Help please. Post: Mail re-direction issue.

Lizzie-S

OK, so we moved into our new social housing property the other week, and to my horror, I have discovered that the old tenants - who moved out of the area to be near family 40 miles away - have the SAME surname as me and my husband, and virtually the same initials. I am Liz Jackson and my OH is Carl Jackson, and the other couple were Helen Jackson and Clive Jackson, and the week before they left, they ordered a mail re-direction from this property.

So everything that comes here to Mrs H Jackson and Mr C Jackson and Mr and Mrs C Jackson is being directed to the old tenants' new home, and OUR names are Mr and Mr C Jackson! I have a different initial to her, but my husband has the same initial as him!

What are the chances?! I discovered their names, when I introduced myself to the neighbour today, and they said 'ha ha that's funny, the old neighbours were Mr and Mrs Jackson too: Carl and Helen!

Well since we have been here - 3 weeks - we have not had one scrap of mail. Our kids have had bits and bobs, but we have had nothing. I am really worried. We have been expecting a bank statement, that the bank sent out on 17th July, and a new debit card for my husband - as his was defective. That was posted 18th July apparently! Also, my husband sent for a DVD off Play.com on 10th July and that have not come either. There have been several other things too. 2 personal letters and other personal correspondence due.

Could it be that everything is being directed to their new property?! :eek: And what can I/should I do???

sandsni

Did you try contacting Royal Mail to see if it's possible for the wrong mail to have been redirected?

BobQ

sandsni wrote: »

Did you try contacting Royal Mail to see if it's possible for the wrong mail to have been redirected?

I cannot see how the it could result in anything else!

OP I agree that you should contact Royal Mail and get them to sort the problem Not sure what the solution is but they cannot legally redirect your mail so maybe you need to get them to speak to the other Jacksons and come up with a solution.

Maybe the other Jacksons could agree to let you open all of the mail and forward anything that is not yours to them in return for signing some kind of agreement not to discuss its content with anyone else?

Its a good time to be getting speeding and parking tickets, they are bound to have gone to wrong person:)

Werdnal

Post yourself a first class letter and see if it arrives!

In the meantime, do you have a forwarding address for the other "Jacksons"?

If you think something urgent has been re-direct to them in error, send them a few large envelopes and a cheque for £10 (to cover postage and hassle) and ask them to post back anything that has arrived that is not for them. Also ask them to confirm duration of the re-direction they have arranged, so you know what sort of timescale you are looking at. It may only be for a month!

Can you give all official bodies you deal with - banks, credit cards etc, a temporary address for you in the meantime - relatives etc, so you know the important stuff will go to them?

googler

Have you set up a redirection from your previous address?

How many people or organisations did you actually TELL that you were moving, as per the list in this thread ...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4056963

GwylimT

Try not to worry too much, if you haven't already just take your rental agreement to the important places, e.g. the bank with your new address and any letters from utility companies/e-statements. You can request for letters to be sent containing your full name including any middle names so Mr Carl Middle name Jackson.

Alternatively in the mean time where you can sign up for paper free, most banks do this as do utility companies, if you don't have a forwarding address you could contact your LHA and ask them to forward on your details to the previous tenants so they can then inform if your mail has been arriving at their new address. In my experience most of my redirected mail in the past hasn't been redirected in most cases and so I just change my address asap and phone relevant people e.g. bank and explain that any mail sent from x date needs sending again to x address.

custardy

Lizzie-S wrote: »

OK, so we moved into our new social housing property the other week, and to my horror, I have discovered that the old tenants - who moved out of the area to be near family 40 miles away - have the SAME surname as me and my husband, and virtually the same initials. I am L***** J****** and my OH is C**** J****, and the other couple were H**** J***** and Clive J***, and the week before they left, they ordered a mail re-direction from this property.

So everything that comes here to Mrs H J****** and Mr C J********* and Mr and Mrs C J******* is being directed to the old tenants' new home, and OUR names are Mr and Mr C J******! I have a different initial to her, but my husband has the same initial as him!

What are the chances?! I discovered their names, when I introduced myself to the neighbour today, and they said 'ha ha that's funny, the old neighbours were Mr and Mrs J******** too: Carl and Helen!

Well since we have been here - 3 weeks - we have not had one scrap of mail. Our kids have had bits and bobs, but we have had nothing. I am really worried. We have been expecting a bank statement, that the bank sent out on 17th July, and a new debit card for my husband - as his was defective. That was posted 18th July apparently! Also, my husband sent for a DVD off Play.com on 10th July and that have not come either. There have been several other things too. 2 personal letters and other personal correspondence due.

Could it be that everything is being directed to their new property?! :eek: And what can I/should I do???

bit of a nightmare
You need to contact your delivery office ASAP
make it clear they need to be 100% on the names they redirect
the big issue is items addresed simply to Mr smith,mr and mrs smith etc with fornames.
even initials wont really help here

I suggest you remove your names from your post

LittleVoice

Werdnal wrote: »

Post yourself a first class letter and see if it arrives!

In the meantime, do you have a forwarding address for the other "Jacksons"?

If you think something urgent has been re-direct to them in error, send them a few large envelopes and a cheque for £10 (to cover postage and hassle) and ask them to post back anything that has arrived that is not for them. Also ask them to confirm duration of the re-direction they have arranged, so you know what sort of timescale you are looking at. It may only be for a month!

Can you give all official bodies you deal with - banks, credit cards etc, a temporary address for you in the meantime - relatives etc, so you know the important stuff will go to them?

Using a different name on the envelope!

LittleVoice

custardy wrote: »

I suggest you remove your names from your post

I think YOU missed a few - remember the surname of one pair is the same as the other two.

Werdnal

LittleVoice wrote: »

Using a different name on the envelope!

Of course, I didn't make this clear as I typed in a hurry on way out the door this morning. Address the envelopes you supply them yourself and either use a totally different address (friend, relative etc), or just put your first name on it.

Lizzie-S

Thanks for the advice folks. Firstly, these 'aren't' our real names by the way; just example names, my name isn't even Lizzie really. I'd never use my actual real name on the internet.

I had a word with the postmaster today, and he said it's most unfortunate, and rather a rare occurrence, for someone to have the same surname as the old tenant, and almost the same first initials. He said however that there isn't a massive lot that they can do. It's just unfortunate that we have almost identical names, and if the old tenants have got a re-direction to their new home from their old home (our new one,), then it is likely that some of our mail will get redirected to their new home.

Yes, we have told virtually everyone what our new address is, but the point is, that the old tenants have the same name as us, so the correspondence coming to us from people who are writing to us at our new address, is being redirected to the old tenants new address, because they have the same name as us! And the post office thinks it's for the old tenants.

I have no idea at all where the old tenants are, and I am going to the housing association tomorrow, to speak to them about it and ask if they can help. They will know the old tenants new address probably, so maybe they can ask them if they have been getting mail that is not theirs, and also how long the redirection is for...

There seems to be no way out of this at the moment.