Royal Mail Redirect - Others with same surname

Tir3d

I used Royal Mail Redirect a few times over the past few years when my wife and I moved abroad for work and rented our home (mail was redirected to family in the UK) and aside from seeming quite expensive the service worked well. All residents with the same surname were included with the one redirect.

Last year the CAB ran a campaign arguing that it was unfair for Royal Mail to charge households with different surnames for multiple redirects when those with the same surname only had to pay for the one redirect (let's not get onto the debate of whether this is actually fair or not). Royal Mail responded by allowing the one redirect to have additional names added at a cost of £10 per person. Predictably they also used it as an opportunity to require households with the same surname to now also pay on a per person basis.

So now prices for redirect have been put up, plus an additional cost per person regardless of whether or not you share a surname.

However Royal Mail seem to want to have their cake and eat it on this as on the application it still states that for operational reasons have the whole family with the same surname moved, ie. presumably they want to forward all mail with surname X, rather than differentiate on first name or initial. 

So do we think that I can get away with just paying for the one person, ticking that box and also expecting my wife's mail to be forwarded give we share a surname? 

Comms69

No. But realistically what mail do you even receive these days?

I cant think of anything that isnt linked to the address anyway (utilities, electoral role)

Tir3d

We have 1-2 months in accommodation with family between selling our home and moving into our new one so I'm keen to avoid updating all of our addresses twice. Plus the risk of any accounts/relationships I've forgotten about and don't update, some companies who are super slow to update details etc. The consensus on this forum seemed to be that it's worth it. 

Tir3d

So for the record - they have been forwarding ALL mail with the same surname. So it seems no need to pay the extra £10 for a family member with the same surname. 

badger09

Tir3d said:

So for the record - they have been forwarding ALL mail with the same surname. So it seems no need to pay the extra £10 for a family member with the same surname. 

Thanks for that info. It will save me £10. Every little helps

ruth56_2

So glad to find this post. As a family with two children plus grandparents all with same name , it was going to cost £131 for 12 months. Have redirected in the past for just a couple and noted the " divert all people with same name " box and ticked it. But nowhere on the royal mail site does it highlight that this happens and wasnt sure if I  could depend on it. Seems they don't make it obvious as lots of extra revenue potentially for what they do for cost!