Communal post box thefts - who's responsible

centaurandrew

Hi all,

Just moved into a new flat, postboxes are in a communal area downstairs by the shared entrance.

Recently I received a note from a fellow tenant who said that she had been the victim of mail theft and fraud. Apparently they had got her name, run a credit check using a fraudulent letting company to obtain her date of birth, then applied for credit cards in her name. After this they had taken the credit cards out of her postbox when they got delivered (including pin presumably) and used it to buy goods.

My question is, presuming this mail theft was committed at the box (either someone with a master key for all boxes, or someone putting their hands through the letter flaps) and not the sorting office - surely it's the management company's responsibility to secure these boxes? (They have said it isn't).

What steps would you take?

thelem

What makes to think the theft happened at the box? This is unfortunately quite common, and can happen at any stage of the delivery process.

Yes, it would be the management company who would need to install new boxes, but I don't think you'd be able to force them to do that. Are other residents concerned?

ging84

why would it be the management company's responsibility, the fact they have locking mailboxes at all suggests your mail is more secure than it is in many buildings, in older buildings in particular often they are simply pigeon holes

centaurandrew

ging84 wrote: »

why would it be the management company's responsibility, the fact they have locking mailboxes at all suggests your mail is more secure than it is in many buildings, in older buildings in particular often they are simply pigeon holes

I've only ever lived in houses before, so for me it seems kind of strange that I can't even have a secure place for my mail to go - especially as a few people in the building seem to have had the same problem.

I think i'll go for the V2.0 option of collecting my mail from the sorting office!

propertyman

The letter boxes are often the responsibility of the flat owner to maintian and keep secure. Its something that I ensured that new leases specify to avoid these sorts of nonsense claims.

The box system is often built to the particular BS or ISO standard but of course that does not guarentee that it is impregnable. In many cases the locks to the doors are only a few pins and easily picked or a dummy key made up as the locks are very basic.

That said it can be another resident contractor or postal staff that could be involved and the Man Co if they are responsible for repairing the doors and locks can say that the door and lock were in repair and therefore they met their obligation.

Sorry to hear this but its not an easy blame to apportion.

centaurandrew

It's not really a nonsense claim though is it.

As a tenant you rent the property - you are expected to maintain good upkeep of the property (i.e. everything behind your front door as this is a controllable quantity).

Outwith your property are the communal areas, open to all and thus less easy to control. I would not expect to redecorate the communal areas to my taste, be directly responsible for the security of them, pay for the lighting etc. Hence why we have a management company which we pay to cover all of these aspects.

When a mailbox is in a communal area and someone is putting their hands in and taking mail, well all I can do is liken it to what I would do in a house. I would install CCTV to catch the offender and fit a more secure postbox. In a communal area this is less easy to do and in most places not permitted at all.

Regardless - Royal Mails service of retaining mail at the sorting office seems to be the best approach.

theartfullodger

Who is responsible? The thief of course! But you knew that eh?