To be fed up we are still getting post for them.

[Rosedee]

We moved in a year and a half ago. Still get the odd letter which I chuck if junk mail or return to sender if business as no longer have their forwarding address. We had to write to them asking them to change there address as still getting 2-3 letters every few days for them a year after we move in.
Anyway get a parcel this morning. Have opened as no return address and no way of forwarding on and hoping there'd be some contact details. It's a babygro and a card. Am actually quite annoyed on behalf of the people who kindly sent this that a year and a half after moving these people haven't bothered to let them know new address. I have no way of getting this to them. What do I do now? Am feelingbad as have opened but didn't know what todo. Grr.

lucykate - I am not sure it is legal to open someone elses post and to bin a cheque is just spiteful.

My house is a bit annoying, in that they built four new houses on an existing road, and gave us the same postcode. So, we are 1 XXX on YYY and there is a 1 YYY, both sharing a post code and being number 1.
Despite telling everybody the CORRECT address on several ocassions, several companies still send out stuff out to the wrong address, so our post goes across the road. Literally diagionally from our house. The woman at that house, refuses to pop the post over to us, withholds it for ages and then gets really shirty with DH as if we have deliberatly given out the wrong address.
The problem is that until about a year ago, our house didn't appear in the QAS system so companies would enter the postcode and default it to the other house. Its not as if I am doing it on purpose!
I reckon when we do move, our post is going to end up in about several different places!

Chinchi and Phipps. I did have the forwarding address cos we forwarded a lot of stuff on but after a year and writing to say that we were still getting a lot of their post and could they pls make sure all were notified of their address I binned it. Did have a look for it todahbut couldn't find anywhere.

At my old house we moved in in 1994, last christmas we were still getting christmas cards for the people who lived there before.

Well it depends.

We moved 16 months ago. I organised a redirection and told as many people as I could think of. I suspect that some post still slips through the net. That should be the odd thing though.

The people who moved out of our house didn't get a redirection, I still get bank letters through for them, cheques from customers. I get post for the guy that lived here before them as they just used to save it up and drive round and deliver it to him . I send it all back. They seem to think that I should save up their post and pass it on at my nearest INconvenience . They should consider themselves bloody lucky that I have not used their details for fraud - as someone at one of my old houses did to me.

House 1: Bought from lovely chap and his girlfriend. They left me a beautiful bouquet and bottle of champagne on moving day. That was 1987 and still in touch - usually visit them on way back from Cornwall whenever we go on holiday there as they now have lovely house in Dorset.

House 2: Bought from a delightful couple who had been here for 25 years. Continue to exchange Christmas cards and have lovely chats in Sainsburys. They now live next to DS's best friend so glad relations were and are good. That was 1996. Also we lost some chubb keys this year and needed more sets for the DC who are getting older and were able to give them a ring to find out who fitted the lock so we could get new ones without having to have a new lock fitted.

Was still forwarding mail to the 1987 owners when we left; still forward mail to the previous owners of this house. People we sold House 1 to and left immaculate for - forwarded nothing - and seem to have few friends amongst the old neighbours whose parties we still go to.

You could try BT for the address or the electoral roll as you know their names.

phipps, i'm not sure it's legal to continue using an address that you no longer own or reside at either! we've had his driving license returned to us, mobile phones arrive which have been bought online, the police turned up here to arrest him. believe me, binning a few letters is the lesser crime.

We have the same problem here, and we have been in this house for over 2 years. I even took in a parcel (I didn't think to read the addressee name on the parcel until too late). I do know where they live - they only moved a couple of streets away, so I took this parcel round, and the chap said to bin anything else that comes.

It does so annoy me though - I can sympathise with everyone else on here.

We had this at our present house - not only do we get the previous owners' post, but also that of their business partner who lived abroad. We redirected for a while, then did 'Return to Sender' but we also, for particular business letters, returned them with a covering letter from us explaining that the people no longer lived there and had not done so for over a year so could they please stop mailing to our home? I don't have a problem with redirecting mail for a while, but when Companies House is mailing you with regard to your business, don't you think that you should have sorted this out somewhat more swiftly??

The worst offender was their business partner - I don't think he gave a flying fuck that he was still using our address (we had a bill for his car hire more than 2 years after we'd moved in). We did, after nearly 4 years (when we had also binned the forwarding address) receive a parcel addressed to the business partner. It was a small wallet affair containing his credit cards, his driving licence and other bits and pieces, with a nice letter from someone saying that he'd found this on the train and wanted to return it as it was such a bind having to cancel all your cards etc. Except that we did not know where to send it. So we binned 'em. And haven't received any of his post since - result.

You can request (in writing) to the PO "Only mail addressed to x or y or z to be delivered to this address"

That is what we had to do.

We also sent mail back with "return to sender, no longer at this address" Which really works with all the junk (credit card etc) as they have to pay the return postage.

I am still getting mail a year on and it is annoying - but hey ho. I just bin the crap and write 'no longer at this address' and shove it in the post box eventually when I next go out.

As you have thrown away the address (stupid thing to do quite frankly) all you can do is hang onto it for a few months, then donate it to a charity if nobody contacts you.

A year and a half is a pretty short time really. Yes, it's annoying if its a lot, but I can't believe you binned their forwarding address!

Have you never failed to update your address book when someone puts a change of address in their Christmas card, and then sent next year's to the old address?!?

I returned everything to sender for a year. Most of the letters we got were official and had the sender's address printd on the back (bank statements and such like). After the year I just started binning them. The previous owners didn't leave us a forwarding address and told all the neighbours they were moving to Australia. After the first time the bailifs came knocking for them, it became clear why!

The dirty scummers (you should have seen the state of the place) who lived here before us moved out a year and a half ago.

We still get pay slips, credit card statements, county court summons and bailiff letters, for several different names. Sending them back seems to make no difference.

YANBU - it drives me mad.

GiddyPickle - it was 4 years later. We had received mail for their company for all that time, including invoices etc (potentially giving us a bad credit record at this address), stuff from Companies House regarding their legal obligations to file their accounts for example, notices for unpaid car hire (booked on the driver's licence which still carried our address) all sorts, which we had been either forwarding or returning for 4 years. And we had frequently enclosed a letter asking them to sort out their mail redirection.

I had never had a forwarding address for this man, as he was the one who lived abroad. There was no money in his wallet, only cards. I defrauded him of nothing. I accept that the kind person who returned it (to the wrong address) by perhaps badly served by me, and I apologise for that. Even if I had taken it to a bank (can't remember if there were even any UK bank cards in there), it would probably have ended back up at my address anyway