Previous tenant getting parking charge notices
Discussion
I have been in my flat for some 3 months. The previous tenant is getting a lot of post with private parking charge notices. I have the new address and have been forwarding. How nice I am. On the basis that they do not appear to be planning on paying the charges nor changing the address on the v5, I expect that the charges will escalate to court action.
How long do we think that will take? Will it affect me/my credit record by association with the address?
Cheers
Bert
How long do we think that will take? Will it affect me/my credit record by association with the address?
Cheers
Bert
BertBert said:
How long do we think that will take?
Depends on who the creditor is and their appetite for litigationBertBert said:
Will it affect me/my credit record by association with the address?
No - http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askja...The 'big 3' CRAs are Callcredit, Equifax and Experian.
Everyone should do a regular credit health check.
paintman said:
You could always return to sender with a note written on the envelope.
Agreed.We still have the occasional letter addressed to the previous owners of our house, and this all gets shoved back in the post box with "not known at this address".
Seems to be working as it is getting a lot less nowadays.
OP, if RTS doesn't work and the correspondence keeps coming,* one effective way to stop it altogether is to open it then contact the sender.
Tell them to get in touch with the landlord/letting agent who will be able to verify that you are not the person they are looking for and that the person named in the letter is no longer resident there nor are they the legal occupier. Do this by phone and follow up in writing enclosing the sender's paperwork. Make sure your letter includes the addressee's name, the sender's reference number, and the date of their correspondence. Do not copy the sender's letter, but do so for yours to them.
Follow this process without any short cuts/omissions.
Before someone tells you it is illegal to open mail, the relevant legislation is The Postal Services Act 2000 Section 84 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/sectio...
In particular sub-section (3). I'm confident you could plead lack of intention to cause detriment and reasonable cause in the vanishingly small likelihood of being prosecuted for it.
* Why would RTS deter a creditor? Anyone actively seeking to avoid a debt could do this with impunity.
I have been in the same situation as the OP except that it was DCAs not a PPC/local authority/police. RTS proved a complete waste of time. My solution killed it stone dead. Vehicular contraventions and offences are slightly more problematical as the data source is the DVLA and only the current RK can get it to change its records. However it puts the sender on notice that even if they won in court it would be pointless sending a bailff to your front door.
Tell them to get in touch with the landlord/letting agent who will be able to verify that you are not the person they are looking for and that the person named in the letter is no longer resident there nor are they the legal occupier. Do this by phone and follow up in writing enclosing the sender's paperwork. Make sure your letter includes the addressee's name, the sender's reference number, and the date of their correspondence. Do not copy the sender's letter, but do so for yours to them.
Follow this process without any short cuts/omissions.
Before someone tells you it is illegal to open mail, the relevant legislation is The Postal Services Act 2000 Section 84 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/sectio...
In particular sub-section (3). I'm confident you could plead lack of intention to cause detriment and reasonable cause in the vanishingly small likelihood of being prosecuted for it.
* Why would RTS deter a creditor? Anyone actively seeking to avoid a debt could do this with impunity.
I have been in the same situation as the OP except that it was DCAs not a PPC/local authority/police. RTS proved a complete waste of time. My solution killed it stone dead. Vehicular contraventions and offences are slightly more problematical as the data source is the DVLA and only the current RK can get it to change its records. However it puts the sender on notice that even if they won in court it would be pointless sending a bailff to your front door.
We've had the same thing. It will never stop unless you can get the owner of the car to register it elsewhere.
Took our guys about 8 months from the day we moved in to the day a collection agent came round.
Most of these debt agencies want some proof that you're not who they're looking for either by showing ID with name and address or AST.
Took our guys about 8 months from the day we moved in to the day a collection agent came round.
Most of these debt agencies want some proof that you're not who they're looking for either by showing ID with name and address or AST.
I would RTS EVERY time & if/when debt collectors come round, show them as much proof/ID as you can - bills, passport etc.
I got my fingers burnt years ago when someone moved into a house up the road with the same postcode as me. Seems the water board accidentally tagged his meter serial number to my address. I got bills, then final demands, followed by threats of legal action/debt collectors, all addressed to 'Mr Smith'. I stupidly opened them & tried to sort it, but always seemed to get through to Ugg & Ugg in a call centre. Took 3 years to resolve(!!!!)
I got my fingers burnt years ago when someone moved into a house up the road with the same postcode as me. Seems the water board accidentally tagged his meter serial number to my address. I got bills, then final demands, followed by threats of legal action/debt collectors, all addressed to 'Mr Smith'. I stupidly opened them & tried to sort it, but always seemed to get through to Ugg & Ugg in a call centre. Took 3 years to resolve(!!!!)
Biker 1 said:
I stupidly opened them & tried to sort it, but always seemed to get through to Ugg & Ugg in a call centre. Took 3 years to resolve(!!!!)
If you didn't follow up the call in writing, as I suggested earlier, I'm not surprised that your strategy didn't work.BertBert said:
I think I will put a note on the back with the new address on when I RTS and see if that helps as well.
Worth a try, but it is just possible that RM might redirect it so the creditor will be none the wiser.RTS soon becomes a chore, especially if the person being chased is deliberately not updating the DVLA!
Yes I was sat with an envelope thinking that the RM will redirect to where the person is now, not back to the sender!
Red Devil said:
Worth a try, but it is just possible that RM might redirect it so the creditor will be none the wiser.
RTS soon becomes a chore, especially if the person being chased is deliberately not updating the DVLA!
RTS soon becomes a chore, especially if the person being chased is deliberately not updating the DVLA!
Just write "moved away please return" on a few and post them back.
I had a debt collector turn up at my last rented place asking for a previous resident who owed money. I showed him my tenancy and when I'd moved in, proved who I was, told him that if he wanted to find the woman he was asking for he was best off starting his search in Warsaw, and off he went. The letters stopped.
I had a debt collector turn up at my last rented place asking for a previous resident who owed money. I showed him my tenancy and when I'd moved in, proved who I was, told him that if he wanted to find the woman he was asking for he was best off starting his search in Warsaw, and off he went. The letters stopped.
ashleyman said:
Most of these debt agencies want some proof that you're not who they're looking for either by showing ID with name and address or AST.
Regardless of what they want, why should any uninvolved party have to prove their identity? It's up to the collector to establish they have the right person, not the 'victim' (for want of a better word) to establish their uninvolvement.Rovinghawk said:
Regardless of what they want, why should any uninvolved party have to prove their identity? It's up to the collector to establish they have the right person, not the 'victim' (for want of a better word) to establish their uninvolvement.
shouldn't have to, but if you can't or won't prove who you are then they may need to come back until they are satisfied that you aren't the person they want. This makes it easier to say "Look, here's the tenancy in my name, here's my passport, the person you are after is a woman, I'm clearly not, now FO" than get high minded about it.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff