how do i stop the LA continous hand delivery of letters to my home address

[bjkmummy]

hi everyone - hope everyone is okay. not been around much these last few months as I slowly get over the last couple of years!

My LA are still hand delivering routine mundane letters to my home address - you may remember it happened a lot during the tribunals and I had to ask them to stop but now 6 months on they still are hand delivering mundane routine letters to my home -the last one was done on Christmas eve - my DH discovered it late that evening in the post box outside our front door. it would have otherwise sat there for many days as of course we weren't expecting any more post to be delivered.

We have just been through the complaints process with the LA taking no responsibility for their behaviour at all - that letter did manage to come in the post!

It just really odd how they are continuing with the hand delivery - we did complain about it as part of our complaint and they said that the head of service had authorised for documents to be hand delivered to us and I should be blooming well grateful for it but im not - I don't like it. I don't live close to the LA office albeit in the same town but to find my house isn't easy (but clearly most LA SEN team staff know where I live given the amount of post they deliver!)

Polite emails asking them to stop do not seem to be working - I don't want to go in guns blazing either but I just want it to stop! given I now have 3 children with statements my path is going to get very busy if I don't stop this madness once and for all!

[bjkmummy]

I had hoped after the tribunals it would stop. I'm thinking if I ask politely for it to stop that they will adhere to it as if they then continue to do after I've said I do not wish any post to be hand delivered it will paint them in not a good light. Part of me thinks/ knows it will make no difference whatsoever as my complaints about their tribunal behaviour has all been dismissed but I do think the constant hand delivering is bordering on harassment so if I can get them to stop then I will be happy with that. It's quite sinister knowing that they are continuously coming to my home address

[Dipankrispaneven]

I don't think there is anything unlawful about this as having a postbox or flap for post in your front door means you are giving implied permission to people to deliver things using it. I suspect someone in the LA lives quite near you, hence their willingness to continue doing it.

Have you tried taking this up with your local councillor?

[cansu]

I would probably write to them and ask them to desist. If this doesn't work, maybe try writing to your MP and asking them for advice. they sound completely mad but being in the midst of mad local authority behaviour myself, I shouldn't be surprised. Wonder what they would think if you started hand delivering stuff to their houses?? Pretty sure they would start to see things your way!

[blaeberry]

I'm not sure, I think this could be called harassment - especially as you do seem to feel harassed by it. I would speak to the police again but if they can't help I would try a solicitor. I have no idea but I wonder if you could get some sort of injunction?

[BlackeyedShepherdsbringsheep]

borrow a dog. or tape the sound of a big dog barking. (warn the postie it is only a tape) play it when they come up the path.

[GruntledOne]

I can't see how you could get an injunction: on the face of it they could just say that they're doing it to help OP, or that it's cheaper for them because one of their staff travels by OP's address, and to be honest it would be difficult to say that it is harassment. I fully appreciate that there's a history to this and that is how OP feels, but the issue is how a judge might interpret it. You certainly wouldn't get legal aid for an injunction and it would be very expensive to do it privately: even if you don't instruct lawyers, you risk being ordered to pay the other side's costs if you lose.

[blaeberry]

zzzzz I wondered about it but know nothing of these things . I just wandered if there were legal means available but I guess the cost of anything other than a simple letter from a solicitor would be high. I would probably try and find out the name of the head of service (I.e. Several rungs up the tree from the 'post men') and write to them.

[MeirAya]

Send them a supply of stamped addressed envelopes?

Buy a dog that eats the post, unless it comes at normal postman time?

It may be a policy tactic to smoke out the people who move out of area, but still have their mail redirected by the post office.

[GruntledOne]

zzzz, my post was in response to blaeberry's suggestion OP could get an injunction.

[GruntledOne]

Putting envelopes through a door isn't visiting children's home addresses, otherwise all posties, milkmen, newspaper and leaflet-deliverers would have to have DBS checks. I can't really see how hand delivery is a breach of confidentiality either, any more than it is putting something into a postbox to be hand delivered by a postman.

[Anomia10]

Yes, I am sure a social worker would not be happy if a service user's family took to hand delivering letters to their home address?

[GruntledOne]

Frusso, how do you say it is a breach of confidentiality then? If the person delivering the letter is the case officer, s/he already knows what's in the letter; if it's another employee, it's still not a breach of confidentiality, any more than sending the letter to the council's postroom or getting someone to take it to the post office would be.

To be clear, I completely get it that OP dislikes this, and with reason. I just don't think it's helpful to her to suggest she has legal remedies if she doesn't. I would think the best remedy is to make a formal complaint, take it to the head of department, and go to the local councillor.

[bjkmummy]

I did complain to the head of the department who then confirmed it was them who had authorised for it all to be hand delivered to me! so not sure really where to go from here...... have spoken to my county councillors who have been told to butt out by the same head of department and that no one needs to know what we have been subjected to. thankfully had no more little hand delivers so hopefully it now slowly all dies down

[MeirAya]

Telling the councillors to butt out

I wonder who the head of service's boss is... maybe your councillor would rather have a word with them [wink✨]