Man's 20-year credit nightmare over identity mix-up

A Lancashire man says he has been caught up in a credit "nightmare" for 20 years, after being confused with another individual, who shares his name and date of birth, but is constantly struggling with debt.

Carl Graham Williamson, from Blackpool, said it has resulted in his credit rating being impacted, and bailiffs coming to his home.

The 43-year-old said the other 'Carl Williamson' has incurred a debt of about £120,000, including unpaid parking and traffic fines.

"It's awful - the financial impact side of it is terrible," he said. "I can't get credit for anything."

"Any time you need credit for anything I have to put it in my wife's name because I know that I will likely get rejected, which financially is a problem.

"It's embarrassing," Williamson told BBC Radio Lancashire.

The father-of-three said he has had "thousands" of letters from "people claiming that I owe money for debts that have no connection to me whatsoever - debt collectors, court action, CCJs [County Court Judgments]...".

It has led to his "credit files [being] permanently contaminated with this other person's data".

He said he believes debt-recovery companies have incorrectly identified him through debtor tracing - the process used to find someone that owes money but has moved, changed contact details, or become unreachable.

"I have to go through a process for many, many months proving that I'm not this individual before they'll accept it and leave me alone," he said.

"Any lever I can find, I've been pulling, to try and get help and support."

He said he is currently in conversation with Information Commissioner's Office, which oversees data protection regulation, looking into whether GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is being breached and whether they can help him.

"I made complaints to each of the credit agencies recently about repeated mis-identification," he said.

"But it's very difficult to stop.

"It's the time I have to spend to keep proving that it's not me."

Williamson said the situation has got so stressful, he has had to take time off work as an intelligence data analyst.

"It really has been a nightmare," he said.

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