Could be illegal but wwyd?

[Mollychristmas]

This might sound awful (and illegal although I can’t see how anyone would know!) but what would you do in this situation?

We’ve had some Christmas cards delivered to our house addressed to the old owners. This is the first year we have got them so I imagine the old owners redirect has ended. (We have lived here just over 2 years)
From feeling the weight and how flexible the cards aren’t I think a couple might have money/gifts cards/letters in them.
Now for the AIBU, would you open them and hope for a return address?
Or would you just chuck?

I am of the mind to open and see if there is a return address, if not I would donate any money and chuck the cards, DH thinks that’s awful not to mention illegal and we should just chuck them even if there is money etc in them.

We don’t know the old owners new address but I suppose the estate agents might do something although having been over two years now I don’t know if they would or even could help (data protection et al) and it seems a huge amount of hassle for a few Christmas cards. The cards don’t have a return address.

What would you do?

Same. I wouldn't hesitate.

If you put "not known at this address" and into the post box then Royal Mail will open to see if they can find and address, if they can't they retain them for 30 days to see if anybody comes forward for them before they destroy them.

I'd put it on a local Facebook group, have seen many of these posts in the last few weeks and have yet to see one where the addressee hasn't been found

I put a message on the local social media group and was given a place to drop them off

This seems to happen to lots of people. Social media was awash with people reaching out to people with misdirected post. Do you have a local group?.

Surely you return to the postman/pop in post box with 'not known at this address' written on

Ask the estate agent for their new address and send it on. We sold our house in November and our buyers signed for a box of champagne and a 6 month supply of contact lenses for us. Made no effort to let us know, it was only when I spent half a day trying to locate the contacts that I found out. Really annoying (and yes, we our mail is redirected until May...)

Write " No longer at this address - moved 2018" or similar and post back in postbox - not your problem. Job done.

Apparently DH seems to think we might have their new address in the paperwork somewhere so I’ll have a look this evening and see if I can find it.

If I give them back to the postman/post office how will they send them back to sender if there is no return address? Surely they will just destroy them and I’m really loathe to do that without knowing what’s inside.

I know the old owners only moved a short-ish distance away so hopefully I can find the address.

I suppose I could put it on their local Facebook but they have moved to a city so it would be a huge catchment area iyswim.

Just open them! We want to know what's inside!

People don't write return addresses inside of cards...do they?

I'd be v. surprised if someone sent him money, yet didn't know him well enough to know he'd moved 2 years ago.

Personally I'd open them and donate any cash if the envelopes didn't have a senders address.

Open them

I know people are saying just give them back to post office to deal with but I’d feel awful if it had an elderly relatives letter in it informing of a death or some other important info.
I’d also feel really bad if there was £100 in cash or something that has just been destroyed when a charity could use the money rather than burn it!

Open it. It’s not illegal
Then you can decide what to do

But the Post Office will make sure it goes to the person it was addressed to, if at all possible. They may have records of the forwarding address. So your logic of feeling awful if someone has died doesn't work - the Post Office will make sure they are informed! If the letter tells them someone has died but doesn't have an address on it, you wouldn't be any further forward, would you?

This happened to me, i found the old owner on facebook and explained, she sent me new address and i posted them to her.

It's only illegal to open someone's post if the intention is a criminal act.

You should open them, the contents might be old photos etc because someone has died. They could be put on SM to track down either the sender or recipients.

Or as you say, donate any money to charity after time has past.

With Christmas cards I would simply write 'not known at this address' and put back in the post box. With official-looking letters I now open them and contact the sender to advise them that the previous occupant no longer lives here and I don't have a forwarding address for them but X estate agent or X solicitor might. I learned to do this the hard way after having bailiffs turn up on my doorstep at a previous address, because the former occupant owed money to someone or other and hadn't updated their address.

Robs20 redirection only works with Royal Mail, so companies using other couriers would go by the address last registered with them.

I reckon call the estate agents.

I know people are saying just give them back to post office to deal with but I’d feel awful if it had an elderly relatives letter in it informing of a death or some other important info.

I think you are really overthinking this...

Write 'Return to sender - gone away' and drop into a post box.

The Post Office can be the ones to open and look for return addresses.

Write NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS put in in a post box, those who think its not illegal to open post adressed to someone else, er, when you get bank statements etc, it clearly says on the envelope for addressee only. Look up THE POST OFFICE ACT 2000, it IS illegal, and who puts a return address on a Christmas card!

After 3 years I stopped forwarding (they failed to change anything even the debts meaning we had bailiffs around and used our address 2 years after moving for a credit card application!) I just dumped into the postbox with not known at this address scribbled across it

If I give them back to the postman/post office how will they send them back to sender if there is no return address? Surely they will just destroy them and I’m really loathe to do that without knowing what’s inside.

You know that the Post Office has a whole department that deals with undeliverable mail? It used to be called the Dead Letter Office, I think it has a different name now.

I had six Christmas cards addressed to various people at various versions of our address this year. Usually I get more. We've been in this house since 2003 and the previous owner, who I still see around, was here since the late 80s. For the first few years I took the cards round to her but she didn't know most of them.

I used to go up and down the road banging on doors, hoping that I could find the right household but rarely managed to sort things out that way. Then I put them back in the post with 'return to sender' and still they kept coming, year after year. There's a family in Switzerland that's been sending a Christmas card to my address for more than 20 years now! These days I open the cards, check for a return address (occasionally someone uses a sticker or announces their new address) and bin them if there's no way of sending them on.

Here you go (Mirror link but still has some decent info):

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/royal-mail-national-returns-centre-1713249