mail is being stolen

thankyouforthiswebsite

Perhaps this is not the right place in MSE for this thread?


For three months in a row now my bank statements never reached me. I contacted royal mail. little is being done about it.


someone has three original bank statements of mine. other mail has also gone missing in the past. I emailed d.w.p about my mail being stolen as if future mail they send me may be stolen too. They never emailed back.

does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do. royal mail don't seem to care and I can't prove that the statements were actually stolen. I could be penniless if dwp write to me and I don't receive their mail.


thank you in advance.


(p.s I did tell bank about missing mail and have now cancelled postal statements for the future)

BJV

Do you have a shared or private post box as it may be a simple case of post being collected by someone else in error?

thankyouforthiswebsite

I live with my carer in a flat. we checked days after days together for the mail when it was due to arrive. nothing came. there is only one letter box and we also see the postmen turn up in their van and deliver.

tomtontom

You need to make a complaint to Royal Mail. They may not be able to track down what has happened to the mail, but at least you know you have done all you can. There is no point in telling the DWP unless something from them has actually gone missing.

BJV

thankyouforthiswebsite wrote: »

I live with my carer in a flat. we checked days after days together for the mail when it was due to arrive. nothing came. there is only one letter box and we also see the postmen turn up in their van and deliver.

100% complain. As the previous post said they mat not be able to stop it but at least they will be aware of it. Please forgive me I know very silly question but are you absolutely sure that the post you where expecting was actually sent?

thankyouforthiswebsite

thanks, tomeontom

my worry is that the dwp send something but I don't receive it and that I only find out later on down the line (when it's too late) that they had sent me something out. by this time, they could have cancelled benefits etc..

I also feel I am being targeted by someone in royal mail (for id theft maybe) as three consecutive bank statements never reached me. but funnily enough 2 duplicate copies which I asked the bank to send me did reach me.

thankyouforthiswebsite

Hi bjv, - the question you ask is actually good one.


I have contacted my bank about this matter and they say the statements were all sent out.


Also, my carer and I checked that the setting on the account was for postal mail statements at that time.

Viberduo

Sorry to butt in just interested in the situation as had letters stolen(by another tenant with shared letterbox) at one flat, then had my own letterbox but bank statements and phone bills were returned to sender almost every month even marked RTS/Not living here etc I myself complained and got nowhere and just told to ask senders to claim for any lost items as that was all they can do(and to make matters worse when I treated myself to a £40 second hand PSP, they refused compensation to sender just sent him 10 first class stamps saying he had no proof of value)

At my new house letters are arriving bar 1 thing I ordered but many are taking like 10-14 days from they are sent to arrive which seems strange.

barnabee

Op - are you able to use online banking instead? You could then opt out of any postal bank statements.

Certainly complain to Royal Mail. It probably won't achieve much though.

Is there anything about your address details that could cause mail to go missing: (similar street name in the same town/you live in a flat/the sender doesn't use a postcode or full address/you have a dog loose between your letter box and property entrance/your house/flat doesn't have a clearly marked door number).

You could try posting 'test' letters to yourself. Post them on different days from different post boxes. Keep a log of them with dates posted and then check they all arrive. If they don't then persue your complaint with Royal Mail. In the mean time keep a close watch on your bank account for any unauthorised transactions. You might also want to get a credit check done if you believe you may be at risk from ID theft. Your carer and their employer should be able to help with all of these things.

rogerblack

It is depressing it's not possible for the DWP to send email or text notifications of important events.
Anyway - if there is any secure location at which you can receive mail, it's possible to ask for your mail to be delivered there.

thankyouforthiswebsite

Viberduo, thank you very much and I'm sorry to hear you had mail stolen and the way Royal Mail dealt with it. It sounds like a nightmare.

Barnabee, thanks for the helpful suggestions. I really am appreciative. There is nothing in the address details which would could cause the mail to go missing. As my carer receives her mail, we thought maybe I was being targeted for ID theft. I've let the bank know about this and will consider the credit check advice-thanks for that.

rogerblack-thanks. It is really depressing that the DWP do not correspond through email. I have emailed them about this matter and kept copies of the email in case I need them in the future.

My worry is that they could stop my payments because their mail won't reach me. I've asked them to email if they need to contact me-but they probably will just write.

Regarding the secure location for future mail, I asked Royal Mail if they could leave it in the city sorting office for my carer and I to pick up.

Thanks again everyone for your help. I am keeping a note of what happens and will update you all on this website. This will hopefully help others who find themselves in a similar situation. I have to say that your MSE website is quite literally a god-send.