To give debt collectors my relatives address?

[Famproblems1]

NC, I'll try to keep it short.

5 years ago I let a younger relative come and stay with me temporarily when she was leaving domestic violence in another part of the country, she stayed with me for approx 12 months before moving on into a place of her own with her small children.

During the course of that relationship alot of debt was accumulated before she left age 20..she says the majority of this was due to the partner taking out contract phones and payday loans using her details and that she had no control of her finances.

Despite the fact she doesn't live here anymore and hasn't for almost 4 years I'm still getting letters here addressed to her from debt collectors asking for money and to be honest I'm tired of it and want no part of it.

Obviously I've mentioned this to her a number of times and she claims she has contacted the companies and told them not to send anything else to my address as she doesn't live here. If that's true, which is debatable, then they clearly haven't listened.

I'm aware that she's paying a token sum to a couple of different companies on a monthly basis so she she says she's doing what she can but claims to be out of her depth and can only work part time. She has refused to give her address to these people citing that she's vulnerable with MH problems and has her disabled child there.

I received another letter through the door for her this morning after a peaceful couple of months, low and behold a debt collection company demanding £300 odd and I've reached the end of my rope.

We spoke over the phone which ended in something of a heated discussion because I said I'm going to give them her new address as I'm sick of the letters coming here and don't want debt collectors turning up here trying to take control of my property.

She then spoke to her mother who called me and implied I was being cruel.

So WIBU to do exactly that?

If she has already called these companies to tell them her new address, why are is she so upset at you giving them her address?

@Welllllllwellllllllwellllllll

What a delightful person you are OP

It is illegal to open someone's post and I hope your niece reports you. Oh, worst case scenario it's a two-year jail sentence.

Bullshit, that will never happen. So you feel big and clever trying to scare a woman at their end of her tether?

Just print a load of labels saying return to sender, no longer at this address. Just keep sending the letters back. They will all get the message eventually. They do stop from my experience.

It’s illegal to open someone else mail FYI, I don’t know why you wouldn’t just return to sender or bin the mail, it’s hardly any skin of your nose. The debt collector can’t remove your goods

@stackemhigh as I said 'worst case scenario' and it does indeed carry that as a maximum sentence.

aT tHe eNd oF hEr tEtHeR. Oh rubbish, not difficult to just return to sender, she's just being spiteful.

You could set up the royal mail service where they're automatically redirected elsewhere, do it to her mams address? Don't give out her address though, I actually feel sad and worried for her.

@stackemhigh you clearly lack reading and comprehension skills. The thread clearly states that she hasn't given them the new address, just told the companies she doesn't live with her aunt anymore.

Yes your niece was wrong to run these debts up at your house, but it wasn't illegal

They weren't run up whilst she was living with me, the debts stem from the period of time she was with the ex boyfriend 100's of miles away from my home and way before I took her in.

When she came to stay with me she opened a claim for income support so she could pay her way and that is how she was linked to my address so now they are chasing here. Still.

I've never had any debts run up from my address by me or anybody else.

My address is clear of any debts, CCJ's or anything remotely like it.

Still that doesn't make a difference to them.

You don't need to give her address to make them stop contacting you. Just phone and tell them she doesn't live there anymore and you don't know where she lives . They're not chasing you for the money so what are you worried about?

She needs to contact CAB and tell them that she was a victim of financial abuse/fraud and they will act as a negotiator between her and the companies she owes money to. Most debt charities are shit hot on this since its been recognised as a form of abuse.

She should also report the fraud/financial abuse to the police.

Debt collectors are relentless.

I had some latch onto my Company for an unrelated debt by some company with a similar name. This went on for three years THREE YEARS! I wrote them a letter based on a template from Which? which said that could either send me evidence that I owe them money, or I would pursue it legally. They stopped. Which? might have a template to suit your situation.

I'm quite shocked how many people here would throw their family member, who's clearly been through an awful time and has young children, to the wolves.

To be honest you’re blowing this out of proportion. You should not have read them in the first place so just return to sender. Yes she should deal with it but ultimately that’s her problem and you can easily deal with this without creating unnecessary drama. You seem to want to use your past kindness as an excuse to behave badly.

@Famproblems1

She has never been on my council tax bill or tenancy. I'm in a H.A house and have been for the past 20 years. She wasn't added on to my tenancy.

If she iswas an adult and living at ur address then she should have been on ur CT bill if you two are the only adults in the house.

She was staying here temporarily, I never planned to have her here long term so why would she need to be on my council tax bill?

She paid me a set amount every month for board and I handled my admin as I usually would.

It always amazes me that people can't read previous posts. Oh, if I had £1 for everyone who naively says 'put not known & send letters back', I could pay OP's neice's bills myself!
I had the same problem in that a previous owner of my house had run debts up, knowing the property was going to be repossessed. I faithfully sent letters back, didn't make a scrap of difference apart from making my arthritic hip hurt even more, back & forth to the blo*dy postbox. Even my postlady told me to throw the things away!

Then I DID start opening them (folk really think the police don't have enough to do other than prosecute me for opening someone's post who is hiding from their responsibilites?) and contacting the debt agencies. Still made no difference.
Eventually I started adding my full name, DOB, date of purchasing the property, and asking them to check the electoral register & Land Registry.
It FINALLY seems to have stopped.

Why SHOULD the OP be made to feel bad about this? Honestly, for those of you who haven't experienced it, it drives you CRAZY, especially when it's no fault of your own.

I would ring them all and say she moved on and you don't know where. If that didn't work then i would give them her address. We had this with someone who had used our address for credit. I sent about 5 back with "not known at this adress" and it wasn't until i actually spoke to them that it stopped.

Just cancel the cheque 🙄

It sounds as if she is trying with an agency who pays so much a month for her. Legally bailiffs cant take anything of yours, so you need not worry. Ask her who is paying some money each month for her debts. Send it all to her, or these people. Are you really opening her post, when it arrives?

Go online to royal mail and get her mail redirected to her new address. It will cost you a few quid but then you don't get lumbered with the mail and she won't be able to deny getting the post.

Sounds like you yourself have been frauding, OP, by continuing to claim the 25% single person CT discount when you had a second adult in the house, so I wouldn't get so high handed about this if I were you. All your niece has done is bury her head in the sand about the repercussions of the financial abuse she suffered. You, on the other hand, have committed a crime.

Stop being such a drama llama and just write 'return to sender' on any post you get for her.

@DogsAreShit

Sounds like you yourself have been frauding, OP, by continuing to claim the 25% single person CT discount when you had a second adult in the house, so I wouldn't get so high handed about this if I were you. All your niece has done is bury her head in the sand about the repercussions of the financial abuse she suffered. You, on the other hand, have committed a crime.

Stop being such a drama llama and just write 'return to sender' on any post you get for her.

Why isn't it me getting the debt letters then?

She declared to DWP that she was living here, if I was doing anything wrong I'm sure I would have heard about it.

Lol you didn't report a change in circumstance. It's not up to them to tell you: you have to tell them. Otherwise it's fraud. Which is a criminal offence.

The council don't cross reference council tax bills with the DWP. It's your responsibility as a householder to tell them of a change in circumstance.

I see, in which case there was an unintentional oversight. I have always lived alone prior and never had to go through the process of adding anybody on.

That's by the by, if they made contact with me and requested payment for monies owed I would absolutely pay that, not have the letters sent to other people's houses.

@Famproblems1

I have urged her to seek support for the debts many times over the years, at one point I even offered to help her pay one of the smaller ones. Something daft like £100. She insisted I shouldn't, because why should I pay for something the wanker boyfriend did.

Which is ironic because I'm paying for it now albeit in a different way...

Your not really paying for anything. Rip the letters up put them in the fire. Lesson learnt never help her out again.