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ex wife using my address

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paulo2 | 12:12 Wed 12th Jul 2006 | Business & Finance
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My wife and i have seperated and she moved out as I owned my own home outright before i met her.Since then she has had her mail redirected to her new address I have now discovered she is using my address to open bank accounts and i dont know what else she might have used my address for . Can anyone advise how to stop her doing this and how I could find out if she has applied for credit etc and had the mail redirected to her new address
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From what I remember about redirecting post, the Royal Mail write to the original address (i.e. yours), to say that they are doing a redirection, and then you can say yes or no to it. I believe they also do this when it expires (can't be sure).

I'd try cancelling the redirection - the post is supposed to be coming to your house (although not addressed to you). You can then open the mail if you get any more and find out whats going on.

hope this helps
Just open it and inform the senders of her new address. They won't be too happy as she is giving false info. Hopefully that will encourage her to stop.
1. Don't open her mail - just write "No Longer At This Address" on it and put it back in the postbox. This should mean that credit card companies block her account until she provides confirmation of a new address

2. If she is using your address then she has to supply bills from there as ID and companies only accept those that are a few months old so even left to her own devices she'd have to stop at some point. Maybe she's only doing it until she has a gas bill etc. at her new address?

3. Get a copy of your credit file and it'll show what credit has been applied for under your address : she'l presumable be linked to you on it. You can also send a "notice of dissociation".
As I understand it, you say her mail is being re-directed by the Post Office. So that means you never see it. So how can you open it? Just another case of a Loosehead confusing the issue!
Question Author
Hi Cliffs pansy
Although the mail is redirected by the post office for whatever reason they occasionally still deliver her mail in error to my address this is how I found out about the bank account and has made me wonder what else might be getting signed for using my address. (she has a history of this kind of thing)
(2-part post):

Your wife is fully entitled to have any mail addressed to her, at your address, redirected to her new home. Your consent is not required. She can do this, at a cost of �34.90 per year, for a period of up to 2 years.

What she is not entitled to do, however, is to use your address on legal forms which require her to state her current place of residence (such as credit agreement forms). [That doesn't stop her from using your address as a 'mailbox' to screen her real address from people who don't legally require her to disclose her actual address].

Data Protection regulations prevent you from finding out whether your wife has applied for credit using your address. What you can do, however, is to ensure that the three main credit reference agencies (CallCredit, Equifax and Experian) record the 'financial disassociation' between you and your wife. (Since you have not divorced, you must have been living apart for at least 6 months before this can be done).

It would also be a good idea to get hold of copies of your current credit report from each of those 3 agencies. (It only costs �2 for each one). Details of how to do this are here:
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/04_CREDIT_DEBT/ mn_file_info.html
Experian have some useful information on their website. It's one of those sites where you can't link to specific pages, so here's what you need to do:
First, go here: http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/index.html
Click 'Questions'.
Click 'About your credit report'.
Click 'Other people'.
Read through that information and then download the (pdf) leaflet called 'Relationship breakdown' from the Click here for helpful credit advice during a divorce and separation' link.
Then download the form, or use the online procedure, for the 'financial disassociation' form. (Note that the website states that, in some cases of separation, Experian may require additional information. That form, however, should still be your starting point).

While you need to apply to all 3 credit reference agencies to check your own credit record, you should only need to contact one of them to get the 'disassociation' recorded. (This will then be passed on to the other agencies).

Once you've registered the disassociation, any credit application from your wife (using your address) would be treated with suspicion by a potential lender (and probably refused).

Chris
Question Author
Thanks to everybody who replied to my question. I now have a definite course of action thanks to your help.
I assume you have thought about the fact that in the event of divorce even if you owned your home outright before you met her that she may have a claim on it.
Question Author
i have consulted a lawyer over the house lady p and it has been sorted out
thanks for your reply
Good luck

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