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?

We moved recently. I kept receiving letters for the previous owners. They were from her bank (bank logo on the envelopes). I just took them to the estate agents that dealt with the sale & they phoned the lady while I was there. I then left the letters with the estate agents.

Just do the same. The estate agent won't have to give you any of the owner's info because they can contact them and they should still hold on to the records for a certain number of years anyway. Maybe tell the estate agents that you won't be able to carry on passing the mail on though, so will just shred/bin anything else received. If the previous owner is that bothered they'll let people know their current address.

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.

Disposing of post is still tampering with someone else's mail so I'd open them.

Not Christmas cards, but we get official letters to people of different names at our correct address. We have lived here over 20 years, and the different names were not those of our sellers.

I open them - they are always due to unpaid debts, phone the company and explain. They are always very grateful, promise to update their files etc.

The Post Office Act states: “A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.”

So, you are not intending to act to their detriment and your reasonable excuse is that you are looking for a return address. You would be on dodgy ground giving any money included to charity though, since that would certainly be to the addressee's detriment.

What you absolutely can't do, is bin the post. The Act states that it is illegal to do anything to delay a person receiving their post. Chucking it in the bin would definitely do that.

Just bloody open them. As others have pointed ut, it is NOT illegal and is the easiest way to get it sorted.

Open them, return to sender if you can, back in thepost of you cant!

Presumably you've looked them up on Facebook? If no joy there, just return to sender.

10 years on and I open them. I am not going out of my way, even to the post office, for a Christmas card that just says Love John x. Not found any money or personal messages yet.

I’d first contact vendor’s lawyer for their present address. If no luck, definitely open to look for sender’s address, and donate any money to charity.

It’s terribly easy to lose touch with people when you or they move. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost interest in them. I must have been hard to keep track of when I was young and used to move frequently. I’m glad of the people who took the trouble to find me - we’re still friends now.

It’s only the beginning of January!!! - I’d wait a good few weeks to see if they call round then I’d open them carefully.

I'd just open them, even if the former owner is unpleasant it doesn't sound like he's going to be coming round to collect them anyway.
Return to sender if you can find an address.
Don't see why you should be going out of your way to contact estate agents, find them on facebook etc though - if senders cant even be bothered.
Give any money, gifts to charity if you want. Don't see why you can't keep them yourself if you where going to bin them anyway, but don't think I would be comfortable spending someone else's gift money so could understand if you wouldn't want to.

Did someone really just say hand in to the police. Ffs!

Just open them or chuck them.

I would open them and see if there’s an address. Or look up the addressee on Facebook (if you’re on it) to see if you can message them

Just open them and see what’s in them.

Return to sender.

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!

Not really likely, is it? You sound like you just want to open them to have a nose or look for cash. Don’t. They’re not yours.

What if Great Aunt Mary asks the previous owners what they spent their cash/card on, and previous owners turn up to collect her card and contents. You’re going to tell them you took it upon yourself to donate the cash to charity??

What about your post? What if something goes to your old address by mistake? Would you like the new owners opening it, distributing cash or chucking personal cards and letters in the bin?

If you can’t find an address for the old owners of your house, let the Royal Mail deal with it as they’re supposed to do.

What a bloody palaver, just open them and come back and tell us what was in them

I opened the ones that came to us. Saw they were just normal Christmas cards and binned them.

You should have the new address or details of their solicitor who'll have it in your paperwork. For a while the previous occupiers collected, then I dropped some off as it's down the road. Now I just return to sender except personal looking items which I'd take round/inform via estate agent/ solicitor but I'd probably tell them it was the last time as it does get annoying

If you give them back to your postie, they will put a sticker on saying that the old owner is no longer at this address, and the mail will be sent to (I think) Belfast, where it will be opened to find an address. If no address, it will be disposed of.
The same happens if you just write "Return To Sender- No Longer At This Adress" and chuck it in a post box.

if there is no return address on the envelope, I'd open them

nobody sends money in the post anymore

I would just open them then bin if there is nothing in them. If there is money then try and contact the previous owners or donate to charity. We get letters for some random person to our address on a regular basis and I just bin them.

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

A couple of times I've done that and it's been redelivered to me, so they clearly don't always check.

I'm gonna say just open them. You're doing it with all good Intention, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is now Invested in this and needs to know the contents of the cards😂😂😂

I'd open them. Please do so and let us know the outcome ;)