Really Need help with Mail re-directing Service

hollydays

BJV said:

hollydays said:

The house wasn't repossessed? Were their activities criminal?

No it was not repossessed but they where forced to sell the house ( we had no idea at the time ) since buying we have found out as local people started to tell us. Criminals ???? in my mind yes. anyone who can swindle hard earned money out of people and think it is acceptable. They also owed lots of money to some very bad people. 

Thanks for your comments ref proof of address. I had already explained this to Royal Mail and they could not see the problem. Have to say I thougth it was me going a little mad being the only one to be able to see the flaw in their system . Totally agree it is not what the service was made for.

I have only seen them once since we moved in. I had always promised myself that if ever I saw them that I would walk up slap "her " across the face and give "him a piece of my mind. In the end I stood in the supermarket shaking burst into tears, left the trolley where it was and walked out. 

Strange as old, as battered and as much in need of TLC our house is it now our home. We have and saved saved and had a new roof put on this year. No more water coming in when it rains.  Electrics and plumbing now stored. Its not quiet all ours yet as the bank still ownes a little but we are getting there. Since I found out I am now putting the alarm on when we all go to sleep. I honestly wish I had never found out. Ignorance is bliss. 

One of my work colleagues suggested writing a letter to him address to my home address and asking them to stop. Not sure it would do any good and not sure I could trust myself .

Guess I just have to wait for Royal Mail complaints procedure.

Once again thank you for all your comments. 

The reason I asked if there were criminal activities Is because, I wondered if they could still be using your address for business activities . If there's any suggestion of criminal fraud,( or criminal deception by claiming they still live there, eg to obtain a loan) the fact they are using your address may be of interest to them if it is related to the previous activities. When you say they were " forced " to sell the house, I assume you mean they needed the money? Have they had, or do they have an online presence?

badmemory

I can't believe they are allowing an extension to 8 years.  When my mother went into a care home they refused to extend beyond the 2 years, I did ask because some were not registering her address change.  How are they allowing it when I'm pretty certain just about everyone reading this believes it is at least bordering on fraudulent.

Pollycat

I think the very helpful post by shaun from Africa on page 1 is perfect.

Hit RM with their own terms and conditions.

BJV

Pollycat said:

Do you have any written evidence (not hearsay) about the wrongdoings of these people that you can safely provide to RM (without putting yourself in a compromised, 'wrong side of the law' position) e.g. newspaper reports of any legal proceedings against them to back up your reason for not wanting the redirection to continue?

No , no news paper bits, if I had know I would not of bought the house.

Since we got it everything started to come out , The neighbors said they did not tell us as they where so desperate for them to move. ( dont really blame them ) No we where told stories from the neighbors who where happy to see them go. Stories of being man handled and frog marched out of the house. etc. Also the delay on completing was because they had been taken to court by a number of banks and private individuals . Banks I amuse where loans of some type. The private individuals we know was because they had promised to carry out building work, taken massive deposits and then done nothing. We know that they where in court for fraud twice and lost. The amount of charges on the house means that it was not clear if the sale price would clear the sheer volume of charges. We also know that they sold out house four times before we got it and each time they made it so difficult that the buyers had to move out. We know that this is not just hear say as we actually know one of the people who wanted to buy it. 

We think we only got it because their son turned 18 the day before we completed. My solicitor had told me to walk away but my family love it. Perfect location, loads of potential. A really forever home. 

We just did not know at the time that we would be sharing it with the previous owners. 

My worry is why would someone pay money to use someone else's address so such a long period of time. What legitimate reason could there be? I can not think of any. Also who thinks he "they " are still there. 

It is however staring to make sense. When we first moved in for the 1st three months every morning we would wake up and find someone had thrown a "used" poopy bag full of dog poo on our drive way. It was at the time really upsetting and we where about to get CCTV and even wanted to get the police involved. 

In preparation my hubby and ! with the kids help, spent two weeks clearing out the overgrown weeds and tidying up the drive way. As soon as we did it it stopped. I wounder if someone was throwing it thinking they where still there and when the saw someone else they sopped. 

I now that this sounds silly to any sane person but this is how this whole situation has got me. Just really want them to stop the service and let us move on trying to live our lives without the cloud of the previous owner and the way that they lived their life. 

Massive thanks for letting my ramble. 

Pollycat

BJV said:

Pollycat said:

Do you have any written evidence (not hearsay) about the wrongdoings of these people that you can safely provide to RM (without putting yourself in a compromised, 'wrong side of the law' position) e.g. newspaper reports of any legal proceedings against them to back up your reason for not wanting the redirection to continue?

No , no news paper bits, if I had know I would not of bought the house.

Since we got it everything started to come out , The neighbors said they did not tell us as they where so desperate for them to move. ( dont really blame them ) No we where told stories from the neighbors who where happy to see them go. Stories of being man handled and frog marched out of the house. etc. Also the delay on completing was because they had been taken to court by a number of banks and private individuals . Banks I amuse where loans of some type. The private individuals we know was because they had promised to carry out building work, taken massive deposits and then done nothing. We know that they where in court for fraud twice and lost. The amount of charges on the house means that it was not clear if the sale price would clear the sheer volume of charges. We also know that they sold out house four times before we got it and each time they made it so difficult that the buyers had to move out. We know that this is not just hear say as we actually know one of the people who wanted to buy it. 

We think we only got it because their son turned 18 the day before we completed. My solicitor had told me to walk away but my family love it. Perfect location, loads of potential. A really forever home. 

We just did not know at the time that we would be sharing it with the previous owners. 

My worry is why would someone pay money to use someone else's address so such a long period of time. What legitimate reason could there be? I can not think of any. Also who thinks he "they " are still there. 

It is however staring to make sense. When we first moved in for the 1st three months every morning we would wake up and find someone had thrown a "used" poopy bag full of dog poo on our drive way. It was at the time really upsetting and we where about to get CCTV and even wanted to get the police involved. 

In preparation my hubby and ! with the kids help, spent two weeks clearing out the overgrown weeds and tidying up the drive way. As soon as we did it it stopped. I wounder if someone was throwing it thinking they where still there and when the saw someone else they sopped. 

I now that this sounds silly to any sane person but this is how this whole situation has got me. Just really want them to stop the service and let us move on trying to live our lives without the cloud of the previous owner and the way that they lived their life. 

Massive thanks for letting my ramble. 

You're welcome.

But don't just ramble - take shaun from Africa's advice.

RM themselves say that the maximum redirection term is 4 years.

If the previous owners have had that 4 years, RM should have rejected their request outright.

Write and tell them that.

Tell them their own T&Cs say that 4 years is the maximum.

BJV

Ok so the saga continues.

I got another letter From Royal Mail saying that they had investigated and if the previous owners can supply proofs of Id then they will re-instate the re-direct.

It appears that they requested a 4 year re-direct in November 2017. I where very keen to use the service until nov 2021???? 
Spoke to my solicitor and also action fraud who where I have to say very good. 
Spoke to a Royal Mail person yesterday who just kept saying that as long as they had ID everything would be re-instated. 

I have just written this letter... Apparently I have to go through the complaints procedure now no matter what before I can do anything. I am at a loss as to why Royal Mail would allow this and why they continue to side with the previous owners. Lets be honest they must have committed fraud to set the service up a year after they moved out and they are committing fraud now by using it. 

Wednesday 26th Feb 2020

 

Without Prejudice - Ref XXXXXXXXXX

 

I am writing with reference to your recent letter.

I would request this service stopped immediately.

I base this on the following

I can confirm that the previous owner of my house XXXXXX moved out on the 12th of February 2016.

When we purchased our house from the previous owners there was an issue on the previous owner’s behalf which meant that we had to rent the house from the 12th of February until the 6th of May 2016.

A copy of the rental agreed is attached. It clearly shows the date that we moved into the property.

We then completed the purchase of our house on the 6th of May. 2016.

This means that as of the 6th of May 2016 Mr and Mrs XXXX had no financial interest implied or otherwise in our home.  

Please find attached a printout of an email from my solicitor which confirms the date that we completed on our house.

Please find attached the completion letter dated 6th of May 2016.

In your letter you state that you wrote to us on the 6th of November 2017 to inform us that a mail re-direction service had been requested. 

I never received this letter. If I had I would of disputed this immediately. I am sure that you will admit that proof of sending something is not proof of receipt.

As per your terms and conditions any Mail Re-direction service must be done within 6 months of leaving the property.

This means that when you allowed Mr & Mrs XXXXX to set up the Royal Mail Redirection service in 2017 as they had moved out on the 12th of Feb 2016 and completed the sale of the house on the 6th of May 2016 they were already outside the stated 6 months allowed by you to use the system. Your system allowed them to fraudulently use my address.

As such you are in breach of your own terms and conditions.

To this end I would like any and all re-direction service to be halted.

As previous stated I have already reported this to OffCom  Ref XXXXXX and after speaking to my solicitor Action Fraud ref NFRXXXXX as I believe that your actions have facilitated my address being used in a fraudulent manor.

Yours Sincerely

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Pollycat

Why haven't you mentioned anywhere in that letter that RM's own T&C's say that the maximum redirection period is 4 years?
Regardless of what has gone on before - and I'd be taking that up with them once the new 4 year request issue has been resolved  - I would have thought that your immediate concern is stopping the new request.
RM's own T&C's have been mentioned several times.
Personally, I'd have hit them with that and hoped that they had no valid response to that.
I think you've missed a trick with the letter you've sent.
You've left yourself open to RM coming back to you instead of probably killing it dead.

BJV

Pollycat said:

Why haven't you mentioned anywhere in that letter that RM's own T&C's say that the maximum redirection period is 4 years?
Regardless of what has gone on before - and I'd be taking that up with them once the new 4 year request issue has been resolved  - I would have thought that your immediate concern is stopping the new request.
RM's own T&C's have been mentioned several times.
Personally, I'd have hit them with that and hoped that they had no valid response to that.
I think you've missed a trick with the letter you've sent.
You've left yourself open to RM coming back to you instead of probably killing it dead.

I did mention the 4 years etc when I called them . I tried to explain they moved 2016 etc and they said that as they Mr and Mrs horrible had requested the 4 year redirect in Nov 2017 ( over a year and a half after they moved out ) four years would take them to 2021 when they would consider another 4 years ?????. They said I this time they still had proofs of Id at my address.

I spoke to my solicitor as I was really worried and she said the easiest way to get them to stop was to prove that they where complicit in the potential fraud by allowing them to start the re-direct after the 6 month period. which is against their T&C's Hence the completion letter etc.

Royal Mail who are so unhelpful just kept saying that it was not their systems fault. Even though it is their system that allowed them to get bank statements in my address. I think I got a bit upset, ok I got a lot upset ! I think I said if they gave me half an hour I could Photoshop a bank statement to show I lived in Buckingham Place. I also said if someone knocks on my door and brakes my legs or puts a bullet in my head because they think I am Mrs XXXX then I hold them responsible.  At this point they said that they are not responsible for any consequential loss. ???? 

Manxman_in_exile

I can't believe this can't be sorted out quickly and simply.

I agree completely with Pollycat that you really should have referred them to their own T&Cs.  I can't understand why you didn't because it's one of the biggest weapons in your armoury.

I haven't looked at the mail redirection T&Cs (please provide a link if you like) but why do you keep referring to proof of ID?  Maybe I'm being unneccessarily pedantic but what has ID got to do with anything?  Surely they need to provide proof of their connection to your address?  How can they legitimately do that if they moved out over four years ago?  I'd be asking what "proof of ID" or, more pertinently, what proof of connection to your address they have provided?  If RM refuse to tell on data protection grounds, point out to them that the people wanting the redirection can't possibly provide legitimate proof because they moved out over four years ago and have no connection whatsoever with your address.  Point out to RM that there cannot possibly be any legitimate and lawful reason for these people to apply for a redirection after this period of time.  Ask RM if they want to be complicit in such behaviour.

You mentioned Ofcom.  Have you actually telephoned and spoken to a real person at Ofcom and asked for advice?  I can't believe this can't be sorted out immediately. by them if RM won't.  If this was happening to me I'd be furious.

(I hope you didn't put "of" in your letter whan you meant "have" like you've posted above.  I'm sorry but it won't assist you to be taken seriously - and I would say this is serious).

frank_facts

I would be talking to the police and and advising them of your predicament. I am sad to say, after working at Xmas for Royal Mail plc, they have to delver, regardless any mail addressed to your home or my home, even if there is a redirection in place.

Also have a talk, face to face with your bank, for you do not want any problems, due to legacy data from former owner, staining your good name.

I had an issue from my first home, that had been used by a gent who was camped out with owner, and the bloke was wanted by many High Sherif's for payment of fines.

I would be woken up early by High Sherifs, doing there jobs, and eventualy, I just called the police out every time and then it stopped.

I hope the situation is arrested and you can live without fear, and enjoy your home.