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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to start binning the previous owners (important looking) post

69 replies

paddypoopants · 15/08/2011 13:16

Been in the new house for a year. The previous owners redirected their post for one month only which needless to say was insufficient as they had been here 20 odd years. Their 3 grownup daughters who still lived here on and off didn't redirect their post at all. One of the daughters was meant to pick up the post periodically - she did it once and then I was asked to take the post to her as she is still living nearby - well a 10 min drive. I have done this 5 times now. We get stuff everyday - 6 letters today. Some important looking documents, student loan stuff, DVLA stuff, cheque books, parking tickets.
I redirected my post for 12 months and have now extended it for another 6 months. Can I now feel guiltfree in just binning the stuff. I sent a load back to sender but it is really pissing me off. I am not really inclined to feel charitably towards them as they took all the curtains when they said they would leave them and pulled curtain poles down in the process. Oh and they are loaded so it's not a lack of funds. My mother told me I was being unreasonable as the stuff was obviously important

OP posts:

coffeeinbed · 15/08/2011 13:55

Can I claim the prize - 15 years of bloody writing "Not at this address" and popping back in the post?
They didn't leave a forwarding address with us, so nothing else I can do.

nickelbabe · 15/08/2011 14:00

Never bin the post - yo ucan actually get prosecuted for this.

If it keeps arriving put "no longer at this address" on the envelope and put it back in the post box.
It doesn't cost you anything, and bit by bit, it will stop arriving.

LolaRennt · 15/08/2011 14:00

Shove everything that is addressed to them, important and junk, into an A4 envelope with a first class stamp and post it to the address you have for them. The postage will be insufficient so they will have to pay for it at their end. And don't be in any rush - do it every couple of months or so. After a few times they may get the message.

Like that idea- a lot

Fuzzywuzzywozabear · 15/08/2011 14:02

I second that

Fatshionista · 15/08/2011 14:08

Like others have said, it's illegal to bin their post but you could give them a final warning and tell them that it seems important but you're fed up so if they don't re-direct their post in the next month as of such-and-such date you will be writing 'No longer at this address, please forward to [insert new address]' or the same without the new address part.

FreePeaceSweet · 15/08/2011 14:09

I once had a debt collector turn up at my house. He demanded proof that I wasn't the person he was after. Showing him an old crisp box with piles of her bills convinced him. (Not to mention the person he was looking for is black and I am not)

Loie159 · 15/08/2011 14:09

aquos - you need to be careful about binning debt collectors letters. Me and DH moved into the flat we used to own after renting it out for 2 years and there were loads and loads of debts run up by previous tennants. we didnt do anything about debt lettters for previous tennants that turned up as I didnt think they mattered becuase it wasnt our post and it ended with the baliffs banging on the door at 7.30 one saturday morning and us having to prove we werent the people they were chasing!!

OP - if any serious looking legal letters come through then based on my experience I would either open them and explain that they dont live here but as far as you know they might have moved to xxx address as then they can amend their records or send them back as others have said - return to sender not known at this address.

nickelbabe · 15/08/2011 14:16

the problem with the putting it all into one envelope and putting a stamp on is that they then have to pay for the postage - the best thing to do would be to put it in one envelope and let them at the other end pick up the cost of postage!

and put a strongly worded note inside saying that you expect all the companies enclosed to be informed of their new addres.

AnotherJaffaCake · 15/08/2011 14:19

FreePeaceSweet I had that happen to me about 10 years ago at a house I'd just moved into. A debt collector turned up one evening looking for the previous occupants. I had to show him a copy of the official docs from my solicitor before he was satisfied I wasn't who he was looking for.

After I met DH and we moved house the previous owners gave us their new address and said that when their postal redirection ran out if we got anything for them then we could make our own judgement as to whether they would want it forwarding onto them, which I thought was sensible. So we were allowed to open and bin anything that looked like junk, but forward on anything that looked official.

Suncottage · 15/08/2011 14:29

I had been forwarding mail on for 7 years until I got fed up. I wrote Return to Sender Moved Away on everything and it is now slowly trickling off.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 15/08/2011 14:32

It's not illegal to bin post that arrives at your home for someone else. It's courteous to forward it, return to sender etc., but if you've done it for a reasonable length of time, the post is a nuisance and you're not destrying it for reasons of personal gain, you can ditch it. I've lived where I do for 20 years and still get occasional letters for previous occupants. All go in the bin.

gethelp · 15/08/2011 14:35

Don't you have to inform the DVLA if you change your address? I thought it was an offence not to?

nickelbabe · 15/08/2011 14:35

Coggy - yes it is someone's posted this link already

theyoungvisiter · 15/08/2011 14:36

I would start returning to sender because this usually means that the sender either takes them off the database or chases up via email or something, if it's a bank.

Otherwise you will be binning for the next ten years if the sender has no way of knowing the address is now defunct.

Returning to sender doesn't have to be a big chore. I just used to stock pile and then once a month sit down and write "NOT KNOWN - RTS" on each and shove the whole pile in the letterbox. It's amazing how fast the stuff tails off after a month or two.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 15/08/2011 14:42

I've read the link.... but there's a bit missing which relates to 'malicious intent'. If you're depriving someone of their post maliciously either by destroying it, opening it, or sending it somewhere else then that's illegal. It's also illegal if you stand to gain by your actions e.g. opening post and stealing cheques. But no-one is going to be prosecuted for binning mail if they've gone to reasonable lengths to return it without success for a lengthy period of time

TimeWasting · 15/08/2011 14:43

If you save up lots and put it all in the post at once you might piss your postman off.
I had this before when I'd saved up a chunk the miserable git told me to put it in the bin. I had checked the rules though and told him no, that I wouldn't.
But I try and do it when there's a handful rather than a pile.

He is the most miserable postman in the world though, I'm just unlucky.

Pendeen · 15/08/2011 14:46

I think the problem with "return to sender" is that it eventually costs us all in increased postal charges because the Royal Mail have to open the envelopes and then re seal or wrap before delivering to the sender - all of which takes time and money and (I believe) they cannot charge for this.

(I could be wrong about the charging bit though.)

But, by simply writing the new address on the envelope they can chase your previous owner for payment directly.

VictorGollancz · 15/08/2011 14:48

Write 'return to sender' on them and stick it in the post. They'll learn the hard way that you need to redirect your post when their bank accounts get suspended (happened to me as a young and 'carefree' student)...

WhereYouLeftIt · 15/08/2011 14:53

PrettyCandle's suggestion sound the most likely to put a stop to this, OP.

theyoungvisiter · 15/08/2011 14:57

Pendeen - the Royal Mail don't charge for fowarding post. You pay for a redirection service, but they will not chase the previous owners for payment as you suggest.

So returning to sender will cost no more than forwarding, and is more likely to get the post stopped (ultimately saving money). Most business post has a return address on the envelope so bank statements etc should not need to be opened and rewrapped.

FreePeaceSweet · 15/08/2011 15:08

Our postie is a nice lad but quite often posts the next roads post through my door. It had happened several times and I always used to just repost on my way past. One time I was waiting on confirmation of an appointment (the receptionist said it had been sent the week before). I went to the house I reposted letters to and asked if they'd had any letters delivered by mistake. The woman said she had but burnt them. Apparently she didn't see why she should put them through my door or repost them back at the very least. I told her that I had received various letters for her in the past and always posted them through her door. I dread to think what other stuff she had burnt. Anyway I told her I wouldn't be so considerate again. Two months later she had a very large parcel delivered to my house mistakenly. I rang the company and sent it back. This caused a lot of faff for her. She's lucky I didn't keep it and deny all knowledge of it. :o

BabeRuthless · 15/08/2011 15:39

She set fire to your post?! What a nutjob!

The house next door to us has the same number but with an "a" added on to it. For
2 years in a row the only bit of post that's got mixed up is her p46. Bizarre.

Snuppeline · 15/08/2011 15:52

I had my head bitten off by my dp last week as I gave away post to a young man who said he had had post sent to our address by mistake. It was a DVLA envelope and the guy was very keen on having it. He said his name was xyz and I had indeed received a letter in his name the other day so handed it to him. My dp, who's a security expert, ripped into me saying that was the most common way a car thief legalised documents for his stolen vehicle and that I now could have been party to a crime. Thinking back its strange that he knew that the letter would come here so quickly after it arrived and strange that he didn't offer to show ID (which I hadn't the wherewithal to ask for either though).

Identity theft is a real issue too so perhaps best to just revert to "not known at this address" and leave it at that.

We also have a mile high pile of letters for our landlord but as they've promised to redirect their post and not bothered too and not bothered to come pick up (I've alerted them to the masses of post via phone and email but still no interest on their part) we're just collecting it all and will leave it in the house when we move out - they can deal with it all then. The estate agent suggested I drive up to their office and drop it off so he could pass on to the LL but you know what? I've got better things to do with my time so either the LL can pick it up themselves or the estate agent can. I'm not going out of my way for either of them!

Tanif · 15/08/2011 16:26

Re: returned post being redelivered.

I have a friend that worked for Royal Mail, apparently they have to attempt to deliver the same letter three times before they'll accept the person genuinely isn't living there and that 'return to sender' means just that.

PITA I know, but them's apparently the rules.

SingleMan25b · 15/08/2011 16:27

Also fill in this form:
www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=400144&mediaId=15400382

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