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user1977

Okell said:

Robbiez66 said:

... I've been returning to sender 'not at this address' everything as I know it's illegal to open someone else's post. 

Thanks

Rob

maya85 said:

Keep returning them and do not open the post. has nothing to do with you. 

It's not necesssarily a criminal offence to open someone else's post - and I'd suggest it has everything to do with the OP.

So if your name is Rob Smith and you live at 46 Acacia Avenue, Toytown, TY2 TN3, you are entitled to open mail addressed to anyone else at that same address* - so long as you intend them no detriment and you have reason a reasonable excuse to do so.  [Edit:  to clarify - I mean anyone else at that address who you don't know or have never heard of.  If Tom Clarke also lives there you can't open his mail...]

No. The OP is talking about items which have been correctly delivered in terms of the Act, because it's only by reference to the address, not the name. So they don't even need to worry about whether they have a reasonable excuse etc. The law doesn't concern itself with who opens mail after it's hit the correct doormat.

Incorrectly delivered mail would be e.g. something for the OP's neighbour which the postie has put through the wrong door.

Robbiez66

MCT56 said:

Had a similar experience a couple of years ago where a finance company sent more than one letter to my elderly relatives address in a small rural village. It was addressed to someone we had never heard of - unusual uncommon name. No one of that name had ever lived at my relatives address or in the small community.  I wrote to the sender - a credit company - and told them the situation and to stop sending mail to my relative as they were most anxious about it. To be honest the company were not very helpful as they probably deal with chancers all the time and don’t appreciate the stress this nonsense can cause the elderly. It was apparent that someone had used the address to take out some kind of credit agreement. How they picked the address is a mystery because the company won’t tell you anything due to data protection which is very frustrating. To my mind protection of the elderly in more important than protecting the data of some scammer.

That's my fear really, that someone is getting loans/finance against my address. 

I used to work in the financial sector and writing to them is sadly likely to achieve little. 

MCT56

At least by writing to them you are flagging up the issue so they can investigate the potential fraud and you will have proof that it’s nothing to do with you. We sent our concerns recorded delivery as didn’t want any uninvited debt collectors turning up demanding payments that were nothing to do with my relative and all the stress that involves.

eskbanker

MCT56 said:

At least by writing to them you are flagging up the issue so they can investigate the potential fraud and you will have proof that it’s nothing to do with you.

Writing to them doesn't prove it's nothing to do with you, it just proves that you say it's nothing to do with you!

MCT56

Correct, but it’s better than doing nothing about it and it provides evidence that you might be useful to hold.

eskbanker

MCT56 said:

Correct, but it’s better than doing nothing about it and it provides evidence that you might be useful to hold.

I'm still unconvinced that it actually adds any value - bear in mind that when it comes to debt enforcement, the burden of proof is on the creditor to supply evidence that the debt is owed, rather than the alleged debtor to prove that it isn't....

born_again

MCT56 said:

Correct, but it’s better than doing nothing about it and it provides evidence that you might be useful to hold.

These companies will take no notice of someone saying it's not them. As they are not able to prove anything.

Murphybear

born_again said:

MCT56 said:

Correct, but it’s better than doing nothing about it and it provides evidence that you might be useful to hold.

These companies will take no notice of someone saying it's not them. As they are not able to prove anything.

This is very common.  I dealt with a few thousand properties when I was a letting agent for many years.  As others have pointed out that many firms will ignore it when they are told someone doesn’t live at a property.  We had one or two particularly awkward situations when debt collection agencies wouldn’t believe the current tenants so I phoned the agencies and read them the riot act.  . They believed me and stopped sending any other correspondence.