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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wish the old owners of of house would change their sodding address?

117 replies

TerribleCustomerCervix · 13/04/2022 20:25

We bought our house in September 2020. Very smooth sale, old owners very obliging and left the place so clean you could eat your dinner off the floor.

But we are STILL getting post for them- I’ve not been opening another, but by the stamps/logos on the envelopes I can see it’s loads of official stuff. Bank statements for their adult kids, HMRC and bank stuff for the self-employed builder ex-owner, parking fines. We just got a brown envelope letter which is clearly a reminder about last months unpaid parking fine.

I wanted to start returning them to sender, but Hmm DH doesn’t want to. He’s been giving them to another neighbour who is still in contact with old-owners to pass on, who is now understandably getting pissed off at having to play Postman Pat.

I’m also a bit worried about our address still being linked to the previous owners business, especially with HMRC.

Am I being unreasonable to say to DH he’s being soft, and from now on everything is going back to the sender?

OP posts:
WhatsitWiggle · 13/04/2022 22:06

We've been in our house 15 years and a letter from Saga has just arrived! I've definitely returned to them before, so this time I've pointed out he moved in 2007 and I hope that's enough for them to update their database. (I actually thought GDPR legislation meant companies had to ask everyone to opt in again, or was that only for emails?).

AMBE123 · 13/04/2022 22:07

For those saying if there is no return address just bin it, you can return that to sender as well. Royal Mail will open it and find the address to return it to. They are legally allowed to do that, but it is illegal to open someone else's post, although accidents do happen!

Treeroo · 13/04/2022 22:15

@PoshWatchShitShoes

Always return to sender. It stops after a few months
After a 8 years!
Housewife2010 · 13/04/2022 22:20

Save it up and put it in a large envelope and post it to the new neighbours without a stamp. They'll have to collect it and pay postage and will then be aware how much post still needs their address updated.

oioimatey · 13/04/2022 22:46

The previous owners only moved a couple of streets away (I know their full address) but I still return everything back to sender, including leaflets from Screwfix! I can't be bothered with the hassle so it goes back into the postbox. After about a year it's really died down.

SpeedofaSloth · 13/04/2022 22:59

We had this with the offspring of the previous owner of our house. I rang the companies to explain, as it included the Student Loan Company and his mobile phone contract Hmm
It did stop then. He had the cheek to come round to collect some mail and tried to give me his email address so I could tell him when other items arrived. Er, no, matey boy.

NewandNotImproved · 13/04/2022 22:59

I return to sender with notes scrawled over the front like ‘hasn’t lived here for THREE years, stop sending stuff here!’

‘Do you need to send 4 bills in a week? They don’t live here, figure out where your customer lives’

‘all future wrongly addressed post you send to us will be returned with extra postage weight costs :) ‘

I don’t get paid to deal with lazy fuckers incompetence.

NewandNotImproved · 13/04/2022 23:04

(That’s after moving to several different places where previous residents had bailiffs chasing them/hadn’t bothered sorting their post after years , absolutely not. Make it a problem for them to solve.)

Cherrysoup · 13/04/2022 23:05

Frankly, I’d hide it, Scribble ‘Not known at this address’ and surreptitiously shove it in the nearest post box without mentioning it to to your DH. Could you ask obliging but running out of patience neighbour to tell them to bloody well tell people?!

malmi · 13/04/2022 23:21

@AMBE123

For those saying if there is no return address just bin it, you can return that to sender as well. Royal Mail will open it and find the address to return it to. They are legally allowed to do that, but it is illegal to open someone else's post, although accidents do happen!
Not illegal to open it. Sometimes that's the quickest way to make it stop, ring them up and make update their records.
GrowBabyGrow · 13/04/2022 23:23

If DH is worried about not doing anything that could affect your standing in the cul de sac, could he take one last lot round to the friendly neighbour to pass on with a note that says that as it has been X years since you moved we're not going to do this anymore and ask that you set up a redirect until you can change your address everywhere. I'm sure friendly neighbour would understand and also appreciate not having to pass on post all the time!!

Sh05 · 13/04/2022 23:26

Don't just write return to sender, you'll just get another a few weeks down the line. You have to write 'addressee no longer at this address' or something along those lines

mommybear1 · 13/04/2022 23:30

We had/have this. No need to involve neighbours just stamp or write on each envelope "not at this address" and pop back into the post box 😬. Our post has lessened considerably over the last six months 😁.

Honeyroar · 13/04/2022 23:35

I bet the neighbours are sick of having to take them their post regularly too!

Elephantia · 13/04/2022 23:52

You might try posting each item to their solicitor from the house sale asking them to forward it

NeedAHoliday2021 · 13/04/2022 23:56

The old owners of our house had some magazine subscriptions - turns out I quite like which magazine and National geographic that we get monthly and have done for almost 5 years! Idiots!

glebaisaword · 14/04/2022 00:07

Can you register their names with The Mail Preference Scheme? I'm fairly sure I did that eventually with our previous house owners after 8 years of 'return to sender' and still official looking pension letters etc kept turning up for them. Now it's dwindled to an old university newsletter and ocasional political adverts, but no more hmrc/DWP type envelopes, so something finally worked!

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 14/04/2022 00:13

@Pyri

Why would anyone open someone else’s post and phone up to say the address is wrong; just mark as “return to sender”!
Because sometimes grim dodgy folk continue using your address for their dealings...

We had this... The people were tenants 3 sets before us. We had bailiffs at the door, accusing me of being dodgy ex tenant's gfGrinAngry

DifficultBloodyWoman · 14/04/2022 02:02

I print out a few pages of address labels with ‘return to sender/not known at this address/remove from mailing list’ whenever I move. Any post for previous owners or tenants gets a sticker and eventually makes its way into the post box.

It is reasonably effective.

CutesyUserName · 14/04/2022 02:32

We've been in our house nearly 7 years, previous owners were here for 9 years. We still get post for the owner before that! He's the owner of a well known company and I've been tempted to open the letters just to be nosey. I had been binning them, but have recently started with 'no longer at this address' and sticking them back in the letterbox.

MeanderingGently · 14/04/2022 02:56

You will never get them to change their address until you start returning letters to sender. Write clearly on the envelope "Return to sender, previous owners moved out 2020, no forwarding address, please amend your records" then date it the current date and squiggle a signature. Keep doing this to every letter, don't leave them out for your DH to see but take them all and repost, every time.

I can assure you it works. Officials and banks etc. start to make enquiries to find the correct address. You may find you are written to directly as "owner/occupier" which you can open and reply to, explaining the situation.

I have done this before, you really need to do this to stop the post. It is also perfectly acceptable to open the post yourself and write back to the company, enclosing the letter, saying "I opened this in my capacity as owner/occupier since 2020, I have no forwarding address but do not wish to receive this mail, please amend your records". It is not illegal to return opened post in this way and no, you won't be prosecuted.

I know it sounds a real faff but unless you take action and do something, the post will go on and on....

HELLITHURT · 14/04/2022 06:26

Send them a letter (via the neighbour) saying as if now, no more forwarding post we will be returning to sender.

Then do it.

BorsetshireBanality · 14/04/2022 06:40

Write the abbreviations RTS (return to sender) and NKATA (not known at this address) as saves time.

The previous owners emigrated to New Zealand. They obviously didn’t tell the NHS as we still got medical stuff for them and one of their children then cheekily re-registered with the GP using our address.

milkyaqua · 14/04/2022 06:45

This is not your problem. Not your husband's problem. And not the poor neighbours enlisted to pass the mail on's problem.

You are making a rod for your own backs.

Return to send, address unknown... Easter Smile
No such number, no such zone...

The old owners will continue to do nothing about redirections, or updating government bodies, banks, etc etc, while you all act as their personal valets.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 14/04/2022 07:05

@MeanderingGently

You will never get them to change their address until you start returning letters to sender. Write clearly on the envelope "Return to sender, previous owners moved out 2020, no forwarding address, please amend your records" then date it the current date and squiggle a signature. Keep doing this to every letter, don't leave them out for your DH to see but take them all and repost, every time.

I can assure you it works. Officials and banks etc. start to make enquiries to find the correct address. You may find you are written to directly as "owner/occupier" which you can open and reply to, explaining the situation.

I have done this before, you really need to do this to stop the post. It is also perfectly acceptable to open the post yourself and write back to the company, enclosing the letter, saying "I opened this in my capacity as owner/occupier since 2020, I have no forwarding address but do not wish to receive this mail, please amend your records". It is not illegal to return opened post in this way and no, you won't be prosecuted.

I know it sounds a real faff but unless you take action and do something, the post will go on and on....

We had soooo many letters for previous tenants long departed... (not obvs mailshots)... One weeks haul was 48 letters not for us Angry...

Got utterly sick of rts for it to bounce back a few weeks later...

I ended up getting a stamp made:

Return to sender. These people moved out before 2014. Please remove our address from your database. Then a squiggle signature.

We found this worked much better than just scrawling return to sender....

A couple of obvious loan letters... That kept bouncing back to us...

The only possible way I could see that this was happening was an ex tenant from years ago was using the address to take out loans CURRENTLY.Angry.
I actually rang the loan company... And they let slip how recently these delightful people had been giving our address for their loan 😡