Previous occupier had debt

Wig

Hi,

Previous owner occupier has debt. Debt letters arriving.

Me, new owner occupier.

Should I do anything, apart from returning the letters as "not at this address"...
such as put notice on my front door
"To whom it may concern.
Mr X no longer lives here, no longer owns this house"


??

bsms1147

Return them as you mentioned, bin them, or if you feel up to it open the mail and contact the companies directly to inform them.

I wouldn't go as far as putting anything on your door. Can't see it will add anything.

sourcrates

Just pop em back in the post box marked, "no longer at this address".

Pointless contacting the companies yourself, as they would :

(A) either not discuss the account with you due to data protection laws,

Or

(B) attempt to get the money out of you (has been tried) !!!

Best to have as little involvement as possible.

bsms1147

sourcrates wrote: »

Just pop em back in the post box marked, "no longer at this address".

Pointless contacting the companies yourself, as they would :

(A) either not discuss the account with you due to data protection laws,

Or

(B) attempt to get the money out of you (has been tried) !!!

Best to have as little involvement as possible.

Others' experiences will differ but I found a quick email - ie not a two-way conversation with them so no concern from them about data protection - worked when numerous return-to-senders/no-longer-at-this-address's didn't. Never heard a peep again.

Wig

One of them is from West Mercia (courts) Enforcement Centre in Kidderminster...
The outside of the envelope is blank, no return address, nothing... I know if I return it it will go to the Royal Mail, mail opening centre..
Inside there is an address and account reference etc..
No email address, but there is a phone number.

I used steam, and intend to re-seal and return to sender.

The other is from Halifax, with account no. and Ref no.
Phone no. and address (Winckley Square, Preston), but no email address.

Do you think either of them would mind if I have obviously opened the envelope to contact them? But there is no email address given so how would I send them an email?
There's no point doing it by phone due to data protection, they would not discuss it with me.

sourcrates

Wig wrote: »

One of them is from West Mercia (courts) Enforcement Centre in Kidderminster...
The outside of the envelope is blank, no return address, nothing... I know if I return it it will go to the Royal Mail, mail opening centre..
Inside there is an address and account reference etc..
No email address, but there is a phone number.

I used steam, and intend to re-seal and return to sender.

The other is from Halifax, with account no. and Ref no.
Phone no. and address (Winckley Square, Preston), but no email address.

Do you think either of them would mind if I have obviously opened the envelope to contact them? But there is no email address given so how would I send them an email?
There's no point doing it by phone due to data protection, they would not discuss it with me.

You see, your already getting more involved than you need to be.

If it aint your name on the front, leave it well alone.

We had a similar post to this last year, a guy in a similar situation, contacted the creditors to tell them the person they were looking for no longer lived there, he ended up having county court bailiffs at his door, DCA`s demanding he pay the debt, they simply wouldn't believe he was not the debtor.

He was at his wits end after a few weeks of this, and all because he opened a letter that was not addressed to him.

Honestly, i would drop it like a hot stone.

Wig

Yeah, ok, I will just re-seal them and "return to sender"... I did it really well so no one can tell they were opened...

January2015

Don't open previous occupant's letters.

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 states:

"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."

-taff

January2015 wrote: »

"A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse

Yes, but if you only want to know an address to send it back to, it's not an offence.

January2015

-taff wrote: »

Yes, but if you only want to know an address to send it back to, it's not an offence.

Each to their own view on this. My own is that opening and finding return address is the job of the mail sorting office rather than each individual occupier. Occupier writes not at this address, puts envelope back in mail box, sorting office opens it to find return address.

sourcrates

January2015 wrote: »

Each to their own view on this. My own is that opening and finding return address is the job of the mail sorting office rather than each individual occupier. Occupier writes not at this address, puts envelope back in mail box, sorting office opens it to find return address.

I have to agree, I understand someone wanting to sort this out, but it can lead to a whole world of hurt.

Best to not get involved in the first place.