To start sending back mail as "Gone Away"?

[VerityClinch]

We moved here in Jan 2012, so, six months ago. The previous resident (a divorcee in her fifties, totally compos mentis) has moved about a mile up the road. She gave us her new address and asked if we would forward her mail until her redirection kicked in. I agreed and have done so up until a few weeks ago.

I have been forwarding her mail, but have also repeatedly been getting mail from her from Santander which says to me that, even after getting forwarded mail from them, she hasn't bothered telling them her new address.

Recently we got a polling card for her (as well as for us, we filled in an electoral register form online when we moved in). I did return that one "gone away" as it looked to all intents and purposes as if we were all living together. We then got an electoral registration form to complete/amend which had all three of us listed at the same address. I send that back with her name crossed off and a separate note giving her new address.

I am still getting mail for her now - proper mail, from banks, Bupa, doesn't look like junk mail or circulars. AIBU just to stick it back in the post box marked "gone away", even though I know where she has "gone away" to, six months ago?

In other words, if she can't be bothered to redirect her mail, then why should I?

PS in light of recent threads (ahem), I should point out I haven't opened any of it, it's just kind of obvious when something is a polling card or regular once-a-month bank statement etc rather than junk mail iyswim?

I would forward the next few things to her with a note scribbled on the outside to say that in 2 weeks you will start marking things return to sender, so please can she notify anyone important of her new address.

I had to do this with the previous owners of my house when after three years I was still getting important looking mail - Inland Revenue etc. They had arranged forwarding for one year, but obviously hadn't bothered changing their address with a lot of people.

Don't burn or bin her mail (or open it) - that's illegal.

I never had a forwarding address for the previous owners of my house, their son came round about 2 months after I'd moved in and collected a huge bundle of post. He never called back again so I marked everything 'return to sender' and I never get any post from them now.

Like the idea of going via the estate agent, though - saves you a lot of effort & trouble!

The other is one I do admit to opening because it is debt collection agencies. I have done the return to sender/no longer lives here, etc and it makes no difference. I end up ringing them and getting quite shirty. What I should start doing is taking it all to the woman I bought the house off along with her un-redirected mail and let her sort it out!

She doesn't want the debt to follow her and it will be your house the debt collectors turn up at - so why would she sort it out.

I would suggest you write a short note to the company and let them know you are

Withdrawing implied right of access

which means they can not write to your address

Just state the person they seek doesn't live at this address new owners tenants do and you will take action if they use your address again.

yabu - far too much effort on your behalf when she has done absolutely nothing about this. Just put it in the bin (and open it if it looks like a bailiffs letter - speaks from bitter experience)

We had this, agree about printed labels, but we went one step further and said no longer at this address please update your records with new address which is xxxxxxx. It took six months but it finally worked!

We still get occasional post for the last but one owner who moved out 5 or 6 years ago, as well as the previous owner who moved out 2 years ago. Some of it looked important - from banks, DVLA etc.

I never had a forwarding address, so for the first 6 months just gave stuff to the estate agent, but then started writing "Return to sender - no forward address" on everything. We're still getting some things, but fewer and fewer.

Oh, and I believe companies are not allowed to change the address they have on file for someone without contacting that person. So even if you tell them the new address, the best they can do is to write to the new address to ask the person to confirm it. And if the person is that lazy, they might not bother replying anyway.

She's definitely not in debt - I know ALL the details of her divorce settlement from many, many nosey neighbours! Plus I've seen the house she bought!

Good plan, though, and thanks for the tips. I will save a few weeks worth, forward it with a note saying I am going to mark everything else "return to sender" and she should inform any important senders of her new address and then I will infrequently return anything else I get as "return to sender, not at this addres since Jan 2012".

Plan?

I have lived in my house 12 years and still get mail for previous couple, who moved across the road.It all goes in the recycling bin....

We still get mail for the previous owners. We moved in over 4 years ago. They had a redirection for 6 months but loads of stuff came after that ended. I forwarded it on for several months and then returned everything to sender for about another year. Now it just goes in the bin. It's mostly junkmail by this point anyway.

When I bought about 15 years ago, the previous owner's post kept on arriving. At first I redirected it. Then I got fed up and wrote to him informing I wouldn't be doing it any more. After that, all his letters were sent back with the words "DECEASED" on the front. It worked.

Put a big stack of mail in an envelope and send to to her with a note inside, in capital letters, saying that you won't be redirecting any more mail for her - and don't put any postage on it. She will have to either pay at the door, or, even better, go to the mail sorting office to collect and pay for it. That will send a very clear message.

We had this with the last owners of our house. They even forgot to change the delivery address on sites where they ordered things, and I ended up having to drive round to their house to take a parcel that I'd taken in by mistake (I'd assumed it was a delivery I was waiting for). Thankfully it has finally stopped - after we've lived here for 4 years.

And I still get xmas cards for people who haven't lived in this house for 14 years. They go straight in the bin, as does everything else that is not for us. I don't have time to play postman for other people.

I had exactly this issue with a ex-tenant. I RTS'd most stuff (ended up having to call the debt collection agents as those buggers don't give up!). The one you have to watch out for is the DVLA. If you read the back (and I didn't for the first couple of months!) it says that you can't return to sender.

In my case, the ex-tenant still had his car registered to my address which meant I was getting (even more) bailiff letters for all his parking and speeding fines which he was avoiding. I phoned the DVLA and they said I had to send a letter telling them that he didn't live there any more and proof that I did.

You might want to let her know if you officially notify the DVLA that she doesn't live there then the car goes on a list of 'non-correctly registered' cars (doubt that the official name!) which will show up on the police numberplate recognition database so she's likely to be pulled over (and fined up to £1000 i think) for not having the correct details.....same fine for not updating her driving licence too!! And it might invalidate her insurance too.