Letters from previous occupiers - with a twist

alumende27

yes, you're quite right. apologies for my misleading statement.

The correct thing to do though, as always, is to write 'not known at this address, return to sender'.

MrWillyWonka

dsdhall wrote: »

not known at this address - return to sender

Never failed for me.


https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/post/post/problems-with-post/stop-getting-someone-elses-post/


and you really shouldn't be opening someone else's post even if it is coming to your address. And unless you have a 'reasonable excuse' for doing so, you're breaking the law.

From my understanding I can open the mail as long as I do not use the information within for my own gain or fraud.

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I would RTS rather than binning; the institutions need to know they're sending stuff to the wrong address and increasing the possibility of ID fraud. If they have a car registered to your address you may get the plod knocking in the middle of the night to chase up involvement of that vehicle reg in an accident (happened to friends of mine).

I would print a load of labels with "NOT AT THIS ADDRESS SINCE YEAR X" in large bold letters to save you having to write it each time.

I like the label idea, a lot. Perhaps something big and bold will be better than just writing RTS on it (which doesn't seem to work for me). That's my plan of action and will save time. :T

I phoned up the bank that all members of the family are with and they've advised to get in contact with the family to change the address but I'm reluctant to do so and don't want to be seen as harassing them. It may not even stop them registering new accounts on my address either which I'm not sure why they are doing this.

TBagpuss

dsdhall wrote: »

not known at this address - return to sender

Never failed for me.


https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/post/post/problems-with-post/stop-getting-someone-elses-post/


and you really shouldn't be opening someone else's post even if it is coming to your address. And unless you have a 'reasonable excuse' for doing so, you're breaking the law.

Checking to see whether there is information which allows ou to returnthe letter or forward it is a reasonable excuse.
Checking to see whether you may be the victim of identity theft or fraud is a reasonable excuse.

And in fact, if it has been correctly delivered to your address there is no offence at all.

OP, writing to the companies concered may help, if it is bothering you.

RTS doesn't always go back to the branch / department it came from.

Candyapple

MrWillyWonka wrote: »

Hi,

We purchased our house a year ago, previously it was rented out for quite some time.

We had been getting lots of bank statements, credit cards, PINs and other bank letters addressed to a family of at least 4. They seem to have moved out 3 years ago.

Initially I RTS the letters and eventually just binned them but recently the volume of letters is ridiculous. I opened a council tax bill from another authority and it seems they have moved to another property but have registered their council tax correspondence to our address. This seems to be the same for water, car insurance and house insurance where the correspondence and living address is different.

Even more bizarre was a letter from solicitors in regards to a recent car accident claim (accident happened several months after we moved in) which was also sent here.

All this on top of not changing their bank address seems to me they do not want to register themselves at their new address.

I phoned the banks and since I am not the account holder I cannot remove my own address from their account (although I did manage it with their council tax and water bill).

I'm stuck here and concerned something fishy is going on. Any advice?

If they moved out 3 years ago and are registering for new cards etc at your address, I wonder if they had some sort of arrangement with the previous tenants whereby they would meet up/give them their post?

Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense. You said there were at least 4 people's mail you've been receiving, surely at least 1 of them would realise they haven't received any bank/credit card statements/replacement cards etc. So it must be for some dodgy reason why they're purposely sending mail to your address. Perhaps some type of benefit fraud where they are claiming not to be living at an address, who knows. Either way, if you keep writing RTS on the letters, especially the bank ones, they are meant to put a block on the accounts until the account holder contacts them and updates their address in branch.

harz99

Or the OP could simply repost the letters on to the address on the Council Tax/Water Bills as being their last known address.

alan0356

I would suggest that you check out your credit file by registering with a credit agency like NODDLE ( no free trails etc - free service from day one ) to ensure what is showing on your file - any financial entries etc that are not yours you could then report them to credit report company or place a note of correction on your file that you have no connection to these people.

Guest101

alan0356 wrote: »

I would suggest that you check out your credit file by registering with a credit agency like NODDLE ( no free trails etc - free service from day one ) to ensure what is showing on your file - any financial entries etc that are not yours you could then report them to credit report company or place a note of correction on your file that you have no connection to these people.

Why would there be?

anotheruser

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I would print a load of labels with "NOT AT THIS ADDRESS SINCE YEAR X" in large bold letters to save you having to write it each time.

I did this.
It did slowly work, over a period of about a year or two. Although I just wrote this:

dsdhall wrote: »

not known at this address - return to sender.

dsdhall wrote: »

and you really shouldn't be opening someone else's post even if it is coming to your address. And unless you have a 'reasonable excuse' for doing so, you're breaking the law.

But it IS a reasonable excuse... especially if the envelope is fairly generic and you can't tell where it's from, as it could be information about your property.


Here's my suggestions:

Open their bank statements and leave them lying around in the bank they come from. Remove your own address. Leave them in the same branch - they will do something about it when they see the same details again and again.

Open a website and scan/post the infos.

Save 5-10 letters, then send them all back together. RM will probably sort them together, and they'll all arrive in the same place together. Bulk "RTS" will get more attention.

If it's a council tax bill, call the council it's from and speak to them. Most are pretty helpful.


I've opened post from our old home owners if it looks interesting.
Advertising or something boring gets sent back. Bank statements? Of course - I am nosey.

MrWillyWonka

Leaving statements lying round in a bank is a really bad idea. If fraud is committed it could be my fault. In any case, one of their banks is the same as I bank with.

Nothing untoward on my Noddle report.

Bulk RTS it is, a job for this weekend.

bod1467

Last time I got something (an ISA interest rate change letter) from my bank addressed to someone else I took it into my local branch. (I'd done a RTS a year previously). They confirmed that the account existed (didn't show me the screen or advise any details obviously) and asked if it was a previous owner/tenant - no, as I've owned the property from new. They put a note/marker on the account about the incorrect address.

Basically - RTS doesn't always work, so anything that can be dealt with face to face with the company/bank can be sorted much quicker.