Dodgy post

[mypropertea]

Long and boring I'm afraid.

There is a shop down my road, it is a long road so we are talking 100 or more properties between us. Their post keeps being delivered to my house, it has my address on it so it isn't like it is wrongly delivered by the post man.

The letters are invoices from multiple companies and bank stuff so it isn't like a one off mistake. To start with I was talking it round to them but then started to worry, could they be setting up a fake address at my house?

We have no numbers in common in our address and the post code is different so it is hard to think it is a mistake.

I have started returning the post to sender. Am I being unreasonable/paranoid/mean?

I was really expecting another post clarifying how it isn't illegal or conceding they had got it wrong...

Like I said above - you need a good reason. And frankly, if anyone wants to argue with me that apparent use of my address for fraud is not good reason, I'll happily discuss it with them in court.

It's NOT illegal to open someone else's mail.

It's perfectly legal to open it as long as you have a good reason and no malicious intent.

OP if also check your credit report to make sure there are no nasties related to this Mail.

It's "without reasonable excuse"

I'd say that multiple items of mail representing contracts/accounts with various companies being repeatedly delivered to your address for an individual/organisation that has knowingly used your address without your permission is very definitely a 'reasonable excuse' to open the letters in order to find out what the hell is going on.

I can't envisage the OP being clapped in irons for going so

I suppose I just don't have the time or inclination to get involved in it. To me reasonable excuse would be a person has died, or the recipient is a minor. But each to their own. I can't imagine why you would want to bother having to discuss it with someone in court when you can deal with it just as effectively without opening mail that is clearly not intended for you.

I opened the mail for a Mr Jekowski (or similar) whose bank statements and demands for payment kept getting delivered to my address. Returning to sender made no difference.

It was extremely difficult sorting it out but I eventually discovered that he had fraudulently used my address by producing a forged letter and utility bill in his name for my address to open the bank account. (And what else I wonder)

If I hadn't opened it I wouldn't have known and I wouldn't have been able to stop the fraud. He had stolen £2300 that I knew of and it could have been more. The bank rewarded me with a payment for £50 to compensate me for my inconvenience and I suppose for allowing them to cut their losses.

If someone is illegally using your address how can it not be reasonable to open the mail addressed to them at your home?

If someone is illegally using your address how can it not be reasonable to open the mail addressed to them at your home?

I'll be honest, I'm kind of surprised at the people who say they would shrug off a shop fraudulently using their home address for banking/other purposes, rather than taking steps to sort it out. I'd be livid, as it can only be being done for dodgy purposes.

I'm kind of surprised at the people who say they would shrug off a shop fraudulently using their home address for banking/other purposes, rather than taking steps to sort it out.

Who has said that?

chikara in your case I think you did have a reasonable excuse. That is that 'return to sender' hadn't worked.

minons I was told by a police officer "in the course of its transmission by post" means "after being put in the post box / handed in at the post office and before it reaches the postal address". Once it has reached the address it has actually completed its transmission by post. I suppose he might have been mistaken though.

We had letters from insurance companies coming for a man with a Romanian name (that I had never heard of) at our address (we'd been there 8 years, the previous owners since 1983). I opened them and contacted the insurance companies - they were very grateful.

We started opening mail addressed to the previous owner when it became obvious he was still using the address for most of his bank accounts, insurance etc. He had actually taken out new insurance using our address (maybe cheaper than his new address )
We had tried return to sender but it wasn't working even after 3 years.

He also defaulted on his car payments and they were involving debt collectors.
I phoned each company after that and gave them his new address which was really easy to find since he runs a finance company from his new house !

Our previous owners haven't changed their address on all kinds of things, magazine subscriptions, the Next Directory (woke DP up when he was on nights. Was not impressed ) . They actually asked us to give them a call if we got anything for them, which I wouldn't mind but it is most days and I do not have the time. I've just been returning to sender except for the letter regarding voting. Their eldest son was still registered here so that's been sorted now. I'd definitely check it out, don't just ignore it.