Mystery letter

hayday75

She has probably applied for a credit card or something .I have had a similar experiance and it ended with baliffs at my door for the previous occupier .
You need to tell this women that what she has asked is unexceptable .

thehappybutterfly

:cool:

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I wouldn't hand over any mail on principle after pestering you like that on top of having to deal with debt-collectors. If mail was that important she could have arranged re-direction with the Post Office any time during the last two years.

I agree with LazyDaisy: it's most likely a benefits claim or maybe an insurance scam.

If it turns up, open it and tell us what it is before you return it or toss it in the bin.

Isn't it illegal to open mail addressed to someone else? Not that I disagree with your suggestion because I'm dead nosy! but I'd hate for the OP to break the law. Happy to be corrected.

Brighton_belle

thehappybutterfly wrote: »

:cool:

Isn't it illegal to open mail addressed to someone else? Not that I disagree with your suggestion because I'm dead nosy! but I'd hate for the OP to break the law. Happy to be corrected.

Yes, I'm fairly sure it is.

zzzLazyDaisy

Postal Services Act 2000

84(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.

There shouldn't be any need to open mail addressed to another person, just send it back to sender.

Having said that, in most cases it is unlikely that the police would be interested enough to prosecute.

geoffky

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Yes, I'm fairly sure it is.

The Postal Services Act 2000 is clear that an offence is created if anyone intentionally delays the post or intentionally opens a mail bag. The Act goes on to say: "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."

You have to prove that the person opening the post did so with the express intention of acting to your detriment. That is very difficult to prove, unless it is obviously a letter from the bank and you can show he used the information to get money out of your account, or get a loan in your name, for example.
The fact of opening the letter is not enough.

zzzLazyDaisy

geoffky wrote: »

The fact of opening the letter is not enough.

I agree.

I have twice in two days opened letters addressed to other people containing bank statements :eek:

But I am the only person who gets mail in my house and I didn't even look at the envelopes. Turns out we have a relief postman who, for some inexplicable reason, has taken to posting mail through my letter box correctly addressed to people living at other houses on my road. There is no way anyone could prove that I have any intention whatsoever towards the real owners of the mail. The worst I could be accused of is being a DozyDaisy

embob74

My mum regularly opens mail addressed to previous tenants. After a year of getting their bank statements and debt letters and addressing it back to sender she started opening letters so she could get a contact number for the sender and call them to say stop sending mail when the addressee moved over a year ago!!
Don't see anything wrong with it myself. I sorted a re-direction and wouldn't dream of going back to a property 2 years after I left to see if they had any mail for me!!

Counting_Pennies_2

I think given she moved on two years ago you could be forgiven for opening her mail by accident.

I would be worried what she is getting in to at your address, and I would suggest the accidental opening is justified to ensure you know a fraud is not being committed

Callie22

We had a similar problem with our rented house, with the previous owner's lodger. We started to get a load of post for him and everything went back marked 'no longer at this address', but one day we got what looked like a tax disc. I stuck it back in the post but that night he came round demanding his post. I told him I'd sent it back and got really nasty with me ... and b***er me, if he didn't arrange for the damn thing to be redelivered to my house.

I came home from work a day or so later to find him sat outside the house, he then followed me to the door and insisted on checking through the post. Fortunately his tax disc was there but I lost my temper and he got one hell of a dressing down from me. He was told in no uncertain terms that if he did that again, I'd call the police. I also said that there were bailiffs looking for both him and the previous owner and I'd happily pass on anything that arrived for him straight to them. He left with his tail firmly between his legs and we haven't had anything else for him

ammonite

Sorry to hijack but we have had bailiffs for previous owners five years after we bought the house. We get letters that are recent including fixed notice penalty charges for unpaid train fares even very recently...question is..is it illegal to use someone's address when you don't live there? Previous owners had house repossessed and in addition to the many many letters from debt collectors, they are still using the address....more to the point, can we do anything about it? Guess the police won't be interested! Not having one ounce of debt ever it was very unsettling to have bailiffs at my front door. They've got a damn cheek (the ex owners, not the bailiffs!)