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Original poster

Opened letter by mistake, previous owner

84 replies

BingoBastards · 24/08/2023 05:36

I'm not sure what to do now, previous owner had a letter through. I wasn't looking properly to see it's not addressed to me and opened it. It's a cheque.

I've emailed him about it but what the fuck do I do? Tear it up and put it in the bin? I don't exactly want to get sued for opening a letter by mistake.

He had some life crisis and disappeared so I don't think he's going to respond to email

OP posts:
noname846 · 24/08/2023 08:56

Spookyseasonmum · 24/08/2023 06:44

I wouldn’t worry about it, we regularly get mail from the previous owners, I open them and read it because I’m nosey then bin them.

Why don't you return to sender? If you bin it, the senders will assume it's being received correctly and won't update their records.😕

TripleDaisySummer · 24/08/2023 08:59

If there's no forward address re-sealing it and returning to sender is IMO the best thing to do.

We have roads with similar names and I was really grateful to neighbour who was incredibly guilty and embarrassed having opened a letter for us with a cheque in - I was just really grateful they made effort to get it to us.

Whatthetrolley · 24/08/2023 08:59

20+ years on and I still get post for the previous owner. At the beginning I would forward it on but then got a letter from his solicitor to stop doing that. So I just opened it all, sent back not known at this address for the important bits and binned the rest. Have had NHS, pension and bank letters over the years. He still gets a christmas card every year from someone he obviously never ever sees!!

Original poster
BingoBastards · 24/08/2023 09:04

Whatthetrolley · 24/08/2023 08:59

20+ years on and I still get post for the previous owner. At the beginning I would forward it on but then got a letter from his solicitor to stop doing that. So I just opened it all, sent back not known at this address for the important bits and binned the rest. Have had NHS, pension and bank letters over the years. He still gets a christmas card every year from someone he obviously never ever sees!!

Edited

Aw that's really nice actually (about the Christmas card!).

Alright so I only have to update banks, nhs and also phone company when I next move.

No even if you return to sender many people won't bother updating their systems. Not sure if this is because it's written on the envelope so gets shredded in the mail room.

OP posts:
LadyKenya · 24/08/2023 09:07

Spookyseasonmum · 24/08/2023 08:46

We did that for three years. Why should the new owners be responsible for the previous owners lack of organisation skills?

Now I open them and laugh that she has been denied maternity allowance, has debt collectors chasing her and Vodafone cut off her phone plan.

Show quote history

How unpleasant to laugh at such things happening to someone. Anyway I have yet to read of anybody going to prison for opening someone's mail by mistake. I would not even worry about it.

TripleDaisySummer · 24/08/2023 09:08

Previous owners here never did a re-direct so we ended up getting loads of post - she sent neighbour round when DVLA sent letters here but we'd already returned them as previous address we sent 7 years trying to pass post on with no thanks.

CeriB82 · 24/08/2023 09:50

i used to get loads and addressed to people who never lived in this house. Opened them then return to sender. No idea who these people were

not been prosecuted for doing it.

WetBandits · 24/08/2023 09:59

Spookyseasonmum · 24/08/2023 06:44

I wouldn’t worry about it, we regularly get mail from the previous owners, I open them and read it because I’m nosey then bin them.

Oh that’s awful!

We occasionally get post for the people who lived here two owners ago, I used to just write ‘not known at this address’ and hand it back to the postie. One letter that came had a solicitor’s details stamped on it so assumed it would be important, in that case I just looked the addressee up on Facebook and they came to collect the letter. It’s not difficult to be kind or helpful, even to strangers.

AnneElliott · 24/08/2023 10:00

You've done the right thing op. We had this for months with the old owners and then about 3 years after we moved in a relative sent a cheque made payable to cash! To our address with a letter saying they couldn't make the wedding hut here was a gift!

Luckily the lady included her address on her decline letter and I wrote back to her (including the cheque which I had torn in half so no one else could Nick it). She wrote back a lovely letter saying not everyone would have been as honest as us!

Tippexy · 24/08/2023 10:06

OverwhelmingSituation · 24/08/2023 05:43

It was a genuine mistake. It was posted to your own address, you didn't exactly intercept someone else's mail- that's completely different.
Can you send it back to the sender saying "addressee has moved" ?

It doesn’t matter whether it was a mistake or intentional, strange comment. Why do you think you’ll get sued OP?! 😁

Tippexy · 24/08/2023 10:07

ReeseWitherfork · 24/08/2023 06:45

OP descending into criminal behaviour, and making it back again, before I’m even out of bed in the morning!

Glad it’s sorted OP.

There is no criminal behaviour anywhere?!

ReeseWitherfork · 24/08/2023 10:13

Tippexy · 24/08/2023 10:07

There is no criminal behaviour anywhere?!

Show quote history

IT WAS A JOKE. Do I need to add a laughing emoji?

Iclyn · 24/08/2023 10:25

Every year I get a Christmas card sent to my address but it's for my elderly neighbour , I take it across to her and it's not been a problem.
Two years ago she went into a care home , and I don't know where . The first Christmas , I kept it ( unopened ) and after Christmas did as others suggested and did the not known at this address.
Last Christmas received it as per usual ( they are decent sized cards ) so I opened to see if it had any address / clue etc for me to return with a note saying neighbour has moved.
Sad thing is the card is a " Brother & sister in law " card . My neighbour lost her husband at least 6/7 years ago , so there is someone out there who doesn't know their brother is many years dead and must have no contact other than the Christmas card.
If we get it this year , it will be binned .

Magnoliainbloom · 24/08/2023 10:39

Are you prone to overreacting in other areas of your life? It’s really no big deal as you did it by accident. I opened a letter with a bank card as I was expecting mine to arrive. It was for the previous resident. I tracked him down on LinkedIn, apologized profusely and asked what he would like me to do. He thanked me and had it collected the next day.

No need to him his cheque. Return to sender.

Milkkbottles · 24/08/2023 10:49

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the OP's request.

stayclosetoyourself · 24/08/2023 10:53

You can also put
"OPEVED IN ERROR" on the front

Pemba · 24/08/2023 11:25

Whatthetrolley · 24/08/2023 08:59

20+ years on and I still get post for the previous owner. At the beginning I would forward it on but then got a letter from his solicitor to stop doing that. So I just opened it all, sent back not known at this address for the important bits and binned the rest. Have had NHS, pension and bank letters over the years. He still gets a christmas card every year from someone he obviously never ever sees!!

Edited

@Whatthetrolley That's odd, why would they go to the trouble of getting a solicitor to write a letter and yet not bother to update their address with people who are trying to contact them? What was the tone of the letter? You were only trying to help!

I can only guess that possibly the previous owner has gone into a home or lost capacity in some way, but in that case why doesn't whoever is sorting their personal admin just sort it out?

Or could they have died maybe?

Threenow · 26/08/2023 02:42

ArcticBells · 24/08/2023 05:52

It happened to me a few times when I moved into my house. Just reseal and write opened in error, return to sender as no forwarding address snd put it back in the mail box.

This is exactly what I would do. You haven't done anything wrong OP, and it's easy to do - I've done it multiple times over my many years of working, and once or twice at home.

Lwrenagain · 26/08/2023 04:54

@Spookyseasonmum when I bought my first place the previous owners had tons of stuff still sent from various places for months. Usually big brown envelopes I'd stick by the front door with good intentions to return to sender.

After a few weeks I heard my toddler having a wonderful time so when I went to see him he was surrounded by shredded envelopes and about 4 or 5 bdsm full on hard-core porn images, all of men.

(He didn't have a clue luckily!)

But for ages my nana who was in her late 80s was DESPERATE to open them but I wouldn't let her, but once DC did I rang her immediately, she was so thrilled with the gossip 😂

Haribosweets · 26/08/2023 05:26

I still get post for previous owner and family and have given up now contacting them. I open, usually a pension or bank statement type thing then I'll bin!

Imisssleep2 · 26/08/2023 05:52

It was a genuine accident it happens, you've emailed him, keep hold of it till the cheque expires (6months maybe) then get rid of it, that's what I would do personally.

4 years on we still get post for the people who used to live in our house, despite sending all post back to sender for the first 2 years, some companies just don't listen.

BeenThereDoneThat101 · 26/08/2023 06:01

I work for a bank. If we have mail returned to us we put a no trace marker on the account and the customer is unable to access it online until they contact us.

user1492757084 · 26/08/2023 06:11

Ask the landlord for his forwarding address.
You have opened it but now try to locate him as it is to his advantage.
If you can't find him pronto...
Repost to Return to Sender - or you could put the sender's address on the front yourself, as you have opened it.

Note down the name of the sender in case your missing man contacts you wanting to track it.

GRex · 26/08/2023 07:14

Haribosweets · 26/08/2023 05:26

I still get post for previous owner and family and have given up now contacting them. I open, usually a pension or bank statement type thing then I'll bin!

You could have returned mail to the bank or pension company as unknown years ago and stopped the post. Yet here you are years later continually opening post addressed to someone else. Why didn't you just return it?

Original poster
BingoBastards · 26/08/2023 08:34

I thought about this bloke again yesterday as something came through and this time it wasn't sealed properly...so I took a look.

It surprised me a bit as it's from PIP and strangely enough asking him to update his contact details. Had no idea he was on PIP and did wonder if he's OK. I never thought to ask him for his telephone number and can't remember now why we swapped email addresses, probably to forward something going on locally. I'll try to find out tel number.

OP posts: