Mail addressed to former owners

I paid for redirection for a year and wrote to all to give them my new address. Some post during that year was not redirected- I have no idea why. It was often official letters - things like Christmas cards arrived fine.I still have post occasionally go to my old address-( it’s been 5 years!) almost all from company’s that I informed of our new address. One of the biggest culprits is our sons college- ( special unit) and the local authority who hold his EHCP. Perhaps we confused them by moving between school years! Apparently something to do with not updating their mailing lists. It’s so annoying! I’ve written so many time! Fortunately the new owner of our old house sends post on!

Put it back in the box marked gone away. Which reminds me...

I once received a letter from a big high street bank, with which I had never had an account, addressed to Mr. Gone Away and announcing that it had increased my overdraft facility. Unfortunately, no account number was mentioned.

I duly replied, thanking them, and signed it Gone Away. It took about three years before a human being somewhere in their system put a stop to it.

The post office a perfectly good redirection service. Don’t entertain this entitled behaviour. If they’ve texted you to complain that you’re not sending the mail fast enough, text them back and remind them it’s their responsibility to ensure their mail is redirected and that they’ve updated their address with banks and other important organisations. Tell them enough is enough after five months and you won’t be sending any more mail, and that in future everything will be put back in the post box with a note to say they are not known at this address. Don’t run round after them and don’t be out of pocket. Cheeky sods !!

Not as bad as Dear Mrs Deceased which a friend received when he tried to cancel something his wife had subscribed to.

Calistemon

Not as bad as Dear Mrs Deceased which a friend received when he tried to cancel something his wife had subscribed to.

That's awful How insensitive. It reminds me of when I sent my DHs passport back and explained he had died. They sent it back to me with his photo credit crossed out.
Sorry OP going off piste or maybe off p....d.

Not credit! Stupid phone.

I won't say who it was, AGAA4 but it was a charity to which we subscribed too, so we complained as well.

You'd think someone at the Passport Office would have some sensitivity, wouldn't you.

... they moved - and didn't inform their bank of their new address?

Banks are always asking you to update your contact information, telephone numbers etc. For an obvious reason.

I think, legally, you are compelled to return such mail to the sender. Do that, with "addressee has moved from this address" scripted on the envelope, re-post at your convenience, text the previous owners and let them know what you're doing - then block them on your 'phone.

You should definitely write - No longer at this address - on the envelope & pop it back in the letter box.
Best wishes.

I would just do the 'not living here' and returning it to the post box. I'd also text back that I'm sorry, but I can't get to the post box each day so can't promise posting within a day or two.

I wouldn't waste my precious time replying to such an ill mannered and outrageous demand. I would just do return to sender' and leave it at that.

We moved here nearly three years ago - the house was vacant possession, the previous owner having rented it out on short term leases prior to sale. We spent the first six months constantly phoning various credit card and loan companies, debt collection agencies and private parking fine companies, to tell them that their ‘clients’ had moved on. The mail was arriving for half a dozen different names, one of whom had run up several parking fines, all of which had non payment penalties added, and ran into hundreds of pounds. It took months for the letters to stop coming, as a couple of the previous occupants were still using the address to run up new debt and we were advised not to simply return to sender where the debt had been passed to a collection agency, as we risked a visit from bailiffs. I was left with the impression that, for some, short term rentals are a license to run up debt and hope you won’t be found.

I received a letter for someone who lived at our house many years ago and purely by chance, I knew where she lives now and put it through her letterbox.

She came and thanked me as there was a premium bond cheque in it (it was several years ago).

M0nica

I wouldn't waste my precious time replying to such an ill mannered and outrageous demand. I would just do return to sender' and leave it at that.

... exactly!

Who's got time for all this?

I'd send one final text telling them to 'sort it' and then block their number.

I'm not sure what the legal situation is though - the information is conflicting - otherwise I'd be tempted to just bin the mail.

And if the letter is bar-coded, it's unlikely that a human will read the return-to-sender hand written note, so you have to scratch through the bar code.

It gets tedious dealing with other people's problems - we have enough of our own!

After a couple of months, I just wrote 'Not at this address' and put them back in the post box. After all, they can't be that important and/or it's up to the previous owners to organise - not me.

We moved over 2 years ago and still get mail for the previous owners. We paid Royal Mail for 6 months to redirect the post from our old house to here. Your previous owners obviously haven't bothered to do this. We put all post for them in the post box with No Longer at this Address. I certainly wouldn't take any abuse from them.

Elizabeth27

When I moved I paid for the redirection service but really don’t know why I bothered, more than half of my mail went to the previous address.

When I moved away for a while from my address, I paid for the post to be redirected - the post office weren't aware that I would be coming back to my address every so often! And each time I came back there was post there so I knew that the paid for service wasn't working as well as it should have been.

Unbelievably high handed of them. I would text back and say you don't have the time and don't want the responsibility for ensuring incorrectly addressed post is forwarded to them in the speedy manner they require.
They will therefore have to make alternative arrangements as future post addressed to them will be returned to sender.

Give some people an inch and they really do take a mile.

Many thanks for the supportive replies! Another letter has arrived this morning - bank's name is printed on the envelope.

I certainly don't intend leaving the house today and I won't be passing a post box until sometime Monday, which means the letter won't be collected until Tuesday - hope it isn't anything important!

I can't bring myself to mark "gone away" on the envelope so will continue to re-address post for the time being, although any similar texts from them and I may change my mind!

I think I'd send it back to the bank, perhaps in a second envelope with a very firmly worded note inside telling the bank that they have moved, this is their new address and you will not be forwarding any more post to them, will they please deal with it.
It's gone on too long now.

No more Mrs Nice!

There are 5 apartments in our house, well SILs house, the top one is 4 bedroom rented to students. They have to register when they arrive, then they seem to find other places to stay, not all.
Then the post piles up it is all put on a shelf for collection and once a month I put 'Not at this address' on it and pop it in the post.
As the law here states you must be registered with your local commune with your current address I would love to know what happens when the letters are returned. I am not being nasty and they are young people but they would have trouble re-registering if they do not keep things up to date.

sunseeker

Many thanks for the supportive replies! Another letter has arrived this morning - bank's name is printed on the envelope.

I certainly don't intend leaving the house today and I won't be passing a post box until sometime Monday, which means the letter won't be collected until Tuesday - hope it isn't anything important!

I can't bring myself to mark "gone away" on the envelope so will continue to re-address post for the time being, although any similar texts from them and I may change my mind!

You really are being too accommodating of people who are abusing your kindness and consideration!

Can you not text them and ask them, politely but firmly, to inform their bank(s) of their new address and, at the same time, tell them that any further mail addressed to them will be 'returned to sender'?

I think that is, legally, all you are obliged to do.

What if you decide you don't want to go out on Monday? But you will, won't you, because you're going to feel compelled to send the letter to them!

You are being too solicitous and obliging and they are taking advantage of your good nature!

sunseeker Why can you not bring yourself to mark letters 'Gone away* or any of the other alternatives? This is a perfectly normal procedure which has been used for 100 years or more.

By doing what you are doing, you are doing a public disservice by encouraging selfish and indolent people in their selfishness and indolence, thus making other people suffer from it as well.perhaps if you and others stood out against such behaviour, they might realise that thy cannot rely on other people bailing their indolence out and would do things properly in the first place.

We have lived here for 2 years now and still get mail for previous owners. Letters I send back, cruise brochures go in the recycling now. I have no forwarding address anyway

I write the previous occupants new address on the envelope and re post. I have no idea if they get it or not.