’s first name and maiden name (by which she hasn’t been known by for a decade), but wrong middle name.

It is, of course, not my wife - I have been with her for 18 years, since we were 18, and we have lived together for 17 of them. Neither of us have ever lived in an area serviced by Southern Water.

Having spoken to the agency in question, it seems the person owing the debt shares not only a first name and maiden name with my wife, but also DOB. Her maiden name is a one of the most common in the UK, so it’s not that big a coincidence.

I assume the agency chasing payment is using some sort of system which marries up people who have gone by a certain name at some point in time, with a matching DOB, and listed out any subsequent current addresses. As such, I expect a few households will have received the same letter looking for the same person.

However, in spite of having explained all of this to the agency, and with them alluding that they were satisfied with this, I want to be absolutely 100% certain that my wife doesn’t inadvertently end up with a CCJ (which is what they are threatening) for someone else’s debt. Having never had one, I’m not totally au fait with how they work.

I assume that it is not possible to have a CCJ erroneously lodged against you, but can anyone reassure me and / or advise of any further action I should take in order to ensure that this does not happen.

Thanks!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

They have to prove that it is her if they want to take legal action. I am a bit confused about whether they are satisfied, or whether they are still threatening you with a CCJ.

If it bothers you, get legal advice; threatening to sue them for emotional distress is probably the route I'd go.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I would contact Southern Water as well and get something in writing from both that acknowledges that the debt isn't yours.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

They have a duty to prove your wife is the person they are after not for your wife to prove she is not.

Wait and see if they do take action as then a simple explanation on the forms while be all that's needed. DON'T worry.

 

[Rookie]

To get a CCJ they have to take you (your wife) to court. You will receive a claim form with an opportunity to defend. Defend the claim by following the instructions from the court (be careful with the dates).
When filing and serving your defence advise the agency you will seek your full costs from them should they take the matter forward. Smalls claims (under £10k) which means costs are usually not awarded even if you win but the judge does have discretion if it is found that there has been unreasonable behaviour.
Keep all emails / letters you send and keep full notes of all telephone calls.
Given the value legal advice is probably not worthwhile (cost of the advice could mount up and unlikely to get it back) but the CAB will be able to help.

 

[Poojah]

They have to prove that it is her if they want to take legal action. I am a bit confused about whether they are satisfied, or whether they are still threatening you with a CCJ.

If it bothers you, get legal advice; threatening to sue them for emotional distress is probably the route I'd go.

On the phone they said “ok, that’s fine”, which is likely the end of it. However, it’s hard to read whether they’ve genuinely accepted what I’ve told them or not and just want to make sure that if there’s any further steps I need to take, that I do it now.

I’m not overly bothered, just want to ensure my missus doesn’t end up getting embroiled in beef that has nothing to do with her whatsoever.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

As has already been said, contact Southern Water.

As the DCA has your wife's address it would mean if they, or Southern Water, did raise a claim you would get the claim papers. You then deny the debt and give the reasons why. The court would then throw out the claim. The only exception with that is if the DCA are dishonest and raise the claim with an incorrect address so you wouldn't get the papers. It's been known, especially in the private parking ticket scam industry. I would assume Southern Water would use a reputable DCA though.

I've had similar in the past, ironically with Southern Water as well, and all I did was tell the DCA to return the debt to their client and to f*** off. Southern then wrote to me and I dealt with them directly. The DCA just searches for snippets of data and when they get a match, right or wrong, chase the rabbit down that warren.

 

[Poojah]

I would contact Southern Water as well and get something in writing from both that acknowledges that the debt isn't yours.

Is it still Southern Water’s business? My understanding is that utility companies etc effectively “sold” bad debt to collection agencies (say for 50% of the total value of the debt) with the collection agency taking on both the risk and any proceeds from debts recovered.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Possibly if SW have factored the debt to an agency, but I would be contacting everyone and anyone involved so they all know that I dispute the debt.

It might be the agency's responsibility to prove who owes the debt, but I wouldn't want to do nothing and take that chance. You can be awarded a CCJ against you in absentia.

 

[basque seagull]

Long story short, we have received a couple of letters to our address chasing a debt of nearly 5 grand owed to Southern Water. The person named on the letter has my wife’s first name and maiden name (by which she hasn’t been known by for a decade), but wrong middle name.

It is, of course, not my wife - I have been with her for 18 years, since we were 18, and we have lived together for 17 of them. Neither of us have ever lived in an area serviced by Southern Water.

Having spoken to the agency in question, it seems the person owing the debt shares not only a first name and maiden name with my wife, but also DOB. Her maiden name is a one of the most common in the UK, so it’s not that big a coincidence.

I assume the agency chasing payment is using some sort of system which marries up people who have gone by a certain name at some point in time, with a matching DOB, and listed out any subsequent current addresses. As such, I expect a few households will have received the same letter looking for the same person.

However, in spite of having explained all of this to the agency, and with them alluding that they were satisfied with this, I want to be absolutely 100% certain that my wife doesn’t inadvertently end up with a CCJ (which is what they are threatening) for someone else’s debt. Having never had one, I’m not totally au fait with how they work.

I assume that it is not possible to have a CCJ erroneously lodged against you, but can anyone reassure me and / or advise of any further action I should take in order to ensure that this does not happen.

Thanks!

I had a similar problem with an agency in Spain over an alleged debt of 12 thousand euros from someone with the same name as me In Tenerife. The debt was with Banco Santander. I went straight to the bank to clear it up, they checked my ID number which was different to the debtor, made a phone call and said it was all cleared up and not to worry. Never heard anything about it ever again. Hope this helps.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Is it still Southern Water’s business? My understanding is that utility companies etc effectively “sold” bad debt to collection agencies (say for 50% of the total value of the debt) with the collection agency taking on both the risk and any proceeds from debts recovered.

You're confusing that with credit agreements such as credit cards. Credit card companies do indeed sell their debt to debt purchasing company. I can assure you they buy the debt at a lot less than 50% - think single digits. I did some work for a DPC in Worthing a while back and got to see their purchase portfolios - the money they make if they get the whole debt recovered is eye watering. That's why many of them offer huge discounts on the debt if you clear say 'by the end of November'.

Utilities can't sell the debt. They can employ a DCA and/or take you to court.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Being contacted by someone chasing money having your wife's first name, maiden name and DOB has made me immediately think SCAM.

Southern Water quite often get stick on here and deservedly so, but they're not crooks.

Contacting Southern Water direct and checking that they actually have an ongoing dispute with this name/DOB/address would be my first port of call and then sort it from there. I probably wouldn't respond to whoever it is that contacted you. Good luck

 

[Cotton Socks]

Has your wife checked her credit file (It's free to check)? Just to make sure she hasn't been a victim of id fraud.
I'd ask for 'written' (email) confirmation from all companies involved that they've accepted that it isn't your wife within 14 days. If you don't get the confirmation within 14 days, then email the CEO's of the companies. Sometimes it's easier to cut out the middle people. I did that for my parents with Southern Water when they weren't getting anywhere with customer services, except for being told a lot of different information from various people. It was sorted soon after.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Being contacted by someone chasing money having your wife's first name, maiden name and DOB has made me immediately think SCAM.

Southern Water quite often get stick on here and deservedly so, but they're not crooks.

Contacting Southern Water direct and checking that they actually have an ongoing dispute with this name/DOB/address would be my first port of call and then sort it from there. I probably wouldn't respond to whoever it is that contacted you. Good luck

I agree. It might be worth contacting CAB as well, as you can get 30 mins free legal advice.

 

[maffew]

5k in water debt? Hows that even possible without a swimming pool or a farm or something.

 

[drew]

Check with Southern Water and maybe get in touch if they have a fraud/investigation team. See if they will identify the property at which the debt accrued or at least get them to acknowledge that you and your wife have been at your address for however many years. As for the debt agency, check them out. Could be a scam but could also be bona fide. Regarding your conversation with them, get some notes of the conversation down and if they have written to you, maybe reply on the lines of 'I refer to our telephone conversation on etc etc' give as much content of the discussion as possible and end by stating that you understand they have accept your position.

 

[Sirnormangall]

On the phone they said “ok, that’s fine”, which is likely the end of it. However, it’s hard to read whether they’ve genuinely accepted what I’ve told them or not and just want to make sure that if there’s any further steps I need to take, that I do it now.

I’m not overly bothered, just want to ensure my missus doesn’t end up getting embroiled in beef that has nothing to do with her whatsoever.

Suggest you follow up that call in writing / email, stating that as per the call you understand the matter is closed but that you want written confirmation from them. Copy to Southern Water too.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

This is good info as the same thing has happened to me.

Some bloke called Jeremy Hunt claims I’ll have to pay my part of the 60bn black hole his party have recently racked up. This was nothing to do with me yet he expects me to pay

 

[Littlemo]

Agree with what’s been said. Check first with Southern Water to see if it’s a legit claim then if they say it is, go to Citizens advice and speak to them. They are great at helping with legal stuff like this.

 

[Brovion]

This is good info as the same thing has happened to me.

Some bloke called Jeremy Hunt claims I’ll have to pay my part of the 60bn black hole his party have recently racked up. This was nothing to do with me yet he expects me to pay

Yes, good one. But do we have to have politics in every thread?