Unidentifiable Person Owing Money

[neuron]

My wife and I live in a terraced road. The opposite side of the road has a different postcode to the side we live by having a different letter of the alphabet at the end. As conventional, the house numbers alternate on both sides of the road with evens on one side and odds on the other.

This morning, we received a letter addressed to " Miss K Evans" who we had never heard of from the postman. Curiously, the house number on the envelope was ours but the postcode was that of the other side of the road. I opened the envelope on the basis that although the postcode was incorrect, the house number was correct.

The letter was from a nursery and stated that "Kayleigh" owed over £800 in child care fees. The nursery wanted settlement or they would pass the matter on to a debt collector.

I telephoned the nursery and told them that we had no idea who "Miss K Evans" was or her address. The woman asked "Is that Mr Evans?". This attempt at trickery angered me following which I felt I had to state my own surname. She did not apologise and then asked if I could shred the letter.

I'm now deeply concerned that follow up letters will arrive with debt collector threats once again. What should I do about this situation please? We've lived here for over 30 years and our details are freely available on the electoral roll. All our children have flown the nest and none of them has a relationship with anyone with the surname "Evans". I have retained the letter concerned.

Thank you

[davebro]

Return it marked "not known at this address". Hopefully they will check & correct their records.

[Ken4155]

"What should i do about this situation?" Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just address any further mail (if any) addressed to this person as 'not know at this address, return to sender' and pop it back in the postbox.

[Hopkirk]

Don't be concerned. It's not in your name. It's not your problem.

[bobbinwales]

Do you know if there is a kayleigh Evans nearby?

[ummmm]

I assume you can prove who you are? Bailiffs can't anything that doesn't belong to the debtor so don't worry.

[barry1010]

Have you tried searching for her on Facebook?

[davebro]

I wouldn't bother trying to trace the person. Either she gave a false address or the nursery simply made a mistake.

You could look up the electoral roll for your street at the town hall but why should you go to the trouble?

[bobbinwales]

May be worth 20 mins searching for peace of mind.you can then redirect the letter . Kayleigh may pay up and end the matter for you. The nursery probly just made a mistake tho on the envelope so you may hear no more

[TheChair]

So the postcode wasn't yours and it clearly wasn't addressed to you. Why did you open it? Just nosiness?

[dannyk13]

The only thig that you need to do is to mark the letter 'Not known at this address' post it and then forget about it.It is not your problem.

[Redhelen72]

Is it an offence to open Mail not addressed to you?

[bednobs]

bu66er that helen :)
so what if it is nosiness - i would need to be nosy to find out who is using my address!
I always open post not addressed to me, if it comes through my door

[Peter Pedant]

Calm yourself
wrong addresses are commonplace in debt collection.

Return the letter to the creditor with "opened in error" on a piece of paper and obviously in a clean envelope

I would NOT write anything else and certainly dont sign it - and no Jane Austen script about the address being almost right, and you know a Kayleigh once, it was a cat.

and wait
they cant get an order for a debt against you without telling you ( that is a court order) - and debt collectors er know a Kayleigh from a kevin.

First time - very worrying, further times you just think, oh this again. If the debt collectors threaten - repost .....

I would

I

[davebro]

//Is it an offence to open Mail not addressed to you?//

I wouldn't think so unless you stole something from it or with it.

I received a Xmas parcel addressed to a woman but with my address. There was no return address on the package so I opened it to try to find out who it was for/who sent it. There was no phone number but the sender's address was there (plus some small gifts & £50 Morrisons vouchers!). I wrote to the sender who phoned me with the correct address - No68 instead of the No60 on the parcel. I delivered it in time for Xmas.

[ummmm]

I used to open my OH's cousins mail simply because I knew they were debt collecting letters. He lived here for a while. I just phoned the companies who sent them. They soon stopped.

[Peter Pedant]

// Is it an offence to open Mail not addressed to you?//
short answer no
long answer - interfering with mail - but quite a lot of blah de blah that once it has arrived, is it in the mail? I did say long answer

and yeah - if one is worried about wrong addresses and previous owners being debtors, then open....

I was mistaken for this one
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/mickey-guvnor-francis-loan-shark-12243503

I am used to the 'I am not he' routine. It is pretty obvious sometimes

[bednobs]

is that because you look so much like him peter?

[neuron]

Thank you all for your helpful answers. You raise good points over the matter.

Bobinwales, as I said, I know of no Kayleigh Evans nearby.

Ummm, yes I can prove who my wife and I are via the usual utility bills, bank cards etc so I can't see a problem there. Besides, we've never asked for our details to be concealed on the electoral roll during 30 of living at this address, so a little research by anyone with any sense should eliminate us.

Barry1010, I've tried Facebook, but I can't pinpoint her. Too many people of the same name, some of who don't seem to have disclosed their location.

TheChair, the envelope fell on my doormat. My initial thought was to run after the postman but he would hardly know the correct address either. I felt I was being helpful not nosey as had I known the person concerned, I would have taken the envelope to her. Bednobs, has made a good point in this respect and I'll continue to open mail bearing my house number in the future bearing in mind that identity theft is rife these days.

[jno]

I occasionally open mail that's not for me then realise it's for one of the other flats. I just write "Sorry, opened by mistake" on it and leave it for the real addressee to take. Nobody's going to clap you in irons for that, since it came to your address.

If it happens again, just write Not Known on it and put it back in the postbox.

[Peter Pedant]

my look-a-like?
I did allow myself a " chrissakes you should know....he's back in prison isnt he?"

debt collectors are required to do due diligence
so you can kick off with - "when you looked on the electoral register, you saw she wasnt here, so why are you here?"
and then get your wife to chase them down the path