To want the previous owners to sort out forwarding their mail?

[oopslateagain]

We moved in at the end of November, the previous owners of our new house moved across town. We forwarded our mail, even though we only moved locally. The previous owners didn't, so we are still receiving their mail.

We had an informal arrangement to leave all their mail in one of our outbuildings, which is easily accessible from the street, for them to collect whenever they are nearby. They've only picked up their mail three times since we moved in, and that includes packages from a mail-order company.

I don't actually mind about the mail, but they also run a business from home and a lot of the mail is addressed to this business. I realise it takes a while for a change of address to filter down to everyone - we're still getting mail to our 'old' address - but I'm a bit concerned that customers might still think this is the business address.

I asked at the post office and they said as it wasn't my mail, I couldn't do anything about it except 'return to sender'.

Contact them and tell them to sort it out or all mail will be marked no longer at this address and put back in the post box. We are still getting mail after 9 months of loving in this house from previous owner and that is what I am now doing. I'd be worried about their business still being registered at your address in some way if they are still getting business mail there.

We were in this situation a few years ago when we moved house, for months we passed on all of the previous owners mail, and their was a lot of it.
After a few months we got sick of receiving several letters a day for them and having to go and post it into their new house on the next village.
I had a word with our postie and he said we shouldn?t actually pass on the mail as we are classed as accepting then mail and we shouldn?t do that if it is not our mail.
He told us that Royal Mail do not advise new residents/owners to pass on mail for the previous residents as the senders will then be left with the impression that the post has been received at that address by the addressee. Instead you should always write ?Not at this address, please return to the sender? in bold letters on the front of the envelope and also cross out the address (your new address and the persons name) on the envelope.
If you know the persons new address you can add a note on the back of the envelop for the sender advising them of the addressee?s new address.

Oh dear when I saw the title of this thread I did wonder if you were the people who bought our old house!

When we moved we arranged with the post office to have any mail redirected to our new address. However, this arrangement only lasts for 12 months. Of course we contacted everyone we could think of to tell them we had moved but you can't always predict who is going to forget and lose your new address or what junk mailing lists you might be on.Years after we moved the new owners would still occasionally get things for us and were sometimes a bit huffy about it but they were always things we couldn't have prevented.

we've had this and just write "return to sender" and send them back. I've stayed here for 3 years now, so long enough to change addresses.

WeAreEternal I didn't know that, about not being supposed to pass on mail!

I'll text them and let them know (again) they have a pile of mail. Do you think it would be rude to say I'm a bit worried about getting their business mail to my address? I am on quite good terms with them (not meeting-for-coffee terms, but chatting-in-the-street terms IYKWIM).

I still get mail four years on! I just chuck it in the bin now.

Do you have a printer? Just buy some A4 sheets of printed labels for your printer and create a cunning Word document so that it prints out "Not known at this address. Please return to sender" on each sticky label.

On every letter or parcel you receive, place the sticky label OVER THE TOP of your address. (If you don't do this and just cross through it with pen, the post-office sometimes ignores your label and returns it to your address.)

What parakeet said. It worked for me with was there a catalogue mail order she didn't subscribe to previous owner.

I used to draw a nice arrow to the return address for the post office so they didn't have to think.

I get every year without fail a Xmas card to Mr and Mrs Farrell. They were not the people we bought the house from. They haven't lived here for over 18 years.

We have been here for 10 years and this year we got 7 xmas cards for the old owners. That's after, for the first couple of years, posting them back with 'not at this address'. Have given up now.

We used to get loads of mail for the last owners of our previous house, I did forward on for a couple of months and then just started binning it.

We have a printer, but since we moved house, we can't find the bloody cable to link it to the laptops.

I'll text them and give them a week to sort it.

Im not sure what the panic is about, they only moved out what, five weeks ago?

Could you say in your text something (politely) along the lines of, 'We'd also appreciate it if you would confirm that our address is no longer your registered business address in any way. I'm sure you understand. Thanks.'

having moved twice this year, three months is a reasonable period to change all the addresses. So just stack it up until then in the outbuilding, and if it continues after that, start reminding them.

a redirect is not that expensive though, what's wrong with them?

fuckadoodle its more the business mail i'm worried about. More specifically, disgruntled customers thinking THIS is the business address.

Anyone running a business would be reasonably expected to use the Royal Mail's redirection service as well as notifying all their contacts, unless they are a) penniless, b) incompetent, or c) wanting people to think that they haven't moved.

It's the 'business' element that would worry me a little. Addresses do get linked on credit files. So I don't think the OP is over-reacting - just being quite careful.

We get stuff for the people we bought from (2.5 years ago), and the people they bought from (at least 6 years ago). Not just random circulars but financial stuff (including something about over £100,000 of shares for previous owners). I just bin everything now - I'm sick of forwarding! I do open first and check its not bailiffs letters or anything equally scary!

Oh and yes you can open it - once it is delivered to the correct address it belongs to the people at that address. You can't open something that had come through your door with someone else's address on, but if it is your address you can.

YANBU they are taking the mick. If they didn't want to have to tell everyone their new address, they should pay for redirection. I think its maybe £60 for 12mths? I can't remember precisely (we moved in June) but I do know we still get mail redirected, despite trying to tell everyone, so have extended our 6mth redirect for another 6mths, just to make sure.

I paid for 6 months redirection, I think it was around £30 or so. Problem is, redirection will stop the mail arriving here - but won't let people know this is no longer the business address.

YANBU.

Having said that, we are still getting mail for the previous owners of our house 8 years later - including for the deceased husband .
I now just write 'no longer at this address' and put it back in to the letter box.

Worth remembering as well that redirects are not perfect. We have one and still have stuff going to our old house, including a Christmas present. It is so frustrating when we have paid for the redirect!

That's true, Crackle. As well as paying for redirection and informing contacts, anyone who has an interest in their mail (i.e. running a business from home) would do well to leave a pile of stamped addressed forwarding A4 envelopes with the new owners/tenants, and a nice bottle of wine for their trouble.