Credit card received at my address not anyone who lives here

ItzClare

Hi, we received a company credit card to our home address with a completely random name on it. Not any of us. The company does exist and I rang them but no one has rung me back. 

I’m very concerned how a credit card has been raised to my address. 

I’ve emailed the credit card company but will have to wait. There are no telephone numbers only live chat once signed in which I haven’t. 

Any one have any ideas. Should I contact the police?

Thanks

clare. 

zagfles

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? If you get mail to your house with someone else's name which you don't recognise, just write RETURN TO SENDER - NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS on the envelope and put it back in the post. It will then get delivered back to the credit card company who can look into why they're sending mail to the wrong address. It could be eg a previous occupant who hasn't updated their address.

born_again

Which card company?

Seems odd they do not have a phone number. 

scott_lithgows

zagfles said:

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? If you get mail to your house with someone else's name which you don't recognise, just write RETURN TO SENDER - NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS on the envelope and put it back in the post. It will then get delivered back to the credit card company who can look into why they're sending mail to the wrong address. It could be eg a previous occupant who hasn't updated their address.

Nah,stuff that.Dont give the fraudsters a chance.
Too many porch pirates about to care about the letter of the law

Too many companies sending their products but not able to verify who actually lives at that address.
If they are unable to provide their new address to the CC company then they are unfit to hold a CC

dr_adidas01

scott_lithgows said:

zagfles said:

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? If you get mail to your house with someone else's name which you don't recognise, just write RETURN TO SENDER - NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS on the envelope and put it back in the post. It will then get delivered back to the credit card company who can look into why they're sending mail to the wrong address. It could be eg a previous occupant who hasn't updated their address.

Nah,stuff that.Dont give the fraudsters a chance.
Too many porch pirates about to care about the letter of the law

Too many companies sending their products but not able to verify who actually lives at that address.
If they are unable to provide their new address to the CC company then they are unfit to hold a CC

Perhaps in your area there maybe Porch Pirates about.  

However under the Postal Services Act 2000 it states. 

"The Postal Services Act is clear that a person is committing an offence if they deliberately open post which they know or suspect has been incorrectly delivered to them.

"If you receive mail intended for another person, such as a previous owner, it should be returned by marking the envelope ‘Return to Sender’ and placing it in any postbox.“ 

Perhaps the company who sent the CC were given the wrong delivery details, or the right house number but wrong postcode which does happen  

I’ve had a few incorrectly delivered letters and even Christmas cards over the years. I just write “return to sender, not known here” on the envelope, which usually stops any other ones for the person arriving again. 

As they say “A little kindness goes a long way”!!

daivid

dr_adidas01 said:

scott_lithgows said:

zagfles said:

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? If you get mail to your house with someone else's name which you don't recognise, just write RETURN TO SENDER - NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS on the envelope and put it back in the post. It will then get delivered back to the credit card company who can look into why they're sending mail to the wrong address. It could be eg a previous occupant who hasn't updated their address.

Nah,stuff that.Dont give the fraudsters a chance.
Too many porch pirates about to care about the letter of the law

Too many companies sending their products but not able to verify who actually lives at that address.
If they are unable to provide their new address to the CC company then they are unfit to hold a CC

Perhaps in your area there maybe Porch Pirates about.  

However under the Postal Services Act 2000 it states. 

"The Postal Services Act is clear that a person is committing an offence if they deliberately open post which they know or suspect has been incorrectly delivered to them.

"If you receive mail intended for another person, such as a previous owner, it should be returned by marking the envelope ‘Return to Sender’ and placing it in any postbox.“ 

Perhaps the company who sent the CC were given the wrong delivery details, or the right house number but wrong postcode which does happen  

I’ve had a few incorrectly delivered letters and even Christmas cards over the years. I just write “return to sender, not known here” on the envelope, which usually stops any other ones for the person arriving again. 

As they say “A little kindness goes a long way”!!

If the address on the envelope is correct (regardless of the name on it) then it has not been incorrectly delivered. That said if the senders address was on the back I would pop it in a post box with “not known at this address return to sender” on it.

IanManc

dr_adidas01 said:

scott_lithgows said:

zagfles said:

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? If you get mail to your house with someone else's name which you don't recognise, just write RETURN TO SENDER - NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS on the envelope and put it back in the post. It will then get delivered back to the credit card company who can look into why they're sending mail to the wrong address. It could be eg a previous occupant who hasn't updated their address.

Nah,stuff that.Dont give the fraudsters a chance.
Too many porch pirates about to care about the letter of the law

Too many companies sending their products but not able to verify who actually lives at that address.
If they are unable to provide their new address to the CC company then they are unfit to hold a CC

Perhaps in your area there maybe Porch Pirates about.  

However under the Postal Services Act 2000 it states. 

"The Postal Services Act is clear that a person is committing an offence if they deliberately open post which they know or suspect has been incorrectly delivered to them.

"If you receive mail intended for another person, such as a previous owner, it should be returned by marking the envelope ‘Return to Sender’ and placing it in any postbox.“ 

Perhaps the company who sent the CC were given the wrong delivery details, or the right house number but wrong postcode which does happen  

I’ve had a few incorrectly delivered letters and even Christmas cards over the years. I just write “return to sender, not known here” on the envelope, which usually stops any other ones for the person arriving again. 

As they say “A little kindness goes a long way”!!

That is not what the Postal Services Act 2000 actually says, which is:

(3)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.

If post is addressed to your property then it is correctly delivered. Royal Mail delivers to addresses, not to people named on envelopes.

If you open a letter addressed to your address and the person named on it does not live there then the specific circumstances outlined in the legislation need to be present before it will be an offence.

If for example, the name on it is a former occupier then a reasonable thing to do would be to forward it if you have a new address for the person, or return it to sender. You wouldn't have a reasonable excuse to open it.

If the name is one you recognise as a neighbour then you would just pop it through their letterbox if you're a normal kind person. 

If it's a name that isn't a former occupier or a neighbour and it is your address, then it is arguable you have a reasonable excuse to open it to try to find out what is going on. Or to to put it another way, the prosecution would have to prove that you did so, without reasonable excuse and intending to act to someone's detriment, which is pretty much impossible in the circumstances.

The legislation is designed to catch people stealing while working in the postal service or, to use the phrase that has already cropped up, acting as "porch pirates",  and stealing post which has been delivered, which is common in flat complexes.

As far as the OP is concerned, they are clearly not dishonest or intending to act to a person's detriment. If the company doesn't get back to the OP quickly then I would send the card back to the card company with a covering letter explaining why it has been opened and that the person doesn't live there.

I'd only begin to consider contacting the police if getting post delivered in that name became a regular thing. One letter is likely just to be a simple mistake.

zagfles

scott_lithgows said:

zagfles said:

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? If you get mail to your house with someone else's name which you don't recognise, just write RETURN TO SENDER - NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS on the envelope and put it back in the post. It will then get delivered back to the credit card company who can look into why they're sending mail to the wrong address. It could be eg a previous occupant who hasn't updated their address.

Nah,stuff that.Dont give the fraudsters a chance.
Too many porch pirates about to care about the letter of the law

Too many companies sending their products but not able to verify who actually lives at that address.
If they are unable to provide their new address to the CC company then they are unfit to hold a CC

If you return to sender then the CC company will know they've delivered to a fake person or the wrong address, that's the point of doing it. It prevents fraud. Or you could do as the OP and spend ages trying to contact them by phone or email having opened someone else's mail. I know what's easier.

TadleyBaggie

ItzClare said:

Should I contact the police?

The police will have zero interest in this. As others have said, just send it back to the originators and let them deal with it.

cymruchris

You mentioned it was a business credit card - it may just be an administration error - and it's been sent to 13 Acacia Avenue instead of 31 Acacia Avenue or something similar with an address incorrectly supplied by a HR department somewhere. It's not something to panic about just yet, and even if it was taken out and registered at your address, credit files are by a person's name, not an address, so this won't directly affect you. For the moment, keep the card to one side, and await a response from the company involved. You're not going to suddenly end up with a million pound credit card bill to pay. Yes - it'll be good to sort it out - but it doesn't need resolving in the next 60 seconds. Take a breath, relax, and wait for the reply. (My guess is that they'll just tell you to cut it up and throw it in the bin - and that'll be the end of it). 

Chino

dr_adidas01 said:

However under the Postal Services Act 2000 it states. 

"The Postal Services Act is clear that a person is committing an offence if they deliberately open post which they know or suspect has been incorrectly delivered to them.

"If you receive mail intended for another person, such as a previous owner, it should be returned by marking the envelope ‘Return to Sender’ and placing it in any postbox.“

No it doesn't; the Grantham Journal reported that quoting a Royal Mail spokesperson: Royal Mail issues warning about opening someone else's post