Have you successfully forwarded any mail since the rules changed in 2018?

[yellobanana]

It used to possible to foreward mail to someone by crossing out the address, writing the forwarding address, then popping it back in the post without a stamp. However, I recently learnt that the regulations changed in 2018 to say the Royal Mail are under no obligation to do this.

"No obligation" is obviously different to not allowing it at all - does anyone know what happens in practice? If you've recently forwarded mail and know it got to its destination, please let me know.

Oh, I didn't know that!

I suspect I will have done so over the last 6 years, but can't specifically remember, and was never aware is hadn't but might not have known.

Oh that's news to me.
I've often forwarded mail, and certainly have done after 2018.
I just assumed Royal Mail would deliver them to the correct address!

Never thought it was possible. I know people do but no idea if the post ever got there. I mean if it did then why is there a mail redirection service.

My MIL gets loads of Xmas cards and usually a Xmas present from Canada delivered every year addressed to unknown random people but have her full address on. She lives in a large scheme of houses for older people so there does tend to be a high turnover and we have no idea who is who. I black marker pen over the house number and fling the whole lot back in the post box, I really don't give a monkeys have time to run around working out who lives where. I always assumed the local Postie would sort it out 🙈

We set up a mail redirection when we moved in March 2019. When it came to an end, the new owners forwarded post this way to us (only a handful of things). I didn't even know it was a thing! This would have been around July 2019, but it stopped and we would have amended our address as the random stuff came through.

@Biggaybear presumably because they can charge for that service & the mail gets sent directly to the new address.

if new home owner write new address on it it gets delivered twice but second delivery is no charge

@yellobanana

i don't think I have, I think mine have been local only & I've delivered them myself

It’s safer to request “return to sender” unless you know for sure it’s something like a birthday card: informally redirecting mail in this way can help facilitate fraud if people are pretending they live at X address but actually live at Y address.

Yes, after my sister passed away last year the woman who lived in the flat above kindly forwarded me my sister's mail while I pulled myself together to set up mail redirection properly. I had no idea the rules had changed