Previous flat owner left with unpaid utility bills

We had this after buying a flat - so much mail about various debts - about £20k worth. Former owner had returned to his country of origin.

Return to sender with ‘no longer at this address’ achieved precisely nothing.

In the end I opened it all and wrote to everybody - around 12 IIRC - explaining. They were all perfectly reasonable, but did ask for a copy of our council tax bill, to prove ownership. They all then backed off.

What does really rile me, though, is that the bloke could, I’m sure, return to the U.K. tomorrow, and what would happen to him? Absolutely nothing.
And yet he’d made a huge profit after buying his ex LA flat many years previously, courtesy of Right to Buy.

AFAIK it’s not illegal to open someone else’s mail, if you are unable to pass or forward it to them - as was the case with us - no forwarding address left with anybody, inc. the solicitor who’d handled the sale - after the former owner had left the country.

You can then at least let the sender know the situation.

I had the same trouble when DD2 got her first flat. In the end, we got a letter from Balliffs saying they would be there the following Friday! I rang them and said that I’d be delighted to see them and would have tea and cake ready, but they were really chasing the wrong person.
Never heard from them again.

Should add that I had been opening the post for the previous owner and had advised the sender that they’d moved, without leaving a forwarding address, but I did pass on their solicitor’s details.

This happened to me many years ago when I was a tenant and moved into a property where the previous renter had gone bankrupt. Then the debt collectors began to arrive. Now having worked for a DCI (for about 6 months) and knowing how little power they had I simply showed them my passport and directed them to the house of the LL which was nearby. After the first visit she told me about the previous tenant and I made the point that she should have warned me! Thereafter I directed all the DCI people to her house to deal with.

Only one was rude and I was equally rude back. Even bailiffs are not allowed to break into a domestic premises except in very limited circumstances. I never bothered to ring any of the companies. Why should I spend my time and my phone bill? I quite enjoyed jerking these jokers around when they arrived. However I did keep a locked 6 foot metal gate between us.