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Original poster

How to stop mail from previous owners?

54 replies

Lily78123 · 18/08/2021 10:41

Hi all,

I’ve just been on the phone with Royal Mail and they said they cannot stop mail from previous owners coming to our address.

It’s been 5 years and we’ve been posting most of the letters back with “Return to sender”.

Anybody has a real life advice, how to actually stop this? Most of them are addressed to a limited company.

OP posts:
Finfintytint · 18/08/2021 10:44

I had this. I know it’s a pain but I phoned each company and told them to remove my address from their database.

Finfintytint · 18/08/2021 10:46

Sorry, think I’ve misunderstood. I thought you meant mail for the previous owners.

Reallybadidea · 18/08/2021 10:50

Just bin it and move on. If they haven't let whoever it is know that they've moved then it can't be very important.

IsolaPribby · 18/08/2021 10:54

If it's addressed to a limited company, then you should check the Companies House website to see what their registered address is. If they are still using your address, then you should alert them.

PeonyTime · 18/08/2021 10:56

If it is magazines, promotional material and the like, you can have reasonable sucess on the companies website pretending you are the intended recipient, and requesting they stop sending.

If it is "official" letters, you need to ring them, and hope they listen...

Original poster
Lily78123 · 18/08/2021 11:07

@Finfintytint oh sorry, my mistake, I do mean addresses to previous owners. Thanks for sharing your experience.

It’s quite annoying as it’s a letter almost everyday, I was hoping it will eventually stop after sending them back.

OP posts:
MoreAloneTime · 18/08/2021 11:11

I'm not convinced the return to sender not at this address even works. We gave it a year of doing that and they now go straight in recycling.

Original poster
Lily78123 · 18/08/2021 11:11

@IsolaPribby
Thanks, I’ve just checked on Companies House website and the address has been changed.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lily78123 · 18/08/2021 11:14

@MoreAloneTime

It just seems such a waste. The funny thing is the letter I’ve opened today is from the Royal Mail for using their Click and drop services and notifying of charges of £1200, I mean I called Royal Mail to say the recipient does not live here to receive the letter and the answer was that they are obliged to deliver and to keep posting them back.

Hmm
OP posts:
IsolaPribby · 18/08/2021 11:17

In that case perhaps open each one and actually ring whoever it's from and tell them to update their records. A bit of a faff, but would eventually sort it.

ClaryFairchild · 18/08/2021 11:18

Open the letter, put it on a clean envelope and send it back to the sender without a stamp on it. They will have to pay to receive it each and every time, stamp and handling fee. Eventually it will start getting expensive for them.

Blindstupid · 18/08/2021 11:18

After 5 years I’d not bother myself …. I’d literally just bin everything. It’s not really that inconvenient.

pinkdot · 18/08/2021 12:27

This happened to me and I took a load of letters to the Royal Mail depot and told them. They then took the names of everyone in my household and said when they were sorting them they would remove letters that didn't have our names on... the odd one came though but no where near as bad as it was.

Miracle29 · 18/08/2021 12:55

We did the return to sender and it did stop some however one day 3 was posted which all looked the same and I opened one to find the previous owner was in debt and the bailiffs were contacted. I rang the company and she basically said that she would put a note on but in the meantime if the bailiffs did turn up to not let them in and have my Bill's at hand to prove we are the new owners. I was really nervous waiting for them to turn up but luckily they didn't. I just throw them in recycling now. We only have the odd one now.

GintyMcGinty · 18/08/2021 12:58

After 5 years I would just chuck it all straight in to recycling.

fakeplantsdontlookreal · 18/08/2021 12:59

My local post office have special labels , so you don't write return to sender, they put something on it and send it back.

I used to write NO LONGER AT THIS ADDRESS, RETURN TO SENDER, REMOVE FROM DATABASE and they would stop eventually.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 18/08/2021 13:10

Someone told me that if you write 'Deceased' on the envelope and return it, they are more likely to update their records. (May not work for a company though!)

But after 5 years I wouldn't be opening it and phoning round I would just put a line through the address and write 'Gone Away' and put them in a post box once a week.

But at Christmas I would open cards and put them on the mantle piece (as we don't get many Sad)

Original poster
Lily78123 · 18/08/2021 15:47

Thanks for all the ideas.

OP posts:
Palavah · 18/08/2021 15:49

Contact the relevant companies and remind them that they have a responsibility under GDPR to have accurate records and to correct any inaccuracies. Would they like to report themselves to ICO or should you?

RedMarauder · 18/08/2021 15:53

@MoreAloneTime

I'm not convinced the return to sender not at this address even works. We gave it a year of doing that and they now go straight in recycling.
It does particularly with banks and other financial companies. T(he one organisation it doesn't work with is DVLA as they will send any crap to your house even if the person has never lived there. )

Unfortunately these past couple of years with Covid people haven't been working in offices so there is probably no-one around to flag the returned mail.

Original poster
Lily78123 · 18/08/2021 17:50

@Palavah
That’s a brilliant idea.

OP posts:
BruceAndNosh · 18/08/2021 18:01

@Miracle29

We did the return to sender and it did stop some however one day 3 was posted which all looked the same and I opened one to find the previous owner was in debt and the bailiffs were contacted. I rang the company and she basically said that she would put a note on but in the meantime if the bailiffs did turn up to not let them in and have my Bill's at hand to prove we are the new owners. I was really nervous waiting for them to turn up but luckily they didn't. I just throw them in recycling now. We only have the odd one now.
Previous owner of our house did not set up a redirect as the family had several different surnames between them. But bloke came and collected the post every couple of weeks. I did notice several with red writing on them like a final demand, plus a few with Magistrate Court franked on them which was worrying. Then the bailiffs turned up.... Baliffs were OK once I showed them bills in my name, but it did cause hilarity with the guests who were visiting
Miracle29 · 18/08/2021 18:14

Bruceandnosh oh no that's horrible the bailiffs turning up. I had my Bill's by my front door just incase they did turn up. I've had no letters since and no bailiffs (touch wood) they stay away too.

RainingYetAgain · 18/08/2021 18:37

For some reason our previous next door neighbour registered his business at our address- and his wife's car insurance. ( He got a DD ban). House name not numbers, and unlikely to be caused by a selection error on the drop down menus either.
I ended up having correspondance from HMRC about a failure to complete his companies's tax return. Discovered it was him by checking on Companies House. TBH I told HMRC and gave them the correct address. He had done a bunk and his wife claimed not to know where he was. It was an interesting time, so I would try to be pro-active in getting things changed.
Could you re-address letters to the new Company address?

Paulinna · 18/08/2021 18:44

We had bailiffs and police at the door. They said it was my fault because they’d been sending letters and I’d ignored them (chucked them back in the post box and eventually just started putting them in the bin). They recommended opening letters and phoning to make sure they knew the person didn’t live there. If the company persists in sending letters you can report them to the ICO, or to the ombudsman if they’re a bank or professional organisation.