how do i stop begging letters?

dannys_3

poet123 wrote: »

That would require personal contact by phone/letter and even then if it was not the named recipient who made contact they would bot be obliged to take any notice as per the Data protection act.

That statement is nonsense in this situation. Phone up the charity, explain the situation, ask for the mailings to stop, and they will.
Charities rely on goodwill, and also need to cut down on mailing costs. They receive no benefit from mailings that just get binned.

poet123

Sorry, but in the original situation the OP outlined,namely that her father was fully compos mentis, the charities would NOT be obliged to take notice of anyone else who contacted them,and in fact could under the act mentioned, refuse to discuss the situation.

As the poster elaborated and stated her father did actually have some issues not previously disclosed then that may alter the issue.

dannys_3

I disagree, and you will find the charities WILL remove the persons name from there mailing lists.
Although the Act states "an individual", where that is not possible, for example an individual may be seriously ill, a close family member can request the cessation of processing of the data.
As we are talking about a charity here, they would be more than willing to accommodate the request. I did also state "in this situation". We're not talking about transferring £100k of funds from a relatives account here.
IMO the Information Commissioner would uphold any complaint if the data processing did not cease.

MothballsWallet

Unfortunately, more and more charities are using unaddressed mailings these days - this makes them exempt from the MPS guidelines, while Royal Mail makes a bit of money (as noted elsewhere on here, it's not that easy to get out of unaddressed mail, and RM always try to convince you to keep receive it, claiming you'll miss out on local Council mailings and such like).

poet123

dannys wrote: »

I disagree, and you will find the charities WILL remove the persons name from there mailing lists.
Although the Act states "an individual", where that is not possible, for example an individual may be seriously ill, a close family member can request the cessation of processing of the data.
As we are talking about a charity here, they would be more than willing to accommodate the request. I did also state "in this situation". We're not talking about transferring £100k of funds from a relatives account here.
IMO the Information Commissioner would uphold any complaint if the data processing did not cease.

I clearly stated that in the case the OP had eventually outlined then my previous comment may not be applicable. However in the situation initially outlined they may not be so compliant. For example, if a person who has given generously to a particular charity for years remarried, and his new wife did not like his actions,are you suggesting that she could phone up and automatically get the contact name removed? I think you would find that would not happen and rightly so. Obviously in cases of illness as we eventually found out was the case with the OP it is a different scenario.

We do not need to be talking about financial info/data to have to comply with the DPA,any personal information is covered.

wifeforlife

kitiaracat wrote: »

My mother has come to me very annoyed as they recieve at least 6 begging letters a week some from well known charities and some from complete strangers. My dad has done and still does do a heck of a lot of charity work and i think this is the main reason they get so much. But they are in there late 60's now and it's one thing to collect for charity and giving where you can but it's a completely different thing if you are made to feel guilty and your are giving most of your pension away. Companys now put in little gifts like teddies and baby booties and saying we can buy x of these for x amount of money. My dad reads every single one and is very generous and will give to most of them which is good of him but it really can't go on for much longer as he is eating into there savings. How can we stop these letters without him knowing as i am sure he wouldn't give to these charities if the letters didn't come and he can still give to his normal ones then. He also gets lots of begging emails. He gives and doesn't really know if they are for real so he is a prime target and just what they bank on. Please help.

Mark them all RTS and shove into the post box, also register on the mail preference service as previously mentioned, if all else fails maybe your parents can choose say 2 or 3 charities that they may support instead of all the ones who contact them.

Oh and dont mind the bullies on here, who are choosing to read and interpret what they want, to make you seem as if your story is changing (which it isnt).

Cate

poet123

Oh and dont mind the bullies on here, who are choosing to read and interpret what they want, to make you seem as if your story is changing (which it isnt).

Not sure who this is aimed at but the OP did not fully outline the problem in her initial post,which is why she received some of the less than sympathetic replies. (If you care to look I apologised if my post had been viewed that way)
To categorise them as bullies is a liitle harsh and unwarranted.

If only part of the story is told then advice will differ from that offered when the whole story is given......this is a forum also and opinions will differ.

peediedj

why bother opening them? you can tell whats "junk" mail,just throw then in the bin unopened,problem solved

Lakeuk

cathy2702 wrote: »

Mark them all RTS and shove into the post box, also register on the mail preference service as previously mentioned, if all else fails maybe your parents can choose say 2 or 3 charities that they may support instead of all the ones who contact them.

This is the best you can do, ignore it.

It's big business this charity game, I was walking through Bristol's deserted shopping area last week at 7:30pm and there were 6 of them for 'Shelter' wanting you to sign up for a monthly donation by direct debit - those guy's get good commission out of it so it's worth there while working all hours.

I follow the rule if a charity can afford to employment people to tout for donations then they don't need my charity paying towards the touters and I'll save my cash for those in better need of my charity

wifeforlife

poet123 wrote: »

Oh and dont mind the bullies on here, who are choosing to read and interpret what they want, to make you seem as if your story is changing (which it isnt).

Not sure who this is aimed at but the OP did not fully outline the problem in her initial post,which is why she received some of the less than sympathetic replies. (If you care to look I apologised if my post had been viewed that way)
To categorise them as bullies is a liitle harsh and unwarranted.

If only part of the story is told then advice will differ from that offered when the whole story is given......this is a forum also and opinions will differ.

If I was personally directing at someone I would use the quote facility, which I didnt, you can sumise then that I wasnt quoting any specific person. Although you have just proven my point, that people will interpret anything to suit themselves

Cate