Versuchen GOLD - Frei

Debt collectors pursue me over a stranger's bills

The Guardian

|

September 13, 2025

For 10 years I've been harassed by letters from debt collecting agents claiming I owe money to companies I have had no dealings with.

- Anna Tims

Debt collectors pursue me over a stranger's bills

I even found a county court judgment (CCJ) had been issued against me without my knowledge.

It turns out I shared my maiden name with the person who does own the debt, although we have different middle names and live in different counties. I've repeatedly asked the debt collectors to remove me from their records. I've involved a solicitor, and even reported it to the police but nothing works.

The latest letter insists I owe £146 to a telecoms company I've never been with.

My credit score has been affected and I was refused a mortgage. When will it end? KS, Wolverhampton

The sense of stress and impotence caused by a threatening demand for a stranger's debt is incalculable. Some of those you have received over the years threaten bailiff visits and legal action. When the CCJ was taken out in your name, fines were added to the sum you were said to owe.

You have now successfully applied for the CCJ to be set aside.

Your namesake, who was identified to you by one of the collection agents, in itself a breach of general data protection regulation rules, appears to owe money to payday lenders and a telecoms company, among others.

WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian

'I remember my uncle, whose death in Gaza we sometimes envied'

It was 6am on Saturday 7 October 2023. Half awake, I called out in a hoarse voice to my two sisters, who were sleeping on their beds next to me: \"Enas, Remas, wake up-you have school.\"

time to read

6 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Palestinians return to find what is left of their homes

As Abdel Fattah al-Kurdi made the long journey back to Gaza City, he found himself getting lost.

time to read

3 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Is mass tourism waking up from its Magaluf hangover?

The swish seafront hotels and freshly planted palms on the promenade might tempt any unwary holidaymaker to book in for Mallorca's Calvià beach. But step out of the back door and the resort is still firmly Magaluf, as it is better known-boozed-up Britain in Spain, with cocktails by the pint.

time to read

4 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

Will taxpayers get the £122m paid for useless hospital gowns?

The five-year unravelling of Britain's most high-profile Covid contracts scandal involving a baroness, her husband and multimillion-pound government deals accelerated last week with a high court judgment against the company linked to the former Tory peer Michelle Mone.

time to read

6 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Hostages The men who may finally be freed after two years

After more than 700 days in captivity, the 20 hostages believed to be alive in Gaza are set to be freed in the coming days.

time to read

7 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Moody Blues bass player John Lodge dies aged 82

John Lodge, the singer and bass guitarist with the Moody Blues, has died at the age of 82.

time to read

1 min

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Palestinians in long walk to uncertainty as ceasefire starts

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza began to return to the ruins of their homes yesterday after the ceasefire rapidly negotiated in recent days between Hamas and

time to read

3 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Nobel peace prize White House says Trump should have won

The White House has denounced the Norwegian Nobel committee’s decision to award the Nobel peace prize to someone other than Donald Trump.

time to read

1 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Robbie gets intimate with a late-night masterclass

What do you do if you're a superstar who has pulled well over a million people to a stadium tour?

time to read

1 mins

October 11, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Venezuelan conservative opposition leader awarded Nobel peace prize

The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel peace prize yesterday for her dogged struggle to rescue the South American country from its fate as \"a brutal, authoritarian state\".

time to read

4 mins

October 11, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size