Speeding Fine for Previous Occupant

tightbarsteward

I received a letter this morning for the guy I bought my house off 18 months ago which wasn't sealed very well. Looking in it, it turns out to be a speeding fine for this guy. From what I can see this guy is in a bit of bother as

1. He has been caught speeding so 3 points & maybe a fine.
2. He has not notified the DVLA of change of address.
3. He may not have tax as his Registration Certificate wouldn't tally with insurance.
4. He may not have insurance as surely the insurance company would know which address his registration no. relates to.

Can I get done for opening mail addressed to someone else even though it has been sent to my address? If not I think I will phone the police & tell them what I know about him. I don't want police coming round here to arrest someone for non-payment of fines.

zappahey

1. yup
2. yup
3. The addresses don't need to tally to get tax, so long as the car is actually insured.
4. If you're not getting correspondence from is insurers then he's probably changed the address with them. They're not interested in the address on the reg docs.

Quinny_2

The guy must know that he broke the speed limit,and upon moving,has probably decided not to tell the authorities in the hope they won't catch him.

If it was me,I wouldn't do anything,and then the fine will go up,and he will have to make a court appearance to prove why he didn't answer.

Let it develop,and then only become involved,if you have to.

In my opinion,he deserves all he gets.

Ken.

tripled

You're not allowed to open someone else's mail.
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section12/chapter_k.html#_Toc44654300

The best course of action is to return all post to sender, then companies and the dvla will know he's moved on and can try to trace him.

livinginhope

Quinny wrote:

If it was me,I wouldn't do anything,and then the fine will go up,and he will have to make a court appearance to prove why he didn't answer.

Let it develop,and then only become involved,if you have to.

In my opinion,he deserves all he gets.

Ken.

Aswell as it being illegal to open other peoples mail,you are also not allowed to hold on to it,just send it back 'not known here' and let the authorities deal with it.
LIH

prudryden

It is only illegal to open mail if you intend to do something with it that is harmful. Therefore, just send it back to sender as unknown address or if you know his new address, forward it on to him.

tightbarsteward

Thanks for all your replies.

My wife opened it so hopefully she'll get sent down for 6 months & i'll have a bit of peace & quiet!

Then again it was very professionally opened by the nosey cow so I think I will re-seal it & put it on the side for the next 6 weeks & see if the coppers come a calling!

prudryden

tightbarsteward wrote:

Thanks for all your replies.

My wife opened it so hopefully she'll get sent down for 6 months & i'll have a bit of peace & quiet!

Then again it was very professionally opened by the nosey cow so I think I will re-seal it & put it on the side for the next 6 weeks & see if the coppers come a calling!

I would do the nice thing and return it as address unknown or try to find out where to forward it on to.

plane_boy2000

I presume if you bought the house from him you have his forwarding address so why not just send it on?

I dont imagine he is doing anything dodgy - probably has had the car for ages and just forgot to change the address on the log book when he moved.

tightbarsteward

I bought the house in March 2004 & his car is 2004 reg so he can't of had it long before he moved. I don't have his forwarding address. Somehow i don't think he wanted me to have it. I have also had debt collection letters for him in the past.

I'll just return to sender.

Altarf

tripled wrote:

You're not allowed to open someone else's mail.
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section12/chapter_k.html#_Toc44654300

Yes you can if it has been addressed and delivered to your house and you do not intend to do anything naughty with it.

Postal Services Act 2000 s84

(1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he-
(a) intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, ...

(3) 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.

s84(1) does not apply as the envelope was no longer in the course of transmission by post, as the Royal Mail had delivered it to its intended address (normal post is not delivered to a person, but to an address).

For those that disagree and say that the letter is still in transmission until opened by the person it is addressed to, there would be no point in having s84(3) if this was the intended reading of s84(1).

Under s84(3), as the person opening the letter has not intended to cause detriment, then no offence has been committed.

Anyway, in these days of identity theft, if anything arrives through my door with my address on it (i.e. not mis-delivered items) and not the name of someone living here, I will (and do) open it.