Would you open their letters?

[JustAskinPa]

Moved into a new house last year and since then we've just received letter after letter and multiple visits from bailiffs for the old tenant.

I'm getting frankly sick of it. The seller doesn't know where he went neither do the agents. I get multiple letters a day for this guy and have had another bailiff visit this morning when I was out with a card saying they would come back. I know they aren't for me but it's embarrassing when they are at the door tbh.

WIBU to open the letters that have come and ring every single one of these companies to tell them to stop writing here and sending people out.

The last time a bailiff came and we were in it was at 10pm and I had to stand at the door showing them our ID with a screaming baby they had just woken up. Its really starting to get on my nerves now.

[KoalaOok]

That is awful! I would write to them. If you don't have a forwarding address I would write to them.

[skirk64]

Yes, you can open letters in these circumstances. Write to them explaining that the old tenant is not there and you have no idea where they went, and that you will take legal action if they continue to harass you.

[stablefeet]

Had this when tenants moved out of a rented place. Opened them all and rang all the agencies. I didn't have the person's new address, but unfortunately for them (!) they left paperwork behind giving the address of their workplace, so I passed that on. It was fine, no more visits or letters.

[DynamoKev]

Yes I would open them.

[devuskums]

Just write 'not known at this address (moved out ... date) , return to sender' on the envelope and pop in the postbox. Or open the letters and call the numbers and say the same. Job done. Every now and the you will still g

[devuskums]

Oops posted too soon...
Every now and then you will get a little flurry of debt letters, this is when the company sell the debt on. Send these back too.

[MsSquiz]

I had this at out previous house. Did "return to sender- not at address since X date" for almost a year.
Then 1 day I opened it and rang the debt collector. I explained the situation, said I was more than happy to provide evidence that we had lived there since X date. They said I didn't need to, apologised for the letters and stopped sending them

[Speakuptomakeyourselfheard]

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence! Instead, do as 'devuskums' advised, and write 'Return to Sender' 'Unknown at this address'. The Royal Mail can then open and forward to the sender, saving you any problems with having committed what is actually a crime.

[gobbynorthernbird]

It is not a criminal offence to open the mail.

[safariboot]

YANBU.

Also the 10pm visit was possibly unlawful, but I'm guessing you didn't get enough details to pursue that now. 6 am - 9 pm for court appointed bailiffs.

[WorraLiberty]

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence! Instead, do as 'devuskums' advised, and write 'Return to Sender' 'Unknown at this address'. The Royal Mail can then open and forward to the sender, saving you any problems with having committed what is actually a crime.

I knew someone would say this (because it's true) but there's not a court in the land who would do anything about it in these circumstances.

I was in exactly your position OP and I got fed up of writing 'Not known at this address' as it wasn't getting me anywhere.

So I opened the letters, rang each debt collector individually and they apologised and put a stop to it straight away.

Good luck

[safariboot]

And the creditors will ignore a "return to sender" of an unopened letter because actual debtors do that all the time.

[Carryonlikeaporkchop]

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence

No it isn't.

[SoupDragon]

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence!

No it isn't.

It is only an offence if you are doing it for nefarious purposes.

[Fairyliz]

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence! Instead, do as 'devuskums' advised, and write 'Return to Sender' 'Unknown at this address'. The Royal Mail can then open and forward to the sender, saving you any problems with having committed what is actually a crime.

It’s not a criminal offence unless you intend to use the information for your own purposes. So say you opened a letter with a credit card inside and used the card. It’s fine to open to see where to return to.
No point writing return to sender on envelope, Royal Mail give these letters very low priority and they can sit around for weeks.

[WorraLiberty]

@gobbynorthernbird

It is not a criminal offence to open the mail.

True, it's illegal but a civil matter rather than criminal.

[dementedpixie]

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence! Instead, do as 'devuskums' advised, and write 'Return to Sender' 'Unknown at this address'. The Royal Mail can then open and forward to the sender, saving you any problems with having committed what is actually a crime.

It's only a criminal offence if you're intending to do something malicious with it

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.

[WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants]

And AGAIN

It is NOT illegal.

One of these days people will stop spouting this nonsense!

@JustAskinPa

After a couple of years of ' not known at this address, return to sender'. I started opening them all & phoning. They were all very helpful & I haven't had one in a while now.

10 years on I STILL get phone calls for her. I just tell them they can only speak to her if they can communicate with the dead!!

No idea if she's dead or not 🤣

[dementedpixie]

And informing the sender that the person no longer lives there sounds like a reasonable excuse to me

[GettingItOutThere]

yes open it, phone the companies and tell them not at this address

then also write to them to make dam sure they get the message

dealt with a situation like this, it does end when you make contact with the baliffs

[Ellpellwood]

I did. Someone applied for a TV license and allsorts with our new build address, then didn't pay them. I rang them all.

[FlyingBurrito]

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

Please DON'T open the mail, it is a criminal offence! Instead, do as 'devuskums' advised, and write 'Return to Sender' 'Unknown at this address'. The Royal Mail can then open and forward to the sender, saving you any problems with having committed what is actually a crime.

As soon as I read the thread title I knew this urban myth would make an appearance in the first few posts

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/part/V/crossheading/offences-of-interfering-with-the-mail

Section 84 (3) would seem to apply here.

[Hhusky]

If you contact the companies they absolutely must stop sending you things under GDPR. They can't continue to send things to the wrong address. Hope you get it all sorted!

[JustAskinPa]

Thank you for clearing up the legal side of it! I shall open them all and get calling. Bloody nuisance it is.

[Hagqueen]

Deffo worth calling then up - I had a few when I bought my house. One company did want more personal details such as evidence I owned my house (!!). I gave them my first name and told them to go to the Land Registry and pay for the info if they wanted further proof lol, but it did stop them.