Blacklisted home
Question
I opened a letter today addressed to the previous occupant of my home. It said that, because of an unpaid debt, both she and the house would be blacklisted for credit. I called the company, explained that the woman no longer lived here and asked if my house would still be blacklisted. They told me that I had broken the law by opening the letter and they were not at liberty to answer my question.
I'm really worried. What should I do?
Answer
The legislation on opening someone else's mail says that it is "an offence for a person, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, to open a postal packet which he knows or suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him". So, if you didn't act maliciously you shouldn't be in any trouble.
Under the Credit Scoring Scheme, drawn up in 1993 and updated in 2000, companies offering credit are not allowed to redline or blacklist a particular property and should only score individuals. The process of redlining is where a whole area or location is charged extra for or denied services. If you believe that your property has been redlined you may want to make a complaint to your local trading standards office or the Office of Fair Trading.
You might also want to consider contacting the credit reference agencies and inform them of the change of the resident at your address. The agencies are: Experian (0870 241 6212); Equifax (0870 010 0583); and Callcredit (Tel: 0870 060 1414).
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Question answered by CAB
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