RoyalMail Redirection, affect on credit cards?

Gotham10012

Hi All,

Hope everyone is staying safe!

I’ll leaving the UK for 3 months and I’m in the middle of updating my credit files (3 words last names creating 3 different Experian reports but that’s a different story). My sister is staying at our flat but she’s working for NHS so unfortunately no need to explain why she will not have the time to go through my mail in the next three months sending me pictures etc..

Is it legal for me to ask Royal Mail to redirect all my mail to my address in the U.S or do you know if thicker envelopes with cards and/or PIN letters are on the list of items they can’t redirect?

I’m mostly asking because I don’t want my 2 banks and credit cards accounts to be flagged if Royal Mail return items to them due to my temporary mail transfer. 

I know Amex UK can be very very sensitive. They locked my account and then applied a limit to my charge card because I switched banks so I’ve updated direct debit a few days before due date (again my very long last name caused issues and Barclays couldn’t update it..) and I really don’t need them to lock my account. 

Thank you for your help!!

Batesy1976

If you're that worried then ask your sister to open your mail.  Unless you're getting piles of mail every day I'm sure she's capable of opening a letter or two every day and letting you know if it's something important, NHS job or not.

GrumpyDil

To answer your main question you could pay to have an overseas redirection.

I'm fairly sure the only items that they won't redirect are ones that say do not redirect and probably packages as you might encounter customs issues.

Probably best to read the details on their redirection pages and then contact them with any questions. 

J_B

Gotham10012 said:

 My sister is staying at our flat but she’s working for NHS so unfortunately no need to explain why she will not have the time to go through my mail in the next three months sending me pictures etc..

We've all clapped for the NHS etc over the last year, so appreciate the work they do, but if your sis is staying at your flat, presumably she can find a little time to check your mail?

born_again

Why not update them with your new overseas address. Guessing that it is not going to be a hotel.

PRAISETHESUN

I'd just leave things as they are if it's only going to be 3 months. Either ask your sister to check the mail for anything important (how many letters are you expecting? even with 20+ accounts I'm lucky to get 1 letter each week), or else just have her put it all in a pile for when you return. There will be no issue with the redirection itself, apart from the risk of items getting lost in transit. 

I'm assuming you have a card renewal over the next few months you are worried about? Just call up the bank/CC provider and ask for a new card, which will have a new expiry date on it. They are pretty quick so should arrive in plenty of time before you leave.

If that doesn't help, there are PO Box services such as this (https://www.ukpostbox.com/blog/mail-parcel-forwarding-overseas), who will accept your mail and either scan/forward it to you for a fee. The downside is you would need to set up a redirection on top of the cost of the PO Box, unless you write to every company to tell them where to send your mail.