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Thread: Letter from a debt collection company

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    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    Letter from a debt collection company

    Hi all,

    I'm hoping someone on here could set my mind at ease. I've had a letter through the door today from Mackenzie Hall who are a dept collection agency. Googling hasn't really brough up anything useful yet. The letter is address to Andrew ****** and the surname doesn't match my surname but the first name is correct. Also the address is incorrect in that there are spelling mistakes.

    In the letter they say they are attempting to contact the 'above named person regarding a personal matter'

    I'm hesitant to contact them to set them right because they haven't got their details correct and all methods of contact look like they will cost me money. Furthermore as far as I'm aware I don't have any bad debt, I've always payed my bills on time, I've never missed a direct debit payment, I have always payed off credit cards etc. So they shouldn't have anything to collect from me, but as I said the name is different to mine. The one thing I am worried by is that if my identity has been stolen and there is debt in my name from that.

    Anyway if anyone has any advice, on how to procede I would really appreciate it.

    Many thanks

    Andy

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    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    If you don't know the person it is addressed to, send it back marked "not Known at this address - if the surname doesn't match yours, then it isn't meant for you. If you DO know the person it is addressed to, and you know their address, you could forward it on, or return it.
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    jim
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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    Could it not just be a previous resident?

    It's not ridiculous to assume that they've got an old address on record for someone who's now gone into debt, who they either can't contact at any other known address, or they don't have an updated address for them.

    That happens quite a lot in these situations - do as peterb said and they should leave you alone. If not, they could end up in a fair bit of trouble. I wouldn't get too concerned about it, it's clearly nothing to do with you.

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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    Sounds like it could be a scam... debt collection agencys always put the reason. (i know as ive had several notices for previous occupants of my flat)

    Might also be worth getting a credit report, just incase someone has been using your details/address fraudulently.

    Have a read thru this:
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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    Recipient not known at this address, no more unsolicited mail

    Mark that on it and send it back if the above statement is true
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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    I'll send it back in the morning, I definitely don't know the person, and I've just done my credit check at experian and it's good. Only thing now is, does it matter if i've opened the letter when I send it back? I opened it because the first name was the same as mine, which I admit is stupid on my part

    Thanks for the help so far though, I really appreciate it

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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    Do as above, if you get another - contact them with a call and put them off totally.

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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    Talking from my banking collections/customer relations/complaints background, sounds like a debt's been passed to an external agency to deal with. They've probably done a trace based on the only valid details they've probably got. (The debtor has probably disappeared long ago, and they might have had a similar post code etc). They're probably blanketing things that could be a possibility (some people change their names) and hoping someone bites and responds in some valid way.

    Most importantly, adverse credit data isn't recorded on addresses any more, so it shouldn't affect you in any way. If you keep getting them, or somehow they get a phone number or something (if they've been instructed to collect, then agencies are incredibly efficient at finding data, correct or not ) then start to think about doing something.

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    Re: Letter from a debt collection company

    Quote Originally Posted by Neo_VR View Post
    Sounds like it could be a scam... debt collection agencys always put the reason. (i know as ive had several notices for previous occupants of my flat)

    Might also be worth getting a credit report, just incase someone has been using your details/address fraudulently.

    Have a read thru this:
    Moneysaving expert link
    your wrong as its one of there standard dirty tricks to try and bait you into calling the personalised number that flags it as the person to who the letter is sent, then they know you are at the addy etc.

    most of the tricks they use are against the law and i dare the the OP getting a credit check has sparked this off as some of the details match a person they have on file.

    bin the 1st letter and return the 2nd not at this addy, then the 3rd, 4th, 5th then report them

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