UPC billing problem

[michaelowen]

Hi Guys

Maybe you can provide some advice on a disagreement that I am currently in the middle of with UPC. I moved out of a rented property in 2012 and settled my UPC bill before leaving as well as sending an email to have the account closed as per policy. Somehow the people renting the property after me have managed to reactivate the account in my name and now they have left a 140eur bill outstanding on the account which has been passed to a debt collection agency in the last couple of weeks. Prior to this I had recieved some texts saying my account was overdue - I initially thought they were referring to my new UPC account - but they informed me it was in relation to my old address. I had several phone calls about this issue everytime I recieved a text, and thought the issue was resolved until the debt collection agency contacted me.

Now UPC are telling me that I need to go to the Garda and report the fraudulent use of my details and ask them to contact UPC. Im really not happy with this outcome, or especially with the fact that a disputed account was passed over to a debt collection agency. Not once did I recieve a phone call from UPC, only automated texts (i guess) which I always followed up on.

Does me going to the Gards sound like a correct course of action in this case? Is the onus on me to do this or UPC? I closed the account correctly and settled the bill. It seems there is a loophole in their system which allows accounts to be reactivated on their website without logging in, as long as you have my email address which someone could find on facebook (only thing I can think of is that they knew my name from mail).

Is my credit score at risk from this?

I cant imagine the Garda being particularly proactive in following up on this kind of issue which is worrying.

 

[PaddyBloggit]

Going to the Gardaí is a good idea as you are reporting somebody committing fraud using your name.

Give the Gardaí the benefit of the doubt before deciding that they're not going to be proactive. A crime has been committed in your name. Report it.

 

[Sue Ellen]

Hi,

Welcome to AAM.

Would agree with Paddy that you will be covering yourself by putting this fraud on record by reporting this matter to the Gardai and getting their advice. It smacks of identity theft especially in light of the use of your e-mail address.

There may be a flaw in the UPC system and once you have spoken to the Gardai about the matter it may be a good idea to make a formal complaint about this aspect of the fraud.

 

[Lightning]

Sounds to me like UPC may not have done any identity checks when they reactivated the account, like asking for date of birth. UPC are not blameless for this.

 

[michaelowen]

Thanks for responses guys. Much appreciated. I guess I'll take it to Garda