Previous owners being CFs?

[Pippylcoat]

9 months ago we moved in our house. The previous owners came over every week for the first three months asking for their post. We saved up the first bulk of post to give them, but when it became clear they didn’t want to pay for a redirectory or stop the ‘routine’, I began sending the post back as ‘not known at this address’. Each time they knocked I told them we had nothing for them and asked them to ensure they have updated their address with all bills and contacts. Several recent letters have been clearly important such as a hospital appointment and parking fines. I still returned to sender as they should have updated their address, knowing it is an illegal offence to not do this for the DVLA I refuse to support their continuous use of our address. The most recent arrival of them asking for post left a sour taste in my mouth, I was informed I must be keeping or opening their post as I legally have to return it to them. On top of never receiving a thank you this has made me realise what entitled CFs they are with no intention of stopping. I spoke to a friend who told me I should give them their post as the hospital appointment for example is a waste of nhs resources, and they will be prosecuted for not updating the DVLA. I don’t think I’m wrong for wanting this to stop, they have had 9 months and I didn’t mind at first but now I feel like an awful person about the letters I just returned. Has anyone else been through this and how did you handle it?

Definitely not unreasonable. We had this with one of our house purchases even had an Ocado delivery turn up!

We also had a fine for a bus lane come through which I just returned to sender. A debt collector then got sent! We weren’t in but they put a note through the door and must’ve made a right scene because my dog chewed up the back door mat (very out of character) and I was furious with them making her so distressed :(

Next time they turn up just say that they are not known at your address and therefore you return all post to sender.
Alternatively you’re prepared to keep their post for them at the going rate for a P.O. Box. eg. £33 Per month.

If they’d updated their address with their GP the their hospital appointments would also be correct as they’re usually linked. They’re the ones causing these problems.

9 months is far too long for them not to have resolved this. Stop answering the door to them and put any further post in the recycling. Do not email them and do not talk to them. You are wasting your time.

Do they actually know they could get their post redirected to their new address? I’d be asking them that question first, and if the answer is yes, then ask them why they haven’t done it?

Agree with you on this, I changed all ours to new address and know still stuff sneaks through, but if all important ones are done, then it’s their issue. And if they’re hospital letters then they’re stupid !

I would not answer the door to them.
If you can’t avoid doing so, tell them you have been returning any mail to sender and that it’s their problem if they are too tight to have arranged a redirect.
Tell them not to call again.
Can’t believe you didn’t do this months ago!

Oh? Maybe it is only business then because we have to do it at work at lot!!! (Maybe I could save my company a fortune in franking when post goes to the wrong branch)

I'd add 'not known at this address' to the return to sender.
It's an offence not to update your address with dvla as your licence is supposed to have your actual address on it.

It's been a while since I did it (ex husband) but if you find any previous occupants show up on a credit reference agency check it should be pretty clear how you do it. It'll be in FAQs or possibly you can ask via live chat.

I think you were out of order sending their post back. Especially hospital appointments,e ts. It was really mean.

It has been NINE months since they moved. Would you accept post indefinitely that wasn't yours? Ridiculous.

We have lived here over 9 years. Previous tenant 3 years. The original owner was 102 when she died. We still get post for her!!

You shouldn't allow anyone to use your address, for fraudulent reasons. I'd return to sender and ignore them at the door. They've had 9 months to update their address with everyone by now! They obviously don't want to for some strange reason?!

9 months! I’d have been getting over it after 9 weeks. Return to sender or just bin it. Don’t open the door if they turn up. One the perks of having a new house is there is no previous owners mail! When we moved I did a 6 month redirect to make sure I had changed all addresses and hadn’t missed anything. I can’t how entitled some people are.

Presumably they are capable of changing their address as you didn't receive their polling cards for the GE? They're using this as an excuse to keep coming back to the house, which is weird. People are weird though!

I had a bailiff show up for the previous owner yesterday. In October we'll have been here three years.

The only time she turned up though - or her daughter did - was when I notified the DWP that she had moved. We still get daily post for her and it's become clear that once the sale of her house was agreed she just stopped paying any and all bills.

I wouldn't do your previous owners any favours. If they show up again say you put them back in the post box, you're not obligated to hang onto them and the PO tells you to return them not to hang onto them until the previous owners come get them.

I had a similar situation, they would come round and once they left the area, their father would come round. Eventually I emailed them and said I knew that some post was chasing payments and they needed to update their address, or I would open and give their email address to the people sending the letters. I very rarely get mail now.

My old next door neighbour moved a few miles away,4 yrs ago, we are friends but rarely see each other, the people that bought her house still get an odd item for her or her family, NNs continue to put it through my door, so then have to organise & wait in for her to pick up 😩

Always return to sender. I'd be fuming about that to be honest! They are super cheeky. Really lazy of anyone who lets mail go to their old address. We got mail for 3.5 years for the person who lived at the address previously and it took 3.5 years of sending it back for it to stop!

We get quite a bit of mail for both sets of previous occupants, including a clothing order for one of them who lived here at least 7 years ago.

It's a pain in the bum to be honest, especially as i do keep "return to sender"ing, but I don't think companies actually do anything about it (Tesco I'm looking at you 🤨)

The same thing happened to us. They called every Friday night for their post, taking the time to gossip about the neighbours. I started redirecting post to their new address. This I did for years with never a word of thanks.

Ask them for their new address so that you can write it on the envelopes and post them back in a post box, in bulk if you like. Also write "No longer at this address Please re-direct" I have done this myself in the past and have received re-directed mail too.

This is strange and I'd look for an ulterior motive.

Oh my god does their surname begin with R? Mine handed me a sheet of stickers with their new address on so I could redirect for them because they were to tight to pay RM for a redirect. I did for a couple of weeks, then returned to sender for a couple of months, then bin. The wife also turned up to tell me I'd stolen a small package of hers which is returned. Ungrateful cunt.