Family debts in my name

[mercury023]

I hope someone can help..

 

My husband and I are at our wits end and he is not a well man.

 

We went to live in Turkey and left my daughter's address for bank cards, Post, doctors etc..

 

When we returned 6 years later we got a debt letter from a company we have about a debt we have never heard of..

 

My Daughter took out catalogue debts and an Argos credit card in my name..

Also a studio catalogue in my husbands...

We have since been bombarded with letters and have chosen to ignore them.

 

Citizens advice have said report her to the Police but we are very reluctant to do this

as we have 2 grandchildren and my daughter has Bi polar disorder..

 

Today we got a visit from a debt agency called Fidelite?

I wasn't in and we are understandably very upset by this.

 

We have never been in debt in all or our 60 odd years..

Never had a credit card and have always believed in savingu p for things we need..

. We own our own home. paid for cash from the sale of a business.

 

Any advice will be most welcome.

CAB just said pay it or go to the police.

 

We live on disabled benefits as my husband is seriously disabled through a stroke...

 

Thank you for reading this

 

... I did ring a debt help line who said that I must pay them...

The amount comes to about £4.000..

 

I live in fear of my neighbours hearing about all this....

[postmn]

if you are unable to or unwilling to reoprt your daughter for fraud and co operate with a police investigation then unfortunatly i feel the debt charity is right

[unclebulgaria67]

I think the choices are what have already been advised.

 

Report to Police or enter into a payment arrangement.

 

As your Daughter has committed fraud on numerous accounts, it might end up with a short spell in Prison, if she were convicted.

 

If her bi polar caused her to commit a criminal act and there is medical evidence, this should be taken into account,

but she might still face a court, where her medical situation is looked into.

 

You could send a CCA request for each debt with a £1 postal order and see what comes back.

Then you have more information about when these debts were taken out.

 

You might be able to then say that you were in Turkey at the time these accounts were taken out

and did not know about them

 

Then leave it up to the debt owners to look into it and see whether they pursue.

 

They might not report to Police, if they have allowed a third party to take out credit in another persons name, as it might show their identity checks failed.

[dx100uk]

go get yours and your husbands credit files

from say noddle or clearscore, both are free.

 

 

and don't worry about the powerless DCA's

either contacting you by letter

or by knocking at your door

 

 

they are

NOT BAILIFFS

and have

NO SUCCH LEGAL POWERS.

 

 

when you have the credit files

come back here with those that show

and what each debts defaulted date is please

 

 

for now

stop worrying so much

they are only low level consumer debt

def NOT a PRIORITY.

[daverules]

Hello

sorry to paste this question in this thread

but it's only slightly off topic but it saves creating a new thread for a short answer.

 

Regarding the CRA files,

I know that a debt falls off after 6 years

but is that only if there has been no payment,

 

 

if a payment is made within the 6 years

it restarts the clock but will it still fall of your record

or be reset on the CRA for another 6 years.

 

Regards

[dx100uk]

typically a debt doesn't fall off after 6yrs of no payment anyway..in most cases

however you've paid so its there for 6yrs from that date..[unless defaulted]

 

 

.BUT

 

 

I think you talking about a defaulted debt anyway..?

 

 

All references to a defaulted debt must be removed from your credit files after 6 years

has passed from date of default, whether paid off or not.

.

{the WHOLE ACCOUNT WILL VANISH, never to return}.

.

{however, this does not mean the debt itself is not still owed

consider a CCA request.}

.

This is so that someone who continues paying something

- even after 6 years from default

- should not be at a disadvantage to someone who pays nothing after default

and ends up with a clean file after 6 years.

.

NOTE: {the bracketed text is not ICO guideline but my advise]

[daverules]

Thank you dx

yes indeed it had been defaulted in 2006 but CRA is not showing the debt but a letter from Cabot states that a payment

of £20 had been made to the original creditor in 2012.

 

A SAR has now been sent to the OC.

 

Regards

[dx100uk]

aha the phantom payment game

[mercury023]

Thank you for your answers...

 

 

I have looked at my credit file and it states that the defaults are with Lowells.

(although) the letters that come are no longer from them.

The default dates are

19/12/2010

29/10/2010 and 1/11/2010...

. I made the mistake of giving my daughter's address when we emigrated...

 

Forgive me for being naive but do you always have to sign something to take out a credit card with Argos..

 

 

My daughter claims it was all done online and she didn't have to sign anything.

Likewise the catalogue companies...

 

 

I appreciate that I should really report her to the police but her mental health is not great

and we have 2 grandchildren who we think the world of...feel totally betrayed by her...

We had a fantastic relationship before this...

 

We have never replied to any of the letters after making a mistake with the first company..

Most advice says never ring them...

 

 

Sorry to be rambling but for a couple who have never owed anyone a penny it has come hard for us...

[dx100uk]

twill be online sign up yes for that age.

 

 

so by the end of the year they be off the record anyway

unless shes paid since the defaulted dates?

[mercury023]

No she hasn't paid anything.. She is 40 by the way....Old enough to know better...I was hoping that I could probe that they weren't my signatures. grrr.

[unclebulgaria67]

What is the total value of these debts and do you own any UK property ?

 

I suspect that Lowell will try to obtain court judgement for these debts before they become statute barred. If the total debts are £5,000 or more, if court judgements are not paid, then they might look at bankruptcy.

 

It might be worth sending CCA requests for each debt, making the point in the letters that your were resident in Turkey between x date and y date, so it will be interesting how credit has been taken out without your knowledge. Lowell are very unlikely to report to the Police and you do not need to incriminate your Daughter. Lowells will be stitched up that they could not prove who took out the credit.

[dx100uk]

what were the takeout dates of these debts.

 

 

as the SB date would run from a good few months prior to the defaulted dates

I bet

so if she paid nowt to anyone

the last date she ordered anything + a month or 2 would be about correct.

 

 

they could already be SB'd or very close

[brassnecked]

IP address is not prima facie evidence and can't be used as IP's are dynamic and will change everytime you reboot a router/modem/hub. Unless you get hold of a static IP.

 

Worth a go with the Turkey argument.

Edited April 17, 2016 by Andyorch
removed quote

[mercury023]

The debt that I received the doorstep visit about was £217...

it started off at £100..

 

 

..The other payment is an Argos card that started at £500 and is now £820.

 

 

Although there are debts with larger amounts outstanding I have up to now not been contacted about them..

 

 

. I am scared off writing to them and my husband is also very reluctant to do this..

 

 

. We have had letters offering reduced payments etc....

[renegadeimp]

Stop worrying. You just need to get your paperwork in order, as it sounds like many of your debts are unenforceable.

[dx100uk]

ah good discount letters too

always a good sign they are lemon debts.

[ericsbrother]

As this is YOUR data they are processing you can send each company a SAR and get a copy of the signed agreement and then show that it was fraud but I wouldnt be doing this until the threats become a lot more solid. At the moment this is all just a nuisance so just keep ignoring the dca's and keep an eye out for anything else and act then.